The theme of the conference is Proximity, which prompts us to explore the challenges and opportunities for Research and Education in Design, with the widening and closing of distances in these unpredictable times.
The social distance imposed upon us due to this unprecedented global health scenario urged researchers and professionals across different fields to a striking openness to other people and other areas of knowledge. Despite the distance, we are witnessing an extraordinary interdisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity global cooperation.
We are excited about how this reinvented proximity enhances the ability to cross fields and remove boundaries to collaboration between disciplines, and how processes can be accelerated towards an overarching goal: to overcome adversity.
At the same time, this urgent call for resilience in the way we lead our lives has brought our planetary boundaries and social tensions to the forefront of the conversation, and there is a generation of students fully aware of our collective responsibility in this decisive decade.
So while we, as educators, need to rapidly adapt to new tools and ways of teaching Design, we are also challenged on how to educate the designer for the pressing tasks of the near future. We feel optimistic about how education can support renovated mindsets and efforts towards our commons goals.
We invite you to reflect on what you have taken from this experience so far, and the possibilities that you envision opening up from it as we redefine the concept of Proximity.
Join us in Lisbon to nurture and develop your networks, broaden your horizons, disseminate your research findings and share your vision on the future of research and education in Design.