Seminar 3: Living Meeting Places

Teaching Staff: Annika Viding, Stefan Sjöberg 

Annika Viding is a designer, lecturer in form and design at the Study Programme in Industrial Design, University of Gävle. She teaches design processes and methods in practice and theory. This includes seminars and student projects focused on user-centered design and visual communication. She is especially interested in how design methodology can be used for co-creation, transdisciplinary projects, and living environment, which is carried out in various projects with students. She is involved in policy for Designed Living Environment, a national project to increase understanding and knowledge of the importance of sustainable environments for living and working. Previously she worked in practice with design in the private sector.

Stefan Sjöberg is associate professor of social work at University of Gävle, and PhD in Sociology (Uppsala University). He is director of the research program Urban Commons at University of Gävle, focusing on urban social-ecological sustainability. Stefan is part of the research program FAIRTRANS, with focus on fair climate transition, where he leads projects on social and community aspects of sustainable development. One of his research areas is since many years community work with marginalized groups and neighborhoods.

Seminar Description

Living Meeting Places

This is a series of seminars and workshops created to increase the participants understanding of co-design in sustainable development of communities and society, using methods in a process from Design Thinking. By practically testing the methods for creating proposals and showing how the old port area in Magdeburg can be developed into a living meeting place and community that is sustainable and inclusive.

During the days the seminar is given on site in Magdeburg, visits will be made to the old industrial port and during a walk together in the physical environment, the opportunity will be given to evaluate and analyze the site. The participants will meet people from Magdeburg and invite them to participate in the process, for increased understanding and better suggestions for how the place can be designed to promote a sustainable community development. With the support of Design Thinking, the participants will generate ideas and discuss their way to different proposals for how the place could be developed. During the process it is important to visualize and make the proposals credible in different ways, to involve others to understand and exchange ideas. The proposals will be presented at the final presentation Public & Accessible.