The MENA Design Research Center is a non-profit organization based in Beirut, Lebanon. The main mission of the center is to investigate the role of Design in education, entrepreneurship and social impact. In 2012, the center initiated and organized the first Beirut Design Week, which set a new standard for Beirut as the Design Capital of the Middle East & North Africa.
The creative process involved in problem solving -whether in communications, products, systems or services- could be applied to a varied scale of disciplines and fields. The MENA Design Research Center promotes this diverse understanding of design thinking through the implementation of design research and collaborative multidisciplinary projects in the region. The MENA Design Research Center is highly involved with social initiatives that concern the Arab World and contributes to a variety of social issues by developing innovative tools through design thinking and co-creation. The center is also closely linked to design education in order to encourage and guide the participation of designers in the non-commercial, public, and non-profit domains.