Student work & Features

By:Juliana Restrepo-Giraldo

My doctoral project draws inspiration from the Andean cosmology of Sumak Kawsay (Buen Vivir) as a valuable lens to understand relationality within the realm of everyday life at home. The design research yields outcomes in the form of stories and recipes, proposed as platforms for learning and facilitating experiences and relational practices. The vision is to guide homemakers toward alternative imaginaries closely linked to the continuous practice of Living Well at home.

By:Marlene Berkenhagen

“Talk like your village depends on it” aims to improve communication through service design methods in rural areas for long-lasting progress. Marlene Berkenhagen worked with the community of Kalvsvik and analysed their communication difficulties in order to help them create the change they want to see in their village.

By:Amanda Lorentzon

This design project aims to shed light on the ongoing “renaissance” within the Kingdom of Glass in Småland, Sweden. Through observation and personal participation, it reflects on the transition happening in real-time – from what the Kingdom of Glass once was to what it currently is- and offers some thoughts about what might lie ahead. While zooming in and out from different lenses, one being the highly personal perspective as a native to the region of Småland, but also through the lens of a designer focusing on sustainable change. With the aspiration of mediating, how sustainable design principles could be implemented in the transition process.

By:Kim Sensener

A design research project with participatory design practices about energy and agriculture. How can we transition to fossil independent agriculture in Sweden, and how can design be contributing to the change? I explain what the key aspects are and what is needed to support the farmers in their transition.

The design programs

lnu.se/en/programme/design-change/

BFA in Design + Change

lnu.se/en/programme/visual-communication-change/

BFA in Visual Communication + Change

lnu.se/en/programme/design-change-master-programme/vaxjo-international-autumn/

MFA Relational Design + Change

lnu.se/en/programme/innovation-through-business-engineering-and-design-specialisation-design-master-programme/

MA in Innovation through Business, Engineering and Design – Specialisation Design

Why change?

Collecting knowledge

Doesn’t design already imply change? Yes, through design we give form to new products (and books, campaigns, services, systems and much more). Through these we also shape and change behaviours, attitudes and even worldviews.

Today it is both formally and globally recognised that both ecological and social systems are in a critical state. We also know that human activities – and not least design, and its associated overconsumption – drive unsustainability. With + Change we want to emphasise the very potential of design to affect change and to extend it. + Change comprises different perspectives on change, such as adaptation, evolution and revolution. For us + Change very much includes examining, challenging and changing the norms that shape the everyday life of individuals as well as society at large. To affect change through design can be about initiatives directed at products, systems or worldviews. We can choose to use design to affect change locally, regionally or globally, and with a focus on ecology, economy, human health and equality, or all of them simultaneously. Altogether + Change is about purposefully using design, and its inherent creativity, in order to achieve changes towards futures of sustainability.

+ Change is not only about what we study and why – it is also about how we do it. + Change pedagogy brings design, artistic expression and theory together. We believe we need students and staff groups to genuinely and in an interdisciplinary manner engage with the complexity of sustainability. Therefore, we have chosen to have an international intake on all our programmes and to deliver them in English. Together we make a + Change culture – dynamic, vibrant, creative and critical.

Sharing is Caring

This is our digital platform where you will find selected Works, News and Features coming from the Linnaeus University’s Design Department. It is a tool for us as students, educators and researchers to share, connect and re-connect ideas for + Change. We continuously work to make our + Change knowledge and practices available and searchable.

You can filter the database by general terms like: Course documentations, Final examinations; also by more specific conditions like: Video, Social media or Exhibitions.