Not only students but also teachers can gain exciting experience at host universities through Erasmus teacher mobility. Prof. Jenny Bergström from the Design Department recently visited the University of Lapland in Rovaniemi where he held a Design Thinking work-shop.
Mrs Bergström, you were in Finland on a staff mobility programme. What university were you at, during what period and what were you doing there?
At the end of March, I spent a week at the University of Lapland in Rovaniemi, Finland, where I led a five-day workshop with students and gave a lecture on Design Thinking and Creative Processes. The lecture was part of the university’s program during Arctic Design Week, an annual design festival in Rovaniemi. The experimental Design Thinking workshop introduced participants to renewable gluten plastic, a new sustainable material that has the potential to replace petroleum-based plastics. The students were given the task of assessing the material’s properties. explore, expand its boundaries and develop new, innovative and experimental packaging concepts for local chocolate manufacturer Choko Deli
What particularly impressed you during your study period abroad?
During my stay, I had the opportunity to meet students, researchers and other professors and exchange ideas and experiences in design education and research. It is always inspiring to see how design is thought about in other universities and how the teaching staff work to build a creative culture in which students feel confident to research and experiment. I also met some people who were curious about Berlin and our work at Media University, and I am sure this will lead to interesting collaborations and exchanges in the future.
What experience will you particularly remember and how will your teaching at Media University benefit from it?
I had the opportunity to exchange ideas with professors and students about creative processes and the different ways of planning and documenting artistic research and design work, which I will take with me and incorporate into my teaching at Media University. I also experienced an open dialogue and close relationship between students and faculty, which allows students to dare to ask questions and reach out when they need help. I experience this every day at Media University, but the outside view reminded me how important this is for maintaining a creative and healthy culture of study.
Thank you for sharing your experience with us.
