NORDES 2015 - Design Ecologies

Konstfack – University College of Arts, Crafts and Design. Stockholm, Sweden
June 7 – 10, 2015

Submission deadline: January 7, 2015

Design Ecologies
Challenging anthropocentrism in the design of sustainable futures

http://nordes.org/nordes2015

Design sits on a natural-artificial continuum. However, it is realised through a natural capacity of humans to produce what we call ‘the artificial’. At a time when human activity is threatening biodiversity and causing severe climate change, it becomes obvious that natural and artificial systems can no longer be conceived in isolation. They need to be understood, designed and studied in relation to each other – or indeed as a whole.

However, the coupling of natural and artificial systems poses challenges due to their complexity. This coupling also partly reveals the anthropocentrism that has historically characterised much of design.

Several questions arise in this context. One central question is: How might design practices embrace pluralism by recognising, in the manifestation of design itself, biological as well as cultural diversity?

At Nordes 2015 these and many other issues will be examined and discussed, articulating how designers, educators and researchers of design currently engage with these challenges, and how they might or should engage with them in the near future.

Important dates:
7 – 10 June 2015: Conference (Sunday – Wednesday)
1 December 2014: Submission system opens
7 January 2015: Submission deadline
20 March 2015: Author notification
20 April 2015: Submission of final versions