Please scroll down for our Design Research Programme Thriving Planet in Natlab

Living in the middle of the pressing climate crisis and resulting climate injustice, we see limitations in the ongoing approaches of design --- human-centered design. In pursuit of short-term local and rapid technological advancement, humans have exploited natural resources, leading to consequences such as rising sea levels, more frequent and severe natural disasters, and the decline of pollinators. Read more in the Editorial.

Dialogues: Thriving Planet

workshop and discussions

Natlab, Tuesday 22 October 10:00-13:30

organised by: Yuta Ikea, Ege Kökel, Katharine Legun, Oscar Tomico, Dulaj Perera

Introduction 

The Dialogue session of Thriving Planet organizes collections of indoor & outdoor activities varying from a sensitizing walk for noticing ecological networks of the living and nonliving, a board game for coping with eco-anxiety, and an interactive installation to learn the ecological impact of using generative AI.

Featured projects:

• “Leaving a Trace”: The project explores the possibilities of designing for cohabitation of humans and nonhumans. The designer uses the technique of sketch to change their perspective from a human to nonhumans who share a space.
• “Sharing Non-Human Appreciation”: Sharing people’s experience of nature might encourage the public to live more sustainably. The designer crafts a probe to support people to tell their stories of appreciating nonhumans.
• “Dear Future”: A meaning-focused game that helps players cope with eco-anxiety through discussing personal values and encouraging positive emotions.
• “Ecology of AI”: This interactive installation visualizes the ecological impact of using generative AI service, translating the digital into the physical.

Note for participants!!! Outdoor activities involve participants walking into and sitting on meadows. Workable clothes and good walking shoes are recommended.

 Programme 10:00-12:30

• 09:45-10:00 Walk-in
• 10:00-10:20 Introduction
• 10:20-11:05 Outdoor workshops: Sensitizing to ecology
  • “Leaving a Trace” (Youp Ferket)
  • “Sharing Non-Human Appreciation” (Luna Snelder)
• 11:05-11:20 Switch/pause
• 11:20-12:05 Workshops: Living in climate crisis 
  • “Dear Future” (Isa Jorritsma)
  • “Ecology of AI” (Lucie Brouwer)
• 12:05-12:30 Discussion
• 12:30  network lunch together with CLICKNL and DDF

Join us!

This programme is open to everyone interested in design research and our Thriving planet. Participation is free after registration. Limited seats are available. One week before the event you will be notified if you can participate.

Register before 11 October

We hope to see you at Microlab!

Please scroll down for our Design Research Programme Digital Future in Natlab

The Digital Future has arrived but continues to evolve, constantly shaped by the imagination and innovation of today’s designers. This theme explores the transformation of the Digital Future through a curated selection of diverse, interactive artifacts. These projects explore the critical skills, human and non-human agencies, and pressing concerns that are shaping our world—elements that are not only vital today but will become even more essential as we move forward into the next phase of the Digital Future. The mini-exhibition and participatory panel discussion blend experiential learning with forward-thinking design, offering a platform for dialogue and exploration. Read more in the Editorial.

Dialogues: Future Digital Futures

Mini-exhibition & Panel discussion

Natlab Eindhoven 23 October 11:30-14:30

organised by: Janet Huang, Eindhoven University of Technology, Jesse Josua Benjamin, Eindhoven University of Technology, Sage Cammers-Goodwin, University of Twente, Davide Parrilli, Delft University of Technology

Introduction to the Programme: 

The Digital Future has arrived but continues to evolve, constantly shaped by the imagination and innovation of today’s designers. This theme explores the transformation of the Digital Future through a curated selection of diverse, interactive artifacts. These projects explore the critical skills, human and non-human agencies, and pressing concerns that are shaping our world—elements that are not only vital today but will become even more essential as we move forward into the next phase of the Digital Future. The mini-exhibition and participatory panel discussion blend experiential learning with forward-thinking design, offering a platform for dialogue and exploration.

Programme TImeline 11:30 - 14:30

• 11:30-11:40 Welcome Session and Introduction to mini-exhibition to “Digital Future”
• 11:40-12:30 Interactive Exhibition and Question Gathering (I)
• 12:30-13:30 Network lunch together with CLICKNL and DDF
• 13:30-14:00 Interactive Exhibition and Question Gathering (II)
• 14:00-14:30 Open panel and Closing session

Register before 11 October!
Participation is free after registration and includes lunch.

Please scroll down for our Design Research Programme Health & Wellbeing in Natlab

As the world grows more complex, design presents innovative solutions to enhance mental, social, and physical wellbeing. We want to invite you to explore how thoughtful design and new technologies can enhance health and foster wellbeing in people’s lives. The projects showcased this year reflect a broad spectrum of topics and highlight how design can contribute to individual, community, and societal health and wellbeing. Together, they demonstrate the potential of design to create positive change. Read more in the Editorial.

Dialogues: Designing towards harmony for individuals, communities and systems 

Guided meditations, Designer presentations & Dialogues

Natlab Eindhoven, 24 October 10:00-13:30 including network lunch

Organised by:   Haian Xue (TU Delft), Naomi van Stralen (UTwente), Svetlana Mironcika (TU/e), Tingting Wang (TU Delft)

Introduction 

This half-day DDW event brings together creative minds and diverse perspectives to explore how thoughtful design and emerging technologies can enhance health and foster wellbeing. Participants will engage in activities that center the body as the core of human experience, share relevant design and research projects, and discuss the diverse values that shape our understanding of wellbeing. Through these discussions and interactions, we aim to uncover how design can cultivate harmony at the individual, community, and systemic levels, which ultimately leads to healthier and more fulfilling lives. Whether you are a designer, health professional, community leader, systems thinker, or simply interested in the intersection of these fields, this event provides a unique opportunity to learn, share, and grow in a collaborative environment that celebrates the power of design to create a more harmonious world.

Programme

• 09:45 Walk-in
• 10:00 Welcome and introduction
• 10:10 Bodily Engagement Session
• 10:20 Designer Presentations
• 11:00 Short Break with Refreshments
• 11.10 Parallel Discussions 
• 12:10 Insights Sharing
• 12:25 Closing Remarks
• 12:30 Network lunch together with CLICKNL and DDF

We hope to see your there!

Participation is free after registration. Lunch is included for our participants. 

Register before 11 October. 

Please scroll down for our Design Research Programme Equal Society in Natlab 

During both the exhibition and the Equity Dialogues live event, visitors are cordially invited to engage with the different projects on display actively; projects that are being presented in various formats ranging from live demonstrations to video installations, and from playing a serious game to participating in a moderated panel discussion. A collection of projects, moreover, that jointly unveils a variety of perspectives on the roles design can play regarding an “Equal Society,” or rather: how design can support more equitable societies. Instead of imagining a single homogenous society where all are equal, we investigate the possibilities for moving towards societies where the needs of human beings and nonhuman lifeforms – in all their diversity – are being met in harmonious and durable ways. Read more in the Editorial.

The Equity Dialogues: How can design support more equitable societies?

Interactive programme and Panel Discussion

Natlab, Eindhoven, 25 October 10:00-12:30

Organised by: Laurens Kolks, TU Delft, Jairo da Costa, University of Twente, Angeliki Balayannis,  Wageningen University & Research

Introduction 

On Friday morning 25 October, at the Equity Dialogues live event, visitors are cordially invited to actively engage with the different projects* on display; projects that are being presented in various formats ranging from live demonstrations to video installations, and from playing a serious game to participating in a moderated panel discussion. A collection of projects, moreover, that jointly unveils a variety of perspectives on the roles design can play regarding an “Equal Society,” or rather: how design can support more equitable societies. Instead of imagining a single homogenous society where all are equal, we investigate the possibilities for moving towards societies where the needs of human beings and nonhuman lifeforms – in all their diversity – are being met in harmonious and durable ways. 

Programme 

• 09:45   Walk-in
• 10:00 Welcome and introduction to the interactive program
• 10.15 Live project demonstrations and interactive video installation 
• 10.45 Live moderated panel discussion 
• 12.00 Live project demonstrations and interactive video installation
• 12:30   Wrap up and network lunch together with CLICKNL and Dutch Design Foundation

Register before 11 October: Participation is free after registration and including lunch.

*In A Growing Community Space, Yaro Berendsen examines the potential of urban agriculture to address social inequities and enhance community well-being in Milton, a deprived neighbourhood in Glasgow. In Rethinking Youth Participation in Policymaking, Susanna Osinga explores how to empower Rotterdam youth so they feel recognized, in control, and ready to engage in local politics. Gijs van Leeuwen and Abhigyan Singh's project Voicing The Underrepresented Voices of Bijlmer’s Energy Transition discloses the tensions that emerge in relation to a local energy transition in Amsterdam South-East.

Building on design justice and feminist design, Remke Timmermans’ A Place Worth Living In examines how residents of Dutch asylum reception centres can be meaningfully engaged in co-designing the futures of these institutions. In Embodied Fitting of Workwear For Safety, Comfort and Inclusion, Svetlana Mironcika explores how workwear garment personalization can safeguard people with diverse body shapes. Marcello Persico, Marlieke Roest, Marlinde de Jonge, Michael Hobson and Nuria Bouhdid co-designed Easy-Up, a product that helps young children to support their pregnant mother’s physical mobility and independence.

To foster transformative dialogues on how conflicts and wars severely disrupt global food security, Ine Hikspoors, Arjan Rijkenhuizen, Vera Bekkers, Denise Baur, Fanny Bourgeois, Taco Van Gemert, Haochen Li and Federico Andreotti created the strategy board game Harvost Havoc. TU Delft's Inclusive Design Lab presents several learnings from their past five years of research into preferable paths that can contribute to more equal societies in The Inclusive Design Experience - Misgivings and Paths.