Social
Spaces

MadFaculty/Social Spaces participeert in de organisatie van Sociaal Innovatie Labs. Het doel van deze labs is om technologie en innovatie te linken aan de sociale sector. Thema van dit jaar is armoedebestrijding. 

Het Sociaal Innovatie Lab zal 6-maal plaatsvinden doorheen Vlaanderen en houdt op 22 mei halt in Genk (namiddagsessie in MAD-Fac, avondsessie op andere locatie op C-mine).

Voor dit Sociaal Innovatie Lab zoekt men dus programmeurs, grafisch vormgevers, product designers, fotografen,… en mensen uit de social sector.

Inschrijven en  meer info via http://www.sociaalinnovatielab.be

In het kader van 75 jaar Wit Gele Kruis in Vlaanderen wordt er op 31 mei een event georganiseerd rond “goede” technologie. Happy Technology Makes Happy People brengt praktijkvoorbeelden en reflecties over het inzetten van technologie in zorgomgevingen. Het vertrekpunt van dit event is de relatie tussen mens en technologie: hoe kan technologie ingezet worden om de zorgverlener te ondersteunen een meer patiëntgerichte zorg uit te voeren; hoe kan de technologie “enablend” werken en de zorgbehoevende helpen zijn zorgtraject mee in handen te nemen?

Vanuit Social Spaces presenteren Andrea & Niels (samen met Karin Slegers van CUO) het werk dat ze uitvoeren in het ATOM-project.

Meer info en inschrijven via de KHLIM.

On March 1^st the e-book Dat is design (This is design) was launched. The book is a collection of essential writings concerning design reflection. It follows the concept of the book Dat is Architectuur (This is architecture) that was published in 2001. 150 texts of the 21^st century, starting from 1850, are presented in chronological order. The texts are categorized in 15 themes, namely triviality (alledaagsheid), canon, consumption, digital, function, tool, identity, critique, art?, literature, machine, research, beauty, sign (teken) and responsibility. The MAD-faculty, and more specifically researchers from Social Spaces, developed the themes digital and research.

Dat is design is a collaboration between the design institutions of the KULeuven Association. The professional bachelor program Interior Design of the group Design & Technology (Lessius Mechelen) initiated and coordinated the development of the book. In this phase the book is only accessible for the institutions of the KULeuven Association. However, the book will be published later. Visit the website for more information (it is in Dutch however).

As part of my (Ben Hagenaars) research project  Cultivating Communities, I organised a workshop at the NME seminar (Natuur en Milieu educatie dag) in Brussels last week. 25 stakeholders within the field of environment and education participated in the workshop. The aim was to visualise a fictional map of a network between different schools. I used the MAP-it toolkit – developed by social spaces – which normally uses sticker icons to visualise a map. However, I made some alterations since I wanted to add some extra features like building blocks to make the map more tangible. This idea originates from a presentation I took part in during the Sustainable Summer School organised by REcentre last summer. For this presentation we didn’t want to use PowerPoint to visuals our concept – a food system for the city of Maastricht – but we built a miniature city out of materials we could scavenge in the surrounding area. This made it really easy to talk about the food systems with local famers, citizens and other stakeholders. It enabled us to work out a scenario of our concept, but more importantly it enabled other people to ad ideas of their own to the existing map. A fragment of the presentation can be found in this video by REcentre (starting from minute 7:41).

The 10th European Academy of Design Conference – Crafting the Future – has as conference theme: designer´s practice knowledge. Or how can the specific knowledge of designers be brought forward, articulated, made visible and be understood and used in contexts like innovation, business development and social change?

The conference will take place in Gothenburg (Sweden), from 17-19 April 2013.

The organizing committee is pleased to invite proposals for papers to the following tracks:

1. Designing Future Mobility
2. Design Development of Future Homes for Future Cities
3. Design and Innovation
4. MAKING TOGETHER – Open, Connected, Collaborative
5. The craft of design in design of service
6. Fashion Design for Sustainability
7. Design history as a tool for better design
8. Power to the People: Practices of Empowerment through Craft
9. Design & Craft (Crafting the Education of Design)

For more information and timing, consult the conference website