17

“In the Czech Republic we are still struggling with the concept of design, which 
has little in common with the constantly changing world around us. We are more 
than pleased that we could invite experts, who presented new ways to approach 
design to the Czech audience. It helped us not to miss out on the period and we 
believe that, thanks to it, even Czech design will not miss the chance!“

Jana Vinšová, CZECHDESIGN manager

Overall, 17 lectures and 5 workshops were organized to discuss topics such 
as the social role of design and its relationship to society, the future of design 
disciplines, or the role of research in design and its sustainability. The lectures 
were attended by more than a thousand students. 

“The workshop was great – an interesting and important topic. I appreciated  
the inspirational approach and new methods of thinking and designing.“  
(from the workshop Design for People´s Needs led by Jeremy Myerson  
for students of Industrial Design at the Academy of Art, Architecture and  
Design in Prague)

“Working with Czechdesign and their colleagues at the Academy of Arts, 
Architecture and Design in Prague gave us a very good insight into how design 
is understood and taught in Prague. I think everyone involved took something 
home to think about.”

Casper Boks, head of Department of Design at Norwegian University  
of Science and Technology

In addition to the project, a study trip to Iceland Design Centre was organized. 

CZECHDESIGN – the centre of Czech design is an independent research and educational 

organization that has supported and developed Czech design since 2003. Its team 

involves experts in design, management of design, education, theory as well as 

history of design. The objective of CZECHDESIGN is to enhance the competitiveness 

of the Czech design and Czech industry. As part of its activities it helps designers and 

entrepreneurs, companies and state institutions to find common ground.

Future of European 

Design and Applied 

Art

CZECHDESIGN

Prague (CZ)

Norwegian 

University of 

Science and 

Technology

Trondheim (NO)