The 8th biannual Nordic Design Research Society (Nordes) conference is going to take place at Aalto University, Finland between 2–4 June 2019. In times of a world-wide crisis of care in its many dimensions, the conference poses the timely, and also, self-critical question ‘who cares?’, well worth exploring in design research and beyond:

“What do, or should, we care about in design and design research today? Underpinning the question are issues of culture and agency – who cares, for whom, and how? Taking care, or being cared for, evokes the choice of roles, and processes of interaction, co-creation and even decision-making. Caring, as a verb, emphasizes care as intention, action and labor in relation to others. Care can be understood as concern for that beyond oneself, for others and, thus, human, societal and even material and ecological relations are at stake. The question of care is also a call for questioning relationships, participation and responsibility, democratic and sustainable ways of co-existing. From this expansive societal standpoint, we could even ask who cares about design? And what should we do about it?”

We hope to be there this summer to explore and discuss these questions more deeply – much looking forward to this.

More info:
https://nordes2019.aalto.fi