Abstract
Design education is practical and theoretical; however, it does not usually include the study of cultural heritage. Nonetheless, relations with academia have been strong since the 18th century, when the need to educate designers spread across the continent to improve design and make it competitive in the market. In this paper, we recover that spirit and act as mediators between heritage and young people to create links and preserve cultural heritage. A case study was conducted at the Public Valencian Design School with 31 product design students. The methodology applied was based on iterative processes that allowed students to discover design and silk heritage when they proposed innovative ways of approaching it. A qualitative survey was used to evaluate the case study. The results showed that students increased their appreciation for cultural heritage (by more than 90%) as well as their willingness to preserve it and reuse it in their future creations. Collaboration between cultural heritage and design might foster sustainable conservation and mark the future steps of ongoing collaboration.