Design
Camp2020

With digitalisation and Industry 4.0 as a theme, Design School Kolding’s Design Camp 2020 explored through speculation and design fiction how new technologies such as e.g. robotics, sensors, cyber security and data tracking can enable alternative resilient futures that respond to the pressing issues of our current realities.

The setting brought together master students from cross-disciplinary design backgrounds and equipped them with tools and expert knowledge to translate technology understandings.

Camp2020 invited LEAP Technology, Re-Circle Hub, Danish Wind Power Academy and Nord Modules, all companies within Industry 4.0 working on real-life cases in collaboration with DigiHUB, to develop near-future scenarios of their technologies working closely with the students.

The students faced the challenge of understanding complex technologies engineered by the participating companies. They were asked to examine these technologies through more explorative and critical lenses that look beyond making things easy to use, practical or aesthetical.

Through a speculative design approach, they turned their design practice inside out to engage with the social context challenging the boundaries of where technology meets human needs.

Finally, the students’ ideas were communicated and experienced through video narratives to engage with a wider audience, posing the question: What if we can expand what is possible just by exposing ourselves and others to these scenarios? What if we can ’widen the sense of imaginable futures’ by creating them together?

Kick-off Workshop
Stupid Studio is a Danish design, brand and innovation agency specialised in the design of communication and experiences for culture, society, and children.

Camp 2020 opened with a 2-hour team building workshop, facilitated by Stupid Studio The idea was that the activity serves as a creative team building exercise to break the ice on group camp dynamics and to kick-start some of the topics.

Stupid core team:
Neza, Play & Communication designer
Rebecca, Play & Communication designer
Christian, Creative & Partner

Keynote Speakers
Keynote speakers were guest teachers with expert knowledge within the topics of Camp 2020: digitalisation / Industry 4.0, speculative design and storytelling narratives. They conveyed their know-how through longer lectures to the students and shared educational resources with the students such as presentations, reading material, web pages, etc., for them to use as references later on.

At Camp 2020 we had the pleasure of presenting the following keynote speakers:
Li Jönsson on speculative design and socioecological imaginaries
Peter Vistisen on speculative design through video sketching and simulation
Aurélie Mossé on smart textiles and resilient futures (e-conference)
Ane Skak on immersive storytelling
Danielle Wilde on wearables for the 21st Century

Taskforce
Camp2020 has a guest teacher taskforce, consisting of external experts within the topic of: digitalisation / Industry 4.0, speculative design, future scenarios, storytelling and video narratives. The taskforce members had two main roles. The main purpose was to support the students through direct group supervision. The taskforce members would also give short presentations prior to the supervision sessions, to introduce themselves and relevant cases related to within the topics of the camp. Through their presentations they aimed to inspire the students and give them an idea of how they could offer relevant know-how for the different design cases they were working on.

Taskforce members:
Simon Østergaard, Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies
Régis Lemberthe & Cedric Flazinski, Studio N O R M A L S
Patrik Svensson, Molamil /Manyone Leo Fidjeland and Linnea Våglund, Nonhuman Nonsense
Eva Knutz, University of Southern Denmark
Ane Skak, Immersive Stories
Peter Vistisen, Aalborg University