Collaborative facilitation mindset

The DFGN team looks after the continuous development and maintenance of the network by facilitating the collaboration between the members, the real heroes of this movie. One of the team’s core role is to facilitate the collaboration between network members. An example of that are the annual events and gathering DFGN hosts, such as the International Design Factory Week (IDFW), the DFGN UnBoxed, and the World Design Factory Day (WDFD). Yes, we love acronyms…

Our small (but mighty) team is based in Aalto University’s Design Factory, in Otaniemi Campus, Espoo, Finland, Europe, Earth.

Balloons

The DFGN team looks after the continuous development and maintenance of the network by facilitating the collaboration between the members, the real heroes of this movie. One of the team’s core role is to facilitate the collaboration between network members. An example of that are the annual events and gathering DFGN hosts, such as the International Design Factory Week (IDFW), the DFGN UnBoxed, and the World Design Factory Day (WDFD). Yes, we love acronyms…

Our small (but mighty) team is based in Aalto University’s Design Factory, in Otaniemi Campus, Espoo, Finland, Europe, Earth.

History of Aalto Design Factory and DFGN

The first Design Factory ever was created in Finland by Kalevi “Eetu” Ekman in 2008. In 2010, the first Design Factory outside of Finland was established in collaboration with Tongji University. And then, just one year after that, in 2011, on the 29th of November, the Design Factory Melbourne was launched, which set the official start of the Design Factory Global Network.

What a beautiful story… what else will come?

Who runs the network?

The network is run by itself, with the support of the 39 existing members. We all do our best to create collaboration projects. Each DF drives change in its own institution with the support and inspiration of like-minded doers.

Klaus Castrén

Klaus is the Head of Design Factory Global Network as well as Head of Community at Aalto Design Factory. His experience managing an educational platform from the service side gives him a unique perspective on enabling learning that depends on industry collaboration, hands-on experiences, international teams, informal education, and, of course, passion-based learning.

Vitória Freitas

Vitória is a Design and Media BA student, soon to begin her studies in Fashion, Clothing, and Textile Design MA at Aalto University. She’s originally from Portugal with Italian roots and is happy to chat in any of those languages, in addition to English. Her previous experience in the fashion industry has pushed her to explore new ways to address current challenges through circular design, user research, and community engagement. She has participated in different international projects, where she has found value in building connections and collaborating with people from diverse fields and backgrounds. At DFGN, she will be supporting ongoing and future projects. While her studies take up a significant portion of her free time, Vitória always makes space for outdoor activities, and spending time with the people she loves. And if meeting people also involves food, even better!