Mini-symposium Prototyping Futures

A special symposium took place on Thursday 28 November, organised to mark the departure of Jeroen van den Eijnde as professor Tactical Design at ArtEZ . The event reflected on the impact and results of the professorship over the past eight years, providing inspiration for further developments within NewTexEco.

In his introduction, Jeroen van den Eijnde outlined the professorship’s vision, in which design is seen as a connecting discipline in tackling major societal challenges such as climate change, sustainability and just societies. And design research as an interplay between I-think-we-do.

He emphasised how designers, with their holistic and systemic approach, play a key role in solving so-called ‘wicked problems’ – complex issues without unambiguous solutions. Through co-creation, participatory design and artistic methods, designers contribute to new perspectives and transitions.

In a video contribution, Caroline Hummels, professor at TU Eindhoven, underlined the unique value of design and design thinking in creating positive and sustainable transformations in complex systems that contribute to a just, inclusive and sustainable society. This was followed by an inspiring talk by Pauline van Dongen, who used examples from her work to show how technology and fashion come together in smart textile solutions, such as Suntex.

The debate, led by Jeroen van den Eijnde, brought design researchers Frank Kolkman, Jorn Konijn, Tjeerd Veenhoven and Klasien van de Zandschulp into a discussion based on the propositions:

*Prototypes in design research provide new knowledge that scientific research rarely, if ever, provides.
*Design research from an art college is experimental and hardly fits in with the attitude of project partners who want to see quick social and economic successes.
*One of the important roles of the designer is to make complex social issues transparent and understandable to politicians and citizens.

Thus, topical themes that are important for NewTexEco were discussed, such as circularity, innovative materials and the role of the designer in making the textile chain more sustainable.

The afternoon ended with an interactive session by Klasien van de Zandschulp in which, via an app she developed within the Toolkit for the Inbetween project, a pattern was jointly developed that will be converted on Klasien’s knitting machine into a scarf or artwork of Jeroen’s choice.

The symposium honoured not only the work of the professorship, but also the power of design as a means to address future challenges and foster collaborations between art, science, governments and businesses.