The 2019 Dutch Design Week is almost upon us. During this week, 19 to 27 October, people, including international experts, designers, and influencers in Eindhoven will take on the challenge of tackling current social issues differently.

This year, for the third time, there are six embassies, each with its own theme – Safety, Circular & Biobased Building, Sustainable Design, Health, Mobility, and Water. For each of these, a World Design Embassy has been established. Each will offer a programme with exhibitions, workshops, debates and more. Each embassy will also organise a conference, where the relevant issue will be explored in great depth.

At the Embassy of Safety, various stakeholders, including the police, attempt to answer the broad question ‘Is safety a right?’ from multiple perspectives. The Embassy of Circular & Biobased Building will explore how we can guarantee that everyone has an environmentally-friendly home in the Netherlands in the near future? Representatives from the North Brabant Province are among those looking into this. Both these embassies will be ‘housed’ in Ketelhuisplein, Strijp S.

Sustainable Design?

How can businesses, designers, and consumers make a difference? This is what the Embassy of Sustainable Design will focus on. IKEA Nederland, TU Delft, and the Design Academy Eindhoven are among the many participants trying to get to the bottom of this issue in the Innovation Powerhouse, Gloeilampenplantsoen, and Yksi Expo. These are all located on Strijp S & Strijp T.

Design talents, healthcare professionals, commercial parties, and official institutes will explore the central question – what will happen if the hospital of today no longer exists? This is one of the questions that will be featured at the Embassy of Health in the Klokgebouw, Strijp S. Partners include Philips and the Máxima Medical Centre.

Mobility as a means, not an end – this is the Embassy of Mobility’s central theme. Behind Radio Royaal in Strijp S, parties such as the City Council and NS will show how they now focus on people, and no longer purely on vehicles. And last, but not least – a creative Water Hub for knowledge sharing, inspiration, and the acceleration of innovation. This is, of course, the Embassy of Water. It will be held at Het Lab at the Campina site. Partners include Waterschap De Dommel and Brabant Water.

Source: Dutch Design Foundation