Abstract
Humanitarian design is a term that can be used to describe the process of designing products, services or systems for populations affected by natural and/or man-made disasters. At the intersection between humanitarian action and design, lie new skills to be taught and opportunities to
launch a new generation of designers into new horizons, giving them applied challenges to deal with
social vulnerabilities, contexts of high uncertainty and a multitude of stakeholders and competing
priorities.
Teaching and promoting Humanitarian Design among young designers and individuals from different professional
backgrounds is essential at a time when increased prevalence of disasters, combined with reduced public spending and rapidly changing geopolitical situations, challenge our conceptions of humanitarian crisis, where they unfold and who they affect. This seminar was held with the aim to shed light onto different empirical perspectives of humanitarian design, its challenges, and futures, and to determine what can be learned from these
practices to strengthen safety and emergency preparedness in face of expected societal collapses
and crisis affecting Europe. These two days, made possible by the Norwegian Research Council under
the portfolio theme Democracy and Governance, included a panel of 11 international speakers with
different backgrounds and contributions for humanitarian action, a participative reflection workshop,
and featured student project presentations.
launch a new generation of designers into new horizons, giving them applied challenges to deal with
social vulnerabilities, contexts of high uncertainty and a multitude of stakeholders and competing
priorities.
Teaching and promoting Humanitarian Design among young designers and individuals from different professional
backgrounds is essential at a time when increased prevalence of disasters, combined with reduced public spending and rapidly changing geopolitical situations, challenge our conceptions of humanitarian crisis, where they unfold and who they affect. This seminar was held with the aim to shed light onto different empirical perspectives of humanitarian design, its challenges, and futures, and to determine what can be learned from these
practices to strengthen safety and emergency preparedness in face of expected societal collapses
and crisis affecting Europe. These two days, made possible by the Norwegian Research Council under
the portfolio theme Democracy and Governance, included a panel of 11 international speakers with
different backgrounds and contributions for humanitarian action, a participative reflection workshop,
and featured student project presentations.
