-workshops and lectures

We are caught in a unique situation on Planet Earth right now – possibly the biggest challenge ever. The coming years will, whether we like it or not, be full of dramatic changes and it will happen at a pace maybe never experienced in the history of the Planet before.

Its now “common knowledge” that global warming is “here to stay”. What do we do? We change of course and innovate as we have always done – or do we? Just now we have due to many factors, one of them being the technological development, a possibility of creating the most amazing world where humans and all fellow citizens can live in incredible living structures, realizing fantastic dreams and having unbelievable lives. But is that what we are doing?

“The WORLDBY design project” – is an inter active experiment in how to get us all engaged in envisioning, designing and possibly developing images and real projects for a “new world”.

“WORLDBY-for real” - is a kind of city, a living structure and yet just an example or rather an experiment in new thinking and doing. The intention is that anyone can come with inputs to WORLDBY and publicize the visions on the WORLDBY website. Next summer workshops with building actual components for a potential WORLDBY structure will happen at Micro Macro Monde in France (more later about these activities).

“The WORLDBY workshop” is a forum where models for how to live in a WORLDBY-world could look like – a world where fx. Garbage does not exist, abundance of food, water and energy is available, people do what they want etc….a kind of perfect world or ???. The workshop will explore how its possible to envision and design radically different ways of living, working, consuming etc using the WORLDBY - the vertical village as an example.

The output of the workshop will be shared with the world on the net.

PRACTICALITIES:

The workshop can be offered to people without any skills in design, art and architecture as well as to professionals. Max. 60 participants. Workshop length min. 1 day.

For further information please contact Niels Peter Flint directly at npflint@exdl.com

The next workshops / lectures:

-United Arab Emirates - Sharjah, The American University, November 9th 2008 - LECTURE in relation to exhibition held at Sharjah Museum of Art where a WORLDBY installation will be on display.

-Mexico - Last week of February 23rd to 28th 2009 - WORKSHOP

“The Bærekraft days” are pleased to present an exquisite workshop on Thursday August 28th 2008 at. 1500-1800 in tent no. 1 on the lawn in front of Islands Brygge 37 in Copenhagen.

We present a cooperation consisting of EXDL - Experience Design Lab, ECCO International and AGENTURET / Gravitations. The workshop will be about a new radically different, colorful and challenging concept: “The Sustainability Challenge - a dialogic design expedition-lab”. The Sustainability Challenge is a journey, exploring new ways to work with “bærekraft”- (”SUSTAINABILITY POWER”), design, philosophy and culture. We are planning expeditions with teams of professionals to Gambia, Argentina and India, with the first tour in the spring of 2009. Niels Peter Flint from EXDL, Guro Heilmann from ECCO International and Oleg Koefoed from The Agency / Gravitations will tell about the ideas and together with the participants work with prospects. We will work with a vision of “beyond green” - and, of course, we will also produce some “bærekraft flowers” (an important part of the BÆREKRAFT DAYS - please see (and sorry only in danish) http://agenturet.net/?p=32), which brings together concept, vision and the project in whole. We hope to see as many as possible to talk about how local wisdom, “bærekraft” philosophy, radically sustainable design and transcultural experiences can create awareness and new cooperation projects. All participants will receive a description of the concept. If possible please let us know if you can come, so we have an idea of how many plan to attend. Write to oleg@gravitations.org or call 0045-30 28 66 21

Sustensively

The “Bærekraft” team

Guro, Oleg and Niels Peter

waiting for you…….and if you want to read the entire

THE SUSTAINABILITY CHALLENGE

concept please come back on Tuesday August 26th 2008…..here in this site….. believe it or not - it might be real…..

THE SUSTAINABILITY CHALLENGE

will take you to the top….. to the top of what….????

THE SUSTAINABILITY CHALLENGE

might show some new ways……have a look http://www.baerekraftfestival.dk/

-a couple of comments from people who have experienced or worked with Niels Peter Flint. If you are interested in booking NPF for a lecture, workshop or anything else please call 0045-36934843.

Karen Blincoe about NPF:

“Niels Peter is a modern day visionary. Inspiring and passionate
speaker, lecturer, teacher with wealth of experience in innovative
problemsolving….and he walks his talk”.

Karen Blincoe Director of the Schumacher College UK,
and is the Founder of The ICIS Center Denmark.

More about Schumacher College please click here.

More about ICIS Center please click here.

NPF has been teaching, lecturing etc. At The Danish Design School when
KB was head of Visual Communication and also at ICIS center, Denmark.
NPF has also taught at Schumacher College.

Nigel Stansfield about NPF:

“An inspirational lecturer and creative teacher, Niels Peter Flint brings
to sustainable design not only his experience but his enthusiastic belief
that design and radical thinking is the way to solve the problems faced by
the world today. “

Nigel W. Stansfield
Senior Director Product, Design and Innovation InterfaceFLOR

More about InterfaceFLOR please click here.

NPF has developed various sustainable design concepts for InterfaceFLOR and held lectures, developed workshops etc. See one of the concepts by clicking here.

Yorick Benjamin about NPF:

“Every year the group that Niels Peter Flint teaches at University College Falmouth is engaged by his high paced approach to sustainable design. NPF’s teaching is hands on, workshop and practice driven and entertaining. Students know that they are being taught by a designer practitioner who has sustainability at his heart and will steer them to a holistic design vision with real values. A visiting lecturer with extraordinary energy, experience and vision”.

Dr. Yorick Benjamin M.Des RCA
Senior Lecturer
3D Design for Sustainability,
University College Falmouth

More aboout Falmouth Design Department please click here.
and examples from one of the workshops NPF was in charge of on Falmouth please click here.

I en vanvittig blanding af design, arkitektur, bæredygtighed, glocal politics, emotional functionality, leap frogging, experience design, artifical intelligence og anden ny anvanceret højteknologi ofte kombineret super lav teknologi og en masse andre smarte ord demonstrerer Flint hvordan verden kunne komme til at se anderledes ud set med en meget utraditionel visionær arkitekts, designers og fantasts briller på. Flint kommer med meget konkrete bud på hvordan verden kunne komme til at se ud og han gir´ også opskrifterne på hvordan det kan lade sig gøre. Flints visioner er meget pragmastiske og ofte så simple og enkle at det virker som ”logik for perlehøns” som han selv udtrykker det.
Der bliver ikke lagt fingre imellem og alt kan tages under behandling. Flint tager gerne udgangspunkt i den konkrete virksomhed / institutions produkter og viser hvordan der måske kunne tænkes nyt og anderledes til fordel for alle.
Samtlige Flints foredrag er fulgt af en særdeles stærk og imponerende billedside, med stills, video, musik etc.

* Radically Rethinking Design - Experience Design - The next dimension

Verden kræver radikale løsninger hvis alle på denne klode skal leve bare på nogenlunde samme vilkår som vi gør her i Europa. Pt. Er der 4 milliarder såkaldte ”have nots” (lad os kalde dem særdeles fattige materielt), som i højere og højere grad vil kræve deres ret til andel i ressourcer og materielt overflod. De er fattige godt nok i ressourcer, men ofte rige på kultur og åndelige værdier. Kan vi måske bruge hinanden til at skabe fælles grundlag for et liv i en global experience-økonomi – en økonomi der ikke er baseret blot på udnyttelsen af verdens fysiske ressourcer, men hvor livskvalitet og åndelige værdier er i højsædet.

Experience økonomien er på vej, men hvordan definerer vi den egentlig. Det at vi er ved at skifte fra en materiel økonomi til en immaterial er særdeles praktisk ud fra specielt et bæredygtighedsmæssigt synspunkt – vel og mærke hvis vi gør det på den rigtige måde. PPS (Product Service System), bæredygtig udvikling, nord-syd dialog, LCA (Life cycle Assesment), experience design, paradigme skift, mindshift etc. er alle buz-words i denne sammenhæng. Efter Flints mening er der ingen tvilv om at vi kan skabe en helt ny og bedre verden med al den viden, teknologi og på baggrund af de fejltagelser / erfaringer vi har gjort indtil nu. Men den skal skabes i samarbejde med verdens fremtidige førende nationer som Indien, Sydafika, Malyasia, Kina etc.

* Danmark – en utopisk død sild?

Hvis vi skal nogen vegne i Danmark er det nødvendigt at vi tænker helt nyt. Det er ikke nok blot at fortsætte med at produktudvikle grissebasser, IT osv. Der skal meget radikale ideer på banen. Og det interessante er at vi i manges øjne er radikale – det har været vores brand i mange år ude i den store verden, men vi er ved at miste det bl.a. grundet en del snak om tørklæder og deslige. Vi er ved at blive mainstream og ligeså kedelige som de kedeligste. Danmark og danskere er ved at drukne i middelmådighed, racisme og uengageret liv og omvendt jantelovshysteri og det vil på længere sigt medføre at vi bliver en 5. rangs nation uden indflydelse og velfærd. Hvorfor dette sker og hvordan vi kan lave om på det beretter Flint om i dette foredrag.

* Sustainable development and design???

Dette foredrag omhandler historier og syn på det der traditionelt kaldes bæredygtigt eller økologisk design. Flint er af den opfattelse at der ikke findes noget man kalde kalde økologisk. Er det bæredygtigt at spise økologiske tomater fra drivhuse i gasopvarmede drivhuse i Danmark eller er det mere fornuftigt at spise de flyfriske fra Tenerife – eller skulle vi finde på noget helt andet, fx. at spise årstidens grøntsager?
Flint gennemgår en række produkter og beretter om deres kvaliteter og det modsatte – et foredrag for dem der vil forstå kompleksiteten i moderne produktudviklng / design ud fra et bæredygtighedsmæssigt synspunkt kombineret med en radikal tænkers meninger og visioner.

* DOOOsign

Om at skabe design på nye måder, hvor brugerne er inddraget i en internaktiv proces – brugeren bliver en form for designer. Dette foredrag kan også laves som en som workshop af varierende længde, men kræver så et af de andre foredrag som introduktion.

* 2033 – livet WORLDBY

En rejse til fremtiden, hvor livet beskrives i en helt ny by eller bostruktur, der rejser sig op af landskabet. Verden kunne komme til at se meget anderledes ud, men det kræver mod og vilje at lave den om.Dette foredrag er baseret på Flints nye bog, som kommer på markedet i løbet af efteråret 2003.

* Emotional Functionality / Emotionel Funktionalitet

Om det åndelige armod, der er opstået kva vores enorme materielle forbrug og hvilke konsekvenser det kunne komme til at få og om hvordan det hele kunne se anderledes ud.

* The NEW design curiculum

Der er ifølge Flint brug for et nyt design curiculum – en form for internationalt manifest som samtlige produktionsvirksomheder, designere og andre der beskæftiger sig med design og produktudvikling burde skrive under på eller tilslutte sig.
Flint arbejder pt. aktivt internationalt med bl.a. virksomheder, universiteter, skoler og andre på at få etableret et sådant nyt manifest og lægger op til debat.
Flint siger om sine foredrag:
”Titler siger sgu´ikke så meget. For mig handler det handler om at skabe en mere kreativ verden så vi alle kan få det bedre – og jeg mener ALLE. Det er ikke nok at vi blot udvikler nye smarte løsninger i denne del af verden til glæde for de aller rigeste. Vi skal tænke og udvikle nyt ikke kun for de andres skyld, men i allerhøjeste grad også for vores egen skyld. Hvad vil der fx. ske hvis inderne og kineserne begynder at bruge wc-papir? Svaret kan du få i et af mine foredrag, men jeg kan røbe så meget at hvis vi lærer resten af verden at leve vores livsstil, så skal vi bruge et par extra kloder ret snart.
Der skal kort sagt skabes nye radikale løsninger på stort set alt. Og paradoksalt nok er det er der det store væktsområde ligger og de utrolige kreative muligheder – Lige nu er der minimum 4 milliarder fattige eller ”have nots”, det er pt. verdens største potentielle marked. I Indien er der ultra-fattige bønder der ved mere om internet end en bondemand i Danmark. Udfordringern er at lave noget der kan skabe kreativ dynamik, glæde, lykke, velfærd etc. for os alle på et bæredygtigt grundlag og intet er helligt længere”.

Konstellationer:

Flint holder gerne oplæg, laver workshop, skaber event / konference med en lang række oplægsholdere fra såvel ind som udland.
Niels Peter Flint
Arbejder med konceptuelle løsninger på fremtidens produkter. Flint er uddannet arkitekt, designer og scenograf. Studerede bl.a. hos den legendariske scenograf Josef Svoboda i Pragh og arbejdede hos Ettore Sottsass og hans Memphisgruppe i Milano. Startede O2, som idag er en af verdens største netværk af designere der arbejder med bæredygtig udvikling, ny teknologi etc. Flint har også været design strateg for bl.a. Razorfish, som var et af verdens førende web-udviklingsbureauer. Flint´s speciale er hans dybe engagement og viden om design, kreativ og bæredygtig udvikling og ny teknologi. Han har holdt hundredevis, hvis ikke tusindvis, af foredrag over hele verden fra Hong Kong og Tokyo i øst til San Francisco og Haiti i vest, fra Umeå og Trondheim i nord til Cape Town og Melbourne i syd. Flint har undervist hovedsaglig på designskoler over hele kloden og har ligeledes udviklet og deltaget (og gør det fortsat) i projekter om alt fra økologisk byfornyelse til udvikling af øko-golftræningscentre i Japan. Flint har ligeledes arbejdet som professionel scenograf, skuespiller og performer og bl.a. optrådt på Teatret ved Sorte Hest og mange andre steder.
Flint HAR altid været undervejs med en ny bog / projekt om hans tanker og visioner for en bedre verden og en del af den kan ses her på siden ved at klikke her. Projektets arbejdstitel er 2033 og handler om hvordan verden kunne komme til at blive næsten paradisisk for stort set alle, hvis homo sapiens ændrer vaner lidt.
Flint er en meget engageret og dynamisk kommunikator og har stor erfaring som foredragsholder fra store til små forsamlinger, fra virksomheder til skoler.

Foredrag kan holdes på dansk, svensk og engelsk

Get yourself a robot lover - solve overpopulation??

-lectures and workshops on sustainability and new technology.

Is this part of a sustainable development or not? Most will say no, but I personally dont think the answer is that simple. We need to acknowledge that technology has “come to stay”. We wont be able to live with the commodities we have today if we did not have technology. Obviously there are parts of technology we simply ought to avoid developing, we are simply not mature as human beings to handle some of the very sophisticated technologies being developed - if you ask me. We are still amazed by technology and hardly asks any critical questions - and thats not healthy. However developing robots and robot lovers is pretty innocent compared to what we are also developing in terms of new technology when it comes to fx. nano technology. The problem is that there are a lot of fusions in the new technologies and it will in the long run become extremely complicated to find out what is what and why its developed and for what. Virtual worlds similar to those seen in The Science Fiction movie The Matrix could according to Fx. Ray Kurtzweill (see next chap) become reality within very few decades. We already now see very real virtual worlds where humans from all over the planet are buying land, products, services etc. and living together in virtual worlds - see second life fx.

Its not at all unlikely that we will be suspended in chairs and live for possibly long periods in virtual worlds. we might even go on holliday laying in a chair and getting nutrients pumped directly into our veins though an automatic system. Yes brave new world is just round the corner.

The entire robot development is expected to become BIG BIG BIG business and therefore billions of yen, dollars euroes etc. are put into research and further development. Honda who is one of the big commercial developers of Robots and expects a market worth hundreds of millions in the near future.

Robots will become more and more relevant due to the further development of AI - Artificial Intelligence, which is getting embedded in more and more products, software etc. everyday. One of the fathers and also extremely interesting and charismatic scientists in this field is Ray Kurtzweill whom I read material from basically everyday when his newletter arrive.

Kurtzweill has developed RAMONA (find a link - open, depending on whether you are on Mac or not - Ramona will chat with you). RAMONA is as far as I know the first virtual pop artist also. She performs still only virtually but mind you it might not be long before she will perform live on stage - and there might be many of here - same version (could save lots of jet fuels transporting popsingers around ;-).

Ramona is certainly not stupid and she is learning every split second - thats how AI works. So there is no doubt that Ramona will become “something” in the future. Ask her how many she can chat with and she will tell you a 100 at the same time - I have before experienced much bigger figures (maybe its because its sunday ;-). No matter what Ramona is here and she will be even more helpful in the near future with numerous things. We will all have avatars who will help us doing all sorts of things from restaurant bookings to controlling our health. In some more totalitarian systems this might be enforced on us simply due to make us not spend the state budget on healthcare - and this might not be the way to go at all, but this is maybe also an extreme. However there will lost and lots of extremes in the world of tomorrow.

What we ned to do is to get things under control and develop with appropriate ethics. I personally dont see anything really evil in fx. having a robot taking care of me when I grow old. It might actually be a fantastic solution - HOWEVER still not a simple one, since what kind of status will a very intelligent robot have - a being which due to its access to fx. the entire internet will be able to access and be able to appear as super intelligent, and also having been developed using AI and having learned fx. from me - my Robot-oldie-nany will probably have personality and character that will be so much alive that it will be really hard fx. to “turn it off” or destroy it when I die - also it might be difficult to hand it over to someone else. Complex issues and just to mention few of them.

Im always in my lectures and workshops dealing with new technology from various points of views. If you are interested in a workshop specifically in new technology and sustainability Id be happy to discuss. Otherwise the lecture and possible workshop to follows RADICALLY RETHINKING DESIGN AND THE WORLD - AND NEW TECHNOLOGY will cover many perspectives on new technology and sustainability from AI to new alternative energy technologies - WE AINT SEEN NOTHING YET.

IF YOU WANT TO TO BOOK ME FOR LECTURES OR WORKSHOPS PLEASE CONTACT US VIA THE CONTACT PAGE WHERE YOU FIND PHONENUMBERS, EMAIL ETC.

NIELS PETER FLINT

Niels Peter Flint is giving a full day student workshop on Sustainable Design Workshop, TEKO, Herning, Denmark, tuesday June 17th 2008. More information about student workshops can be obtained by contacting Niels Peter Flint directly at phone 0045-36934843 or Skype ID npflint1.

Niels Peter Flint is conducting a WORLDBY - BIOFUTURES Workshop June 12th 2008 for IKI (Initiativ for Kreativ Innovation (Initiative for creative innovation)) - the program can be seen here. The project is a pilot or test workshop in relation to the COMMITMENTS PROGRAM please click to get more info.

It’s free because it’s so important that we do something. This does not mean its free to do this work of course and YES we do need money and help to continue what y see here - and YES there is lots more which you will be able to see parts of here on these pages.

So in case you are interested supporting this project you can fx. do that by hirering Niels Peter Flint to come and give RRD lectures or do Worldby workshop eventually with others. Please see the possibilities by clicking here.

You can also support by hirering EXDL to do projects or product development especially in India. Please see what we do in India here.

You can also support by buying the products we offer here and also in the showroom at the Micro Macro Monde Center in France opening mid july. Please see here some of the products we offer.

And finally you are of course more than welcome to donate or become a sponsor of this project or some of the many other things we are involved in. In case you are interested in working with us in various ways please contact in Europe Niels Peter Flint or in India Vineeta Nahar. You can either e-mail or phone us. Please find details under “contact us” or click here.

We would love to hear your comments on the material which you can share at the bottom of this page.

And finally this is ONLY the introduction of the RRDW e-book material you find below as PDF’s. Soon more material will be added as a mix of text, images, videos etc. You can already see and read a NON-edited version of one of the bigger chapters called “The Flush & Forget Culture”. The reason for up-loading the material this way is purely because we dont have the resourses to get further without more assistance. But it also works as it is - its just not as “pretty” as we would like it to be.

As you will see elsewhere the intention is that the anyone in the near future can add to the material.

The material as it is now is written by Niels Peter Flint. Research & editing by among others Vineeta Nahar and Kornelia Santoro. Graphics for the these 2 first parts by Sudeep B.

Download part 1 here

Download part 2 here

Niels Peter FLINT lectures worldwide about design, sustainability, new technology and Radical Rethinking. NPF can lecture in several languages. Primarily English, Danish, Swedish - Italian and German is also possible. Lectures can be booked by contacting Niels Peter Flint direct on mail or phone by clicking here.

Here are short extracts from lectures given by NPFLINT.

These first clips are from a lecture NPF gave in Milan, Italy at April 19th at the O2 event

There will be more clips added here in the coming days.

Become a volunteer on the MMM project

You are more than welcome to come and help develop the Micro Macro Monde project at Moulin de Planchette and the volunteer projects being developed in relation to the Experience Design Lab.

Not much can be offered apart from being part of a new exiting projects which hopefully will inspire many in the future. During this summer 2008 there will be various test courses at the Moulin. You will be able to see the tentative program in mid May here on the site - among other activities the big MMM-event July 25th to 27th 2008.

This year most people will be living in tents - either their own or the indian tents made from organic cotton which will be there from app. start July.

The challenges

There will be numerous things that needs to be done and its all rather interesting challenges. Some work will be helping with the organization of WORLDBY and THE COMMITMENTS PROGRAM and THE COMMITTERS NETWORK and the other work will be about helping getting the MMM center in France to work. If you are interested challenges might also be possible in India.

MMM Helping hands on:

-making interiors with natural paints, mud etc.

-making the gardens / farming / animals etc.

-making massovens

-making reedbeeds for rinsing water

-making Le Spa - a kind of bathhouse

-making floors

-making natural swimmingpool

-making fishing ponds

and lots of other things…

What is offered is a place to stay, food and a lot of fun and a possibility of being part of building up a unique place and seeing it grow to the benefit of everyone. If you come and help we can discuss that you can come back and stay for free for various activities. You can consider it a “Conscious Holistic Hedonist Activity-vacation” - and by that I mean it has to be fun and enjoyable too. we will have nice experimental food, do yoga, make lectures and have interesting talks, paint, do sculptures etc. as well - there should be time for other things than just work. You can read more about “Conscious Holistic Hedonists” elsewhere here in this site in a few days. Come and help making dreams come true - and consider being at the Moulin a kind of DO-shop….its about enjoying doing what is needed.

If you are interested the easiest is emailing me initially with some thoughts and ideas and reasons why you want to come. Write a number where I then can contact you in the mail too.

Please contact me if you are interested either on mail or phone.

Looking forward to hearing from you

Niels Peter

niels peter flint
experience design lab
www.exdl.com
npflint@exdl.com
UK -44 7984476888
India -91-9881464810 / -91 9825159064
DK -45 26671143 -45-36934843
FR -33 687131074

Skype ID: npflint1 Skype in: -45 36934843
http://www.actics.com/experience_design_lab
http://www.actics.com/niels_peter_flint