How can we create an ecologically sustainable society by conserving the global environment?

In the International New Designers Workshop 2007, young designers will focus on this urgent, universal theme and create proposals for the shift to a sustainable future.
First, workshop participants will visit “Eco-Products 2007”, the world’s largest exhibition of environmentally-friendly technology and products, held annually in Tokyo since 1999. They will then move to Nagoya, situated in the Chubu central district of Japan, and make a field tour there to observe the maximum effect of the pursuit of technological skills and energy resource through ‘monozukuri’ (manufacturing) in the region, where efficiency-enhancing skills have been intently cultivated during industrial development. After conducting this research, they will join the 2nd InternationalConference of Design for Sustainability “Destination 2007-2025”, held at the world heritage site of Shirakawa-go, a village that has maintained an ancient harmony with the natural environment. There they will have discussions and make presentations together with expert conference delegates hailing from Japan and abroad.
In the series of workshops, young designers from various nationalities and backgrounds will try to verify necessary action by envisioning a possible sustainable future perceived from diverse angles. The final presentation on the results from this workshop will be delivered at the International Design Center NAGOYA.

Workshop Participants:
This workshop is open to students from architecture, industrial design, visual communication design, multimedia, as well as professional young in-house designers from companies, and writers from design related magazines. To encourage cross-disciplinary collaboration amongst academic institutions and industries, each team will be made up of members from different disciplines, gender, and cultural backgrounds.

Participating schools:
Beijing Industrial Design Center (China), China Central Academy of Fine Arts (China), Chulalongkorn University (Thailand), Shih-Chien University (Taiwan), St. John University (U.S.A.), University of Stellenbosch (South Africa), Brother Industries, Ltd., Aichi Prefectural University of Fine Arts and Music, Aichi Sangyo University, IAMAS (International Academy of Media Arts & Sciences), Kuwasawa Design School, Musashino Art University, Nagoya City University, Nagoya Industrial University, Nagoya University of Arts, Nagoya Zokei University of Art and Design, Nagoya University of Arts and Sciences, Nanzan University, Tokyo University, Tokyo Zokei University, Tsukuba University, Tama Art University

International New Designers Workshop:
The International New Designers Workshop has been held once a year in Nagoya, Japan since 2000. Aiming to nuture the next generation, which is courageous in challenging conventions, this project encourages cross-disciplinary collaboration amongst academic institutions, industries and the public sectior, and each workshop is made up of members from different disciplines, genders and cultural backgrounds. To this end, over 300 students of architecture, industrial design, visual communication design, multimedia, as well as young professional in-house designers from companies and writers from design-related magazines from 38 nations have participated in this multi-cultural, multidisciplinary workshop.