Alongside the busy programme of WDCD Live, we gathered some of the foremost experts on clean energy in The Netherlands to help us identify and prioritise Amsterdam-specific opportunities for what design can do in this domain. The Design Jam, which was simultaneously held in New Delhi, Nairobi, São Paulo and Mexico City, aimed at determining relevant local issues that can be addressed in the upcoming WDCD Clean Energy Challenge.
By Megan Anderson
The Design Jam was an action-packed, half-day session full of insight, constructive debate and inspiration. The variety of perspectives brought by civil servants, designers, entrepreneurs and scholars gave us a rich and multi-disciplinary understanding of the specific energy related challenges facing the city of Amsterdam.
Experts from a range of fields formed small teams and collaborated on a series of activities to help us contextualise our understanding of global urban energy issues. Together we explored what carbon decadence and poverty mean in Amsterdam, identified key energy-related city targets and articulated pressing local energy challenges best tackled through design.
Irrepressible chatter
From energy-guzzling data centres and the aesthetic considerations of clean energy products in ‘historic cities’, to reframing clean energy narratives and unpacking what energy poverty means across cities, we left with deeper insight into the exciting opportunities for designers working in and around Amsterdam.
Discussing which issues could benefit most from a design intervention
The session not only resulted in a better local understanding of a global problem, but also sparked new connections between local visionaries. At the end of the jam-packed day we struggled to quiet the room. The irrepressible chatter was a testament to the success of the event and a hint at future creative collaborations that might unfold as a result.
Megan Anderson is a design researcher at STBY