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CONFERENCE TRACKS
1 SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
The impact of human actions on the environment and ecosystems is evident, with consequences that we can now directly observe. Therefore, this track seeks contributions that focus on sustainable transformations and development, proposing alternative frameworks and approaches to traditional ones.
2 SOCIAL INNOVATION
The increasing complexity of society and its dynamics, combined with the other transformational dynamics at work, is the main focus of this track, which seeks critical contributions whose aim is to study societies and the relationships that exist between different individuals, producing innovative approaches and solutions to old and new social problems.
3 TECHNOLOGY APPLICATIONS
The ever faster and widespread technological development we are witnessing is strongly contributing to global processess of change and transformation. New technologies are reshaping many aspects of our daily life. Therefore, this track seeks for contributions that investigate the topics of production, technology development and its applications.
4 HEALTHCARE & WELLNESS
The field of healthcare and wellness, also in light of recent events, is gaining an increasingly relevance which is visible in the various disciplinary fields that are tackling it. This track seeks for contributions which should tackle the topics of new procedures, aging people, human and planetary health, and other related issues.
5 POLICY & GOVERNANCE
This track seeks for contributions from the field of Policy Design, Political Design, Service Design, Political Sciences, Policy Studies, and other bodies of knowledge which aim at investigating and producing new ways to create and implement policies through different means, including the influence that new technologies may exercise.
6 ALTERNATIVE FUTURES
Imagination is one of the faculties that can mostly contribute to radical changes in our futures, by enabling us to mentally travel through time and shape collectively desirable visions. This track seeks for contributions whose aim is to pluralize and to foster critical reflections regarding alternative futures.
7 MADE IN ...
Drawing on international initiatives such as the New European Bauhaus, which emphasize the relevance of aesthetics as a driver for radical innovation, this track seeks for contributions that provide insight into local and national enterprise best practices, such as those that qualify the Made in Italy brand.
In this scenario, transdisciplinarity, defined as a unity of knowledge that goes beyond the individual disciplines involved in the processes, should become the foremost approach to tackle and address wicked, complex and systemic problems.
A wicked problem presents various characteristics, firstly highlighted by Rittel and Webber (1973), such as their undefined formulation, their “no stopping rule”, the impossibility to have “true-false” solutions and to test these. Wicked problems are consequential, they do not have a describable set of solutions, and they are unique. Every wicked problem is strongly linked to the others and it can be explained in multiple ways that influence how the wicked problem will be approached and solved. Finally, wicked problems pose different difficulties for those who aim to solve it (Lawrence et al., 2022) and they are often accompanied by significant pressure due to their urgency (Bremer, 2013). Nowadays, there are uncountable wicked problems such as climate change, the growth of digital technologies, sustainable development, and COVID-19 pandemic.
In the light of these arguments, we are looking for contributions that explore the concept of transdisciplinarity to be found in design processes, approaches, methodologies and research, and, shifting the paradigm, that shows how integrating design into different fields of knowledge can contribute to the establishment of a transdisciplinary approach and to address wicked and complex issues.
MDA Conference
The International Conference is a moment of convergence of different people, knowledge and expertise from all over the world. It is a convivial event, also open to a non-expert audience, which aims to create networks and disseminate transdisciplinary knowledge related to design and other areas of strong contemporary interest.
It is now in its fourth edition, after previous events in 2015, 2017 and 2019, which have seen an ever increasing participation of both researchers and audience.
Click here to Submissions and uploading papers.
Opportunities:The opportunities for the Industries are:
The opportunities for the sponsors are:
The opportunities for the Municipality are:
Organization and PatronageThe Conference is organized by MDA (Mediterranean Design Association). Contributions
Submission GuidelinesAll papers must be original and not simultaneously submitted to another journal or conference.
Fees
RegistrationAccess the registration platform on EasyChair Smart CFP and create an account to upload documents.
MaterialsClick to view and download the materials available for the Conference:
Logistical and tourist detailsIV Conference on Environmental Design of MDA
The conference is free access to the publicFor more information, you can contact us by sending an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
PresidentDott. Federico Picone Scientific DirectorProf. Mario Bisson Industry Relations ManagerDott. Giorgio De Ponti Organizational CommitteeGiulia Alvarez International Scientific CommitteeProf.ssa Lina Ahmad - College of Arts and Creative enterprises |
