This paper presents the results of a research project that seeks to systematize a significant pedagogical experience: design workshops in the Coffee Region's Design Academic Network during 2008-2009. The UCPR's Industrial Design Department and the University Foundation of the Andean Area's Department of Graphic and Fashion Design participate in this project. The workshops are an inter-disciplinary and cooperative project involving academia and the public and private sectors in which regional problems faced by communities in the region are addressed in an integral way. The article describes some of the proposed design solutions, which are characterized by high levels of creativity and social responsibility.