Nordic design sets the stage at COP24

04.09.18 | News
Nordic Food Policy Lab Dan Saladino Deinse Loga
Photographer
Elisabet Skylare
The Nordic Council of Ministers’ international branding project, The Nordics, has teamed up with the national design associations to run a competition for sustainable chairs. The winning entries will feature prominently on the Nordic pavilion at the UN Climate Summit (COP24) in Katowice.

The Nordics will showcase the winner and other finalists to the leaders, politicians, and activists at the global gathering, COP24 in Katowice, Poland, in December. The well-designed and sustainable chairs entered will literally be used by speakers and panellist in the Nordic Pavilion, the inviting setting for the two-week Nordic programme of discussions about climate policy.

We want to showcase Nordic design to the leaders of the world and emphasise the important role design can play in achieving the United Nations SDGs.

Tobias Grut, Brand Manager for The Nordics

“In a truly democratic way, we are reaching out to all Nordic designers, not just established companies and producers. We want to showcase Nordic design to the leaders of the world and emphasise the important role design can play in achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goal,” says Tobias Grut, Brand Manager for The Nordics.

Nordic values

Nordic designers have led the world in integrating elements of sustainability into their work on everyday objects and others are now taking up the gauntlet. The competition aims to raise awareness of the discussion about sustainability in the design industry and to encourage design thinking in the climate debate.

“We are happy to have teamed up with the national associations to run this competition. As well as being a core Nordic competency and something we are known for throughout the world, design and design thinking are important bearer of the values we share, our Nordic mind-set and approach to solving complicated problems,” Grut added.

We hope to spark a thorough discussion on the concept of sustainability in the production of chairs, and to introduce a dialogue on how to practically address the many challenges related to this.

Christina Melander, Programme Director, the Danish Design Centre

Linking design and climate

The other partners involved in promoting the competition, encouraging participants and judging the entries are; DOGA in Norway, the Danish Design Centre, the Iceland Design Centre, Ornamo in Finland and Svensk Form in Sweden.

“We hope to spark a thorough discussion on the concept of sustainability in the production of chairs, and to introduce a dialogue on how to practically address the many challenges related to this,” stresses Christina Melander, Programme Director, the Danish Design Centre.

Apply for the Nordic Design Competition before October 3rd, 14.00