While things are heating up in Amsterdam with the deadline for the WDCD Refugee Challenge nearing and WDCD Live Amsterdam less than two months away (10% early bird discount closing in two days!!), a lot is going on in São Paulo too. We talked to partner Bebel Abreu of WDCD Live São Paulo about what’s happening at her side of the world.
It’s five months since the first edition of WDCD in São Paulo. What reactions have you received since then? How are people looking back on the event?
Bebel Abreu: ‘The reactions were the best possible – people said the conference was a blow of optimism on a very difficult year. People were shaken up and got inspired to act and there is a huge curiosity for the second edition.
‘Here in Brazil there is a very narrow vision of what design is. People tend to relate the word only to aesthetics: a beautiful chair, a nice interior design, a cool lettering… WDCD shows design is more than a discipline; it is an attitude towards the problems we face. By showing the interface of design in so many areas, this event endorses and allows every single person to act, to do something to improve our surroundings.
‘Someone wrote to me: “It’s an amazing and fun event; an injection of motivation to do more for people who are around us, regardless of conditions we are in.”
Did you hear of any contacts, connections, projects or other follow up that came out of the conference?
Abreu: ‘The survey we did among the audience says that for 44 per cent of the attendees WDCD resulted in a new collaboration, and for 41 per cent WDCD resulted in initiating new projects. That’s nice, no?’
In Amsterdam we are working towards WDCD Live Amsterdam, but how are things evolving in São Paulo? Do we have a date already for a new edition of WDCD Live São Paulo?
Abreu: ‘We are also working towards the next edition over here, in São Paulo. It shall happen on 13 & 14 December 2016 at Faap (Fundação Armando Alvares Penteado), our home in 2015 as well. At the moment we are looking for partners and sponsors to bring the conference to life. In the meantime we are working on the program too: mobility, recycling and engagement are among the topics we’re considering.’
Does the WDCD Refugee Challenge get any attention in Brazil?
Abreu: ‘It certainly does, although the theme and especially the migration crisis in Europe may sound a bit far away. Here in Brazil there are also refugees, but if we’d plan a Challenge here I’d address it to Immigrants or to victims of floods, specially the mud catastrophe at Mariana, the biggest environmental crime we have ever seen in Brazil.’
Anything you would like to add?
Abreu: ‘I love to help bringing WDCD to Brazil! It is a huge challenge and an honor. We, Brazilians, have creativity the size of our problems, and What Design Can Do inspires and helps us to find the way to act. The country deserves to host a platform to discuss how we can all improve the place we live in, and the lives of our people.’
Top image: Bebel Abreu on stage at WDCD Live São Paulo 2015