About this event

1. Avant Gardener, being a designer in residence by Cecile Espinasse

During this presentation you will hear how Cecile has experienced the concept of social design while performing her DAE graduation project Avant Gardener, a proposal to (re)consider the role of the green workers in Eindhoven.

For her, social design is the result of changes, suggestions, ideas, happenings occurring thanks to some persons -in a given social and local context-. This social context welcomes and is open to collaborate with a foreign element -the designer- in order to improve something in their current situation.

About Cecile Espinasse

Cécile (born in 1994, France) graduated in 2019 from Design Academy Eindhoven with her project Avant Gardener. This project got her to be rewarded Social Design Talent 2019 by the Gemeente of Eindhoven, and is a good example her way of working : coming in a certain geographical and social context with curiosity and enthusiasm ; and thought the «sweet disturbance» that her presence brings, creating space for innovation.

2. Empathy Training as a Social Design tool by Guntra Laivacuma

During this presentation, you will get to know the DAE bachelor project of Gruntra, Empathy Gym, which is a game that encourages players to practice empathy by sharing stories about emotions, actions and sensations. The game helps us recognize emotions in facial expressions, become better storytellers and listeners, and helps us reflect on our experiences. We learn from neuroscience that all humans are inherently empathic, and that empathy is a skill we can train.

About Gunntra Laivacuma

Guntra is a social designer and artist born in Latvia and currently living in the Netherlands. She studied at the Design Academy Eindhoven where she became expert on designing tools of education and communication for social impact. Her bachelor graduation project “Empathy Gym” reflects the way she works, using storytelling as a means for empathy training and centering her work on research and interaction.