Med udnævnelsen af Mette Julie Bundgaard som studielektor styrker Designskolen Kolding sit engagement i udviklingen af et designfelt, hvor æstetik, ansvarlighed og samfundsmæssig forandring går hånd i hånd – og hvor forbindelserne mellem mennesker, discipliner og beslutningsniveauer er afgørende for fremtiden.

16 Feb 2026 / The school and employees, LAB for Sustainability and Design, Education and research

Mette Julie Bundgaard appointed Associate Professor: Will bring industry, emerging talent, and decision-makers together around a shared vision for the future

Name: Kolding School of Design
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With the appointment, Kolding School of Design gains not only expertise at a new level but also a clear voice in the work of strengthening the role of design in the sustainable transition.

By Marianne Baggesen Hilger

When Mette Julie Bundgaard now assumes her position as Associate Professor at Kolding School of Design, it marks the culmination of many years of work at the intersection of design education, research, and the apparel and textile industry. Her work spans teaching bachelor’s and master’s students to research and development projects in collaboration with companies and organisations across the textile sector.

- My work is directed both towards the students and their development as designers, towards companies in the industry, and towards public and private organisations, she explains.

The common thread in her work is a clear future perspective: how the apparel and textile industry can evolve within the planet’s boundaries, and how design can act as a catalyst for that change.

- The challenges fundamentally revolve around how the industry can develop in the future with respect for planetary boundaries, and how we can achieve that with design as a catalyst for change. At the same time, it is central for me to maintain and strengthen a high aesthetic integrity in well-crafted and qualified design.

A collective movement across layers and sectors
The appointment thus marks not only an academic acknowledgement but also a strategic strengthening of Kolding School of Design’s role in the design field. As Associate Professor, Mette Julie Bundgaard gains greater scope to work long-term, strategically, and network-based, both nationally and internationally.

She hopes, among other things, to help bring together actors who rarely find themselves in the same space.

- I hope to contribute to gathering, activating, and uniting emerging talent, the industry, society, and the political decision-making level in a shared movement, where we reclaim a vision for the future based on mutual connectedness, equality, and respect for our environment—from the local to the global and planetary level, she says.

It is precisely this ambition to connect levels, sectors, and perspectives that characterises her approach and aligns with Kolding School of Design’s goal of strengthening the interplay between education, research, and society.

Networks as the key to change
One of the themes that currently engages her most is networks—not as fixed structures, but as organic, fluid, and often unpredictable connections.

- These can be professional knowledge networks, collaboration and business networks, interdisciplinary networks, or entirely new networks you didn’t even know you were missing, she says, continuing:

- For me, networks are largely about creating connections that enable new forms of knowledge, action, and collective change.

In her role as Associate Professor, she now has a platform to focus on this work: strategically engaging in existing networks and building new ones that can strengthen Kolding School of Design’s role and impact in the design field.

- I hope to contribute with a stronger mandate to approach the industry and our partners, where I can act more as a representative of Kolding School of Design, she says.

A longer perspective on education and the role of the design discipline
The appointment has already changed her perspective on teaching and knowledge sharing. She describes it as gaining a new “lens” with a longer-term perspective and a clearer responsibility.

- The Associate Professor role allows me to work more strategically and long-term on the development of teaching and research in collaboration with the industry and to contribute more directly to shaping Kolding School of Design’s academic and strategic direction.

At the same time, the ambition regarding students is clear: to educate designers who do not merely create products, but also drive change.

- I hope to contribute to making a real difference for the new generation of designers as agents of change who will help materialise the industry and the world we aspire to create.

With the appointment of Mette Julie Bundgaard as Associate Professor, Kolding School of Design reinforces its commitment to developing a design field where aesthetics, responsibility, and societal change go hand in hand and where connections between people, disciplines, and decision-making levels are crucial for the future.