Design for NEED + FashionSEEDS, Sept 17, 2020

The Fashion Department of EKA would like to invite you to participate in the conference Design for NEED + FashionSEEDS on September 17th as part of Tallinn Design Festival. The program will explore issues related to design education, in particular,how we can make teaching more relevant and meaningful in terms of sustainability. The conference will present the results of the FashionSEEDS project to the general public for the first time! NB! – Pre-registration required! The event itself is free!

XV Tallinn Design Festival International Conference Design for NEED + FashionSEEDS / N, 17.09. 2020  09:30-15:00 / @ Põhjala tehas Design for need in times of climate crisis should focus on objects and services able to play a positive part in solving the issue; which would make our environment safer and more enjoyable to live in. Special attention should be given for example to highly functional objects and health-protecting, time-saving services. Yet, much of the current design is reduced to plain aesthetics or even glamour.  Indeed, beauty and form should be integral to a well-functioning product, however, and above all, design should be based on people’s and societal primary needs.    In the first part of this conference, we will hear talks from award-winning Finnish designer Ville Kokkonen and renowned Italian industrial designer and journalist Ubaldo Spina. David Kusuma, the president of World Design Organization (WDO), will lead the day, introducing the newly launched Mars project with NASA. Estonia will be represented by the engineering chief at Transferwise, Aivar Lumberg, and the Head of Product Design at EKA, Maarja Mõtus, who will explain about the changes taking place in design education and how much the crisis has affected students. + FashionSEEDS  “Design-Led Education for Sustainability” /   The second part of the conference will focus more thoroughly on design education. It seeks to find an answer to the question as to what type of designer is needed as Europe moves towards a climate-neutral circular economy? Practitioners, researchers and lecturers from UAL (University of the Arts London, UK), Polimi (Politécnico di Milano, Italy), DSKD (Designskolen Kolding, Denmark), and EKA (the Estonian Academy of Arts) have come together through an Erasmus+ project called the FashionSEEDS to rethink and improve the design education in the light of the challenges posed by climate change. A keynote speech from Pirjo Kääriäinen, from Aalto University on collaboration and interdisciplinarity will open the afternoon section, followed by a series of short talks on Fashion Design Education for Sustainability. A panel discussion with international academic and industry representatives, led by Piret Puppart concludes the insights of the day on how to make design education sustainable.   The event is free of charge Pre-register HERE! PART 1 Design for NEED ▪️ 9:15 __ [Coffee, tea] ▪️ 09:30 __ Introduction – Ilona Gurjanova (President of the Estonian Association of Designers) ▪️ 09:35 __ Video Greeting – David Kusuma, PhD (President-Elect of the World Design Organization (WDO), Vice President of Tupperware) ▪️ 09:50 __ “Design for Emergencies” – Ubaldo Spina (Researcher, industrial designer and journalist, Business Development Manager at CETMA) ▪️ 10:10___”Mission-Driven Product Building – a Story of Solving a real Need” – Alvar Lumberg (Engineering Lead at Transferwise) ▪️ 10:30 __ “Time x Mass Weight Density” – Ville Kokkonen (Widely recognised Finnish industrial designer) ▪️ 10:50 __ “Are the Students Prepared to Design for Need” – Maarja Mõtus (Head of Product Design Departement at the Estonian Academy of Arts) ▪️ 11:10 __ [Lunch break] PART 2 FashionSEEDS “Design-Led Education for Sustainability” The event, organised by the Estonian Academy of Arts, presents the first results of the FashionSEEDS project to the industry, design professionals and educators. FashionSEEDS – Fashion Societal, Economic & Environmental Design-led Sustainability – is a project conducted by world-leading institutions in Fashion Education spanning over the course of three years. It seeks to develop a Design-led Framework for Fashion Design Education in Sustainability able to impact transformational changes in the Fashion System in response to the fashion industry’s severe damage to our environment. What skills does a designer need in a new, challenging time for Europe to move towards a climate-friendly circular economy? Partners from UAL, Polimi, DSKD and EKA will expand the topic to rethink and improve design education in the light of the challenges posed by climate change, social wellbeing, cultural engagement and new economic models. The event will deliver the findings of the Benchmarking Report and the Framework Document for Design-led Sustainability Education, as well as give initial insights to possible sustainability teaching materials as part of the emerging learning resource repository enabling educators to adapt and apply the framework to a range of Higher Education Institutions. Partners: University of the Arts London Politécnico di Milano Designskolen Kolding Eesti Kunstiakadeemia Funded by: EU Erasmus+ Strategic Partnership   ▪️ 11:45 __ Welcoming Words – Reet Aus (Designer, Senior Researcher at EKA) ▪️ 11:50 __ Keynote Speech – Pirjo Kääriäinen (Professor of Practice, Head of Education at Aalto University, founder of Chemarts project) ▪️ 12:10 __ Questions from the audience ▪️ 12:15 __ “Fashion Design for Sustainability – A New Foundation for Fashion Educators” – Dilys Williams (Director of Centre for Sustainable Fashion, Professor of Academic Leadership at the London College of Fashion, UAL) ▪️ 12:35 __ “The Fashion SEEDS Benchmarking Report – A perspective on the Fashion Design for Sustainability Education in Europe” – Erminia D’Itria (Doctoral Researcher at POLIMI) ▪️ 12:55 __” A Framework for Fashion Sustainability Education” – Julia Valle Noronha (Associate Professor of Fashion, Co-head MA in Design & Crafts at EKA) ▪️ 13:15 __ “Tools and Activities for the Fashion SEEDS platform” – Louise Ravnløkke & Karen Marie Hasling (Assistant Professors at DSKD) ▪️ 13:55 __ [Coffee break] ▪️ 14:10 __ Discussion Panel: Designer Skill-sets in a Climate Neutral Economy – Moderated by Piret Puppart (Professor of Fashion at EKA) Panelists: Dilys Williams, Reet Aus, Oksana Skorbatjuk (Demand Generation Coordinator, Lindström), Kirsi Niinimäki (Associate Professor at the Department of Design, Aalto University) and Silke Lieser (sustainable marketing expert, founder of Gegenpol).