International Day Deans and Design Experts

In cooperation with the global network of the Cumulus association, Elisava held the International Days for Deans and Design Experts under the motto “Impact Through Design” in April 2018. Thirty-one deans and design experts from some of the world’s best and most influential design universities and schools made contributions to the event, which consisted of workshops and talks.

The event also featured big-name companies –such as Roca, IKEA, Hewlett-Packard or Adidas– and institutions –such as Eurecat, LEITAT or the Barcelona City Council– who addressed the role of design in today’s ever-changing world.
The overarching goal of the event was to promote research through design on an international scale by introducing the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The specific objectives were:

To address the ways in which design impacts our society
To push for the inclusion of design institutions in the political agenda in order to achieve the UN SDGs
To foster education in design by incorporating the UN SDGs into design curricula
To promote research in, about and for design

After two days of workshops, the design deans and professionals penned a joint letter to the UN and the European Commission to explain how design can help achieve the UN SDGs.

Letter to the UN and the European Commission

“In light of the societal, economic and environmental challenges all our societies are facing today, the participants in the International Days of Deans and Design Experts call on our institutions to:

Take action now to publically support the achievement of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through design as an agent of change.
Recognize and amplify best existing practices that align with the UN SDG goals.
Encourage and support faculty, students, collaborating partners and stakeholders to work together towards the SDG goals through curricula, research, advocacy and development.

We, the undersigned, offer our leadership and efforts to create events and platforms to make this commitment tangible and visible in the next twelve months.

Signatures:
1.   Luigi Ferrara GEORGE BROWN UNIVERSITY (Toronto, Canada)
2.   Nabil Harfoush OCAD (Toronto, Canada)
3.   Sune Stassen OPEN DESIGN TNL (Cape Town, South Africa)
4.   Al Pay Er OZYEĞIN UNIVERSITY (OZU) (Istanbul, Turkey)
5.   Marie-Louise Bowallius KONSTFACK (Stockholm, Sweden)
6.   Magnus Lindfors KONSTFACK (Stockholm, Sweden)
7.   Chele Esteve UNIVERSIDAD POLITÉCNICA DE VALENCIA and UNIVERSIDAD NEBRIJA (Valencia, Spain)
8.   Lorraine Patricia Gamman CENTRAL SAINT MARTINS (London, United Kingdom)
9.   Adam Victor John Thorpe CENTRAL SAINT MARTINS (London, United Kingdom)
10.   Maria Göransdotter UMEÅ INSTITUTE OF DESIGN (Umeå, Sweden)
11.   Arianna Mazzeo ELISAVA BARCELONA SCHOOL OF DESIGN AND ENGINEERING (Barcelona, Spain)
12.   Albert Fuster ELISAVA BARCELONA SCHOOL OF DESIGN AND ENGINEERING (Barcelona, Spain)
13.   Javier Peña ELISAVA BARCELONA SCHOOL OF DESIGN AND ENGINEERING (Barcelona, Spain)
14.   Satu Miettinen UNIVERSITY OF LAPLAND (Rovaniemi, Finland)
15.   Roger Bateman SHEFFIELD HALLAM UNIVERSITY (Sheffield, United Kingdom)
16.   Christian Guellerin L’ECOLE DESIGN NANTES ATLANTIQUE (Nantes, France)
17.   Lou Yongqi TONGJI UNIVERSITY (Shanghai, China)
18.   Lorenzo Imbesi LA SAPIENZA UNIVERSITY OF ROME (Rome, Italy)
19.   Eija Salmi CUMULUS International Association of Universities and Colleges of Art, Design and Media, and AALTO UNIVERSITY (Helsinki, Finland)
20.   Liesbeth Huybrechts HASSELT UNIVERSITY (Hasselt, Belgium)
21.   Terry Irwin CARNEGIE MELLON SCHOOL OF DESIGN (Pennsylvania, USA)
22.   Luisa Collina POLITECNICO DI MILANO (Milan, Italy)
23.   Ezio Manzini POLITECNICO DI MILANO (Milan, Italy)
24.   Chris Csíkszentmihályi MADEIRA INTERACTIVE TECHNOLOGIES INSTITUTE (Madeira, Portugal)
25.   Eduardo Staszowski PARSONS SCHOOL OF DESIGN (New York, USA)
26.   Loredana Di Lucchio LA SAPIENZA UNIVERSITY OF ROME (Rome, Italy)
27.   Pradyumna Vyas NID NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF DESIGN (Ahmedebad, India)
28.   Gwen Farrelly RISD GLOBAL (Rhode Island, USA)
29.   Elsebeth Gerner Nielsen DESIGNSKOLEN KOLDING (Kolding, Denmark)
30.   Lin-Lin Chen EINDHOVEN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY (TUE) (Eindhoven, The Netherlands)
31.   Lara Penin PARSONS SCHOOL OF DESIGN (New York, USA)
32.   Monica Contreras RYERSON UNIVERSITY (Toronto, Canada)