Da En
Prototyping på Tingcentralen i Aarslev
Research and development project

The Cultural Backpack

Participants from Kolding School of Design
Laila Grøn Truelsen
Anne Katrine G. Gelting
Zanitha H. Månegaard (designstuderende)
Research and development project type
Research and development
Project period
Aug 2021 - Mar 2024
Project management

Laila Grøn Truelsen

LAB
LAB for Play Design
Social Design
LAB theme
Material Life
Togetherness
Playful Learning
Fund
Faaborg Midtfyn Kommune: den kulturelle rygsæk
Collaboration partners
Faaborg Midtfyn Kommune
Tingcentralen i Aarslev
Background
Between 2021 and 2024, staff members from Kolding School of Design together with student assistants taught school teachers and their pupils in grades 4–6 at public and independent schools in Faaborg-Midtfyn Municipality. The teachers were first introduced to design thinking and selected design methods from the Future Teaching in Europe (FUTE) project, which they later applied in their teaching of craft and design.
Their pupils worked on developing a variety of simple products during class, and as part of the project they all took part in an idea generation and prototyping workshop at Tingcentralen in Aarslev. There, they were guided by design students in further developing their product concepts in groups. Throughout the project, three teacher workshops were held with the participation of teachers from schools and independent schools across Funen, and during a series of half-day workshops, all the schoolchildren engaged enthusiastically with the wide range of materials available at Tingcentralen – well supported and facilitated by the design students.

Project background: Getting pupils to understand how to work creatively and in teams with innovation and formgiving.

Project purpose

Pupils and their teachers will get a tangible experience with design methods and prototyping, also understanding of how they can work creativily with problemsolving and idea generation in class.

Prototyping på Tingcentralen i Aarslev

Methods and results

A large group of teachers have got a better insight in design thinking and design methods.

A very large group of pupils from grades 4, 5 and 6 from 25 different schools on Funen, have all tried working with selected design methods and prototyping in teams. They have experienced design thinking and design methods as “a hands on” way of solving problems and being creative together.

Relevance and impact

The project i s a part of larger project giving children on Funen an experience with design as an important aspect of innovation and cultural production in Denmark.

The project gives a big group of teachers and their pupils a direct understanding and experience with design method and how it can be used to generate innovation and be creatively engaged with the world.