Design Thinking in Finland: Prof. Jenny Bergström on her research stay at the University of Lapland

Ms. Bergström, you were in Finland as part of a staff mobility program. At which university were you, during which period and what did you do there?

End of March, I spent a week at the University of Lapland in Rovaniemi (Finland), conducting a five-day workshop with students and holding a lecture on Design Thinking and creative processes. The lecture was part of the university’s program during Arctic Design Week, a yearly design festival taking place in Rovaniemi. In the experimental Design Thinking workshop, the participants were introduced to renewable gluten plastic, a new sustainable material that has the potential to replace oil-based plastics. The students were given the task to investigate the material’s properties, stretch its boundaries and develop new, innovative and experimental packaging concepts for the local chocolate manufacturer Choko Deli.