The Nordic Design Research Society conference, NORDES 2025, was held in Oslo this year at OsloMet in August. There was a notably large number of contributions from Umeå Institute of Design researchers: academic papers, workshops and exhibited pieces.
First up, our visiting PhD student Lilyana Yazirlıoğlu was the first author on a paper co-authored by myself and Heather Wiltse: Healing through collective textile-making: Crafting objects, places, and communities.
ABSTRACT:
Intensifying social and environmental challenges demands restructuring sustainable design frameworks in which communities’ resilience and empowerment are at the forefront. This research draws insights into that by engaging with textile-making communities located across Northern Ireland and Umeå/Sweden to examine their role in creating and networking resistance. It contributes to recognizing social and collective dimensions of sustainability by exploring how textile-making practices foster agency and solidarity. To examine the textile communities’ making practices, the intersection of three key concepts is used: craftivism by Greer (2008), third places theorized by Oldenburg (1989), and communities of practice drawing on Wenger’s (1998) framework. These concepts create a unique lens to examine textile communities’ contributions to reframing sustainability that reflects on cultural and collective aspects. Discussions and empirical data gathered show that involvement in collective textile-making can heal the broken connections between production and consumption as well as increase the well-being of individuals and communities. The paper concludes by providing suggestions to reshape design practice that accommodates collectives as crucial actors of fashion production networks. By understanding the adaptiveness of the textile communities to uncertainties and complexities, design practice can embrace “dancing with complexity” and co-create alternative structures and relations.
KEYWORDS:
textile communities; alternative production; relational design; dancing with complexity; broken systems
READ AND CITE:
Yazirlıoğlu, L., Kohtala, C.,and Wiltse, H. (2025) Healing through collective textile-making: Crafting objects, places, and communities, in Morrison, A., Culén, A. & Habib, L. (eds.), Nordes 2025: Relational Design, 6-8 August, Oslo, Norway. https://doi.org/10.21606/nordes.2025.39
Other full papers
Our PhD students and visiting PhD students also presented the following:
Collins, R., Acharya, A.T., van Wijland, T., Zhang, H., Redström, J.,and Rozendaal, M.C. (2025) Agonistic Design In Practice: Introducing Agonism to Interaction Design Pedagogy, in Morrison, A., Culén, A. & Habib, L. (eds.), Nordes 2025: Relational Design, 6-8 August, Oslo, Norway. https://doi.org/10.21606/nordes.2025.3
Gil-Salas, P. (2025) Reclaiming ‘autonomía(s)’: Governance through design, in Morrison, A., Culén, A. & Habib, L. (eds.), Nordes 2025: Relational Design, 6-8 August, Oslo, Norway. https://doi.org/10.21606/nordes.2025.7
Nilsson, F., Hansen, L.A., and Göransdotter, M. (2025) Activating aesthetics – explorations for shifting design practices, in Morrison, A., Culén, A. & Habib, L. (eds.), Nordes 2025: Relational Design, 6-8 August, Oslo, Norway. https://doi.org/10.21606/nordes.2025.24
Wilde, D., Naqvi, L., and Karyda, M. (2025) Co-creating the good life through food-based inquiry, in Morrison, A., Culén, A. & Habib, L. (eds.), Nordes 2025: Relational Design, 6–8 August, Oslo, Norway. https://doi.org/10.21606/nordes.2025.38
Postdoc paper:
Lee, Y.S. (2025) Poetic engagements with technology: An alternative design space for embracing vulnerable human nature, in Morrison, A., Culén, A. & Habib, L. (eds.), Nordes 2025: Relational Design, 6-8 August, Oslo, Norway. https://doi.org/10.21606/nordes.2025.17
and:
Lee, Y.S., and Redstöm, J. (2025) Poetic layers: Exploring the aesthetics of bias, in Morrison, A., Culén, A. & Habib, L. (eds.), Nordes 2025: Relational Design, 6-8 August, Oslo, Norway. https://doi.org/10.21606/nordes.2025.18
And UID faculty co-authored paper:
Ciobanu, P., and Fernaeus, Y. (2025) Is it About Time? On the Meanings of Temporal Representations in Object Art, in Morrison, A., Culén, A. & Habib, L. (eds.), Nordes 2025: Relational Design, 6-8 August, Oslo, Norway. https://doi.org/10.21606/nordes.2025.2
Exploratory papers
PhD student paper:
Özçetin, S., Fernaeus, Y., Özçetin, Ş., and Pschetz, L. (2025) Towards eco-social contracts through an entangled manifestation of digital litter, in Morrison, A., Culén, A. & Habib, L. (eds.), Nordes 2025: Relational Design, 6-8 August, Oslo, Norway. https://doi.org/10.21606/nordes.2025.65
UID faculty paper:
Helms, K., Jääskeläinen, P., Lindberg, S., Sporrong, E., Menon, A., Schalk, M., and Lampinen, A. (2025) Toying with relations: Speculative toys for children and sustainability, in Morrison, A., Culén, A. & Habib, L. (eds.), Nordes 2025: Relational Design, 6-8 August, Oslo, Norway. https://doi.org/10.21606/nordes.2025.50
Workshop
UID faculty:
Jönsson, L., Göransdotter, M., Ståhl, Å., Lindström, K., and Laurien, T. (2025) Design briefs after progress, in Morrison, A., Culén, A. & Habib, L. (eds.), Nordes 2025: Relational Design, 6-8 August, Oslo, Norway. https://doi.org/10.21606/nordes.2025.79
Exhibit
PhD student:
Collins, R. (2025) The Conspiracy Capitaliser: A Tool for Exploring the Intersection of AI, Politics and Profit, in Morrison, A., Culén, A. & Habib, L. (eds.), Nordes 2025: Relational Design, 6-8 August, Oslo, Norway. https://doi.org/10.21606/nordes.2025.69
Proceedings
The conference proceedings are available here: https://dl.designresearchsociety.org/nordes/nordes2025/.
NORDES 2025 – highlights
On Day One, PhD students gathered for the Doctoral Consortium, and in the evening, all participants were welcomed to the conference opening in the jaw-dropping main hall of the Oslo City Hall, where we got an introduction to the historically notable murals.
Day 2 and 3 consisted of plenary keynotes, an exhibition of contributed, peer-reviewed exhibits, and parallel sessions for paper presentations and workshops. In the evening of Day 2 we strolled to the harbour and boarded a cruise vessel for a convivial dinner cruise.
The keynotes took a different format, being more of a taster of researchers giving shorter talks (up to 15 minutes) to provoke discussion.
Keynote Session 1:
Some Notes from an Unfaithful Daughter of Design (Research): Li Jönsson;
Decolonising methodologies: Britt Kramvig;
Forced Relationships: Jasmin Niess.
Keynote Session 2:
Same Same but Different? A Provocation on (Re-)inventing the Wheel: İdil Gaziulusoy;
Keynote Session 3:
Considering design legacies and futures: Camilla Brattland.
All in all it was a valuable experience, in presenting and engaging in dialogue, in seeing old friends, and meeting new colleagues.
