Theme: Art and Design

A person holding a phone where the frontpage of the Nuohtti service is open. Photo: Matilda Kalving.

The Nuohtti service provides digital access to Sámi material in European archives

16.3.2023 15:32

The Nuohtti digital service provides access to a wide range of archive material on Sámi cultural heritage. Nuohtti contains 30,000 documents and photos from the Sámi area gathered from 32 European archives, libraries, and museums. The service responds especially to the need and right of the Sámi to get information about themselves and their people. Launched in February, the service has been developed by a multidisciplinary Nordic project led by the Faculty of Art and Design at the University of Lapland.

Design and art expertise widely exhibited at Arctic Design Week from 20 to 26 March

13.3.2023 15:38

The design and art expertise of the University of Lapland will be widely displayed at the 15th annual Arctic Design Week, 20–26 March. There will be, for example, versatile exhibitions, open lectures, workshops, as well as a student pop-up shop.

Students sharing ideas in a class room at the University of Lapland. Photo: Reetta Breilin.

The international Service Design Strategies and Innovations programme becomes an Erasmus Mundus Joint Master's

11.1.2023 8:30

The master's programme in Service Design Strategies and Innovations by the University of Lapland and the Art Academy of Latvia expands to Estonia next academic year, as the Estonian Academy of Arts will also join the collaboration. The programme has received almost 4.9 million euros in funding from the European Union for a period of six years and the status of an Erasmus Mundus joint master's degree programme. For students it means, for example, studying in three countries and a possibility for substantial grants. The application period for the Service Design Strategies and Innovations (SDSI) master's degree programme lasts until February 28, 2023.

People working in the service design laboratory Sinco at the University of Lapland. Photo: Sinco.

Business Finland funding for integrating digital service concepts and creative industries' expertise

10.1.2023 9:20

The Faculty of Art and Design at the University of Lapland has received a Business Finland funding of 349.500 euros for a two-year project which will study, test and develop – together with business partners – new, digital service concepts that utilise expertise in the creative fields.

Heidi Schaaf, a stone wall behind of her.

Dissertation: Museum structures should be opened towards genuine participation and inclusion

16.11.2022 11:50

According to the doctoral dissertation by Heidi Schaaf, MA, museums should examine critically what participation and inclusion mean in their Audience Development and how they are realized in practice. The methods and philosophy common for service design can offer museums tools for broader public participation.

Dissertation: Responsibility has expanded in the outdoor clothing industry during the past decade

14.11.2022 12:00

Over the past decade, responsibility and sustainability have become an inseparable part of the outdoor clothing industry, and acts of responsibility have become a competitive advantage. At the same time, the differences between the companies have grown. This is shown in the doctoral dissertation by Laura Seppälä, PhD, MA where she studies the responsibility communication of international outdoor clothing companies.

Dissertation: Recorded inner feelings become a part of performance

28.10.2022 14:20

In her cross-disciplinary dissertation, Marija Griniuk, MFA, studies new ways of presenting the audience the inner feelings of performing artists. The real time experience provided by utilising electroencephalography (EEG) measurements could enable the audience to have an authentic glance into the performer as a human being.

A hand holding a plastic cube on a wooden surface. Photo: Siiri Paananen.

EU funding of 600,000 euros for the Faculty of Art and Design for plastics circular economy research

22.9.2022 15:47

The Faculty of Art and Design at the University of Lapland has been granted 600 000 euros in research funding as part of the EU-funded PlastLIFE project. The PlastLIFE project, addressing sustainable development and circular economy, focuses on reducing plastics and making their recycling more efficient. The Faculty of Art and Design will study, for example, design solutions to reduce the amount of plastic and test new replacement materials for plastics.

Dissertation: The journey of floral bead styles from 1500s France to 1800s Yukon First Nations

20.4.2022 11:45

Dr. Ukjese van Kampen traces in his doctoral dissertation the origins of the floral bead styles that his people from the south-central Yukon adopted in the mid-1800s. The Yukon First Nations people had an established floral embroidery tradition already before Europeans entered the area in the end of the 19th century. However, the floral designs were not indigenous but adopted through a centuries-long process. The dissertation gives new insights into the spread of floral designs originating in 1500s France and migrating westwards across Canada to the Yukon.

Dissertation: Early stage communication of service design needs to be improved

24.3.2022 10:11

Danielle Zsifkovits, MA, investigates in her dissertation how service designers communicate about their discipline to stakeholders and the ways to enhance the existing communication. Especially the early stage communication in service design projects should be improved.

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Student collections participating in the Arctic Design Week fashion show

24.3.2022 9:51

The collections, designed jointly by the students of the University of Lapland and the Politecnico di Milano, will be on display at the Arctic Design Week fashion show in Rovaniemi on Sunday, March 27, 2022. Responsibility has been emphasized in many ways in the designs.

The University of Lapland’s Art Walk introduces the Art collections in the campus

10.3.2022 14:50

The University of Lapland's Art Walk will be opened on Tuesday the 22nd of March. Contemporary artworks from various collections are brought together in the University of Lapland’s spaces. Sculptures, paintings, graphic art, and other works dating from the 1970´s to the present are showcased in public spaces across campus. We want to emphasize their dialogue with the university itself, as well as with the architecture and northern nature.

Maria Huhmarniemi appointed as Docent at the University of Eastern Finland

17.2.2022 11:25

Maria Huhmarniemi, University Lecturer at the University of Lapland, has been awarded the title of Docent of Social Pedagogy, especially Community Based Art Education, at the University of Eastern Finland on 17 January 2022.

Pigga Keskitalo and Tuija Hautala-Hirvioja Invited to a New Arctic Humanities Series’ Editorial Board

20.12.2021 10:00

Professor Tuija Hautala-Hirvioja and University Researcher Pigga Keskitalo from the University of Lapland have been invited to the Editorial Board of “Arctic Humanities” published by Brill.

Mira Alhonsuo, photographed in a snowy forest. Photo: Marko Junttila.

Dissertation: A comprehensive understanding of service design facilitates healthcare professionals' commitment to development

10.12.2021 11:04

Mira Alhonsuo, MA, investigates in her dissertation the development of healthcare services through service design and co-design. She also studies the benefits of the design methods especially in the beginning of the process. According to the study, understanding design methods and design processes makes it easier to discern the scope of the service under development and to plan a more realistic development process particularly by observing the needs of healthcare professionals.

Artwork by Maria Huhmarniemi presented in the Anchorage Museum

12.10.2021 10:00

Series of photos titled Alien Hiker (2010–2021) by lecturer Maria Huhmarniemi are shown in the exhibition "Counter Cartographies: Living the Land” in the Anchorage Museum.

Doctoral dissertation: Design Space Broadens Perspectives on Organization and Strategizing

30.9.2021 14:45

In her interdisciplinary doctoral research, M.Sc. (econ) Tarja Pääkkönen examines the significance of design and design thinking in organizations and their strategies. The study shows that design can expand our views beyond what is generally thought about organizational management and strategy, and thus reshape and broaden our understandings of organization and strategizing as well as popular conceptions related to them. The research elaborates on the concept of design space which helps rethink organizations, strategies and design in novel ways and together as part of a larger whole.

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Doctoral Dissertation: Culturally Diverse Place-specificity of Art Education in Higher Education Promotes the Integration of International Student Groups

8.9.2021 13:29

In her doctoral dissertation, Elina Härkönen examines the actualisation of the principles of cultural sustainability in international art education in higher education. The study shows that place-specific teaching, which in its pedagogical orientation takes cultural diversity into account, promotes both local and cultural sustainability as well as integration of student groups.

Doctoral dissertation: Stronger copyright protection for fashion designs contributes to sustainable development of the fashion industry

31.8.2021 15:30

Protecting fashion designs by copyright has been challenging. This has enabled large-scale copying of designs, which in turn has contributed to 'fast fashion' – a phenomenon that causes damage to the environment, human rights and cultural values. In her doctoral dissertation in the field of law, Heidi Härkönen states that copyright is one of the several legal means at our disposal to foster sustainable development of fashion.

Doctoral dissertation: 10X-Service Design Lab as an accelerator for business development

20.8.2021 11:30

Automotive industry is going through a digital transformation and striving to expand its business models into new mobility solutions. Their core product-driven business is expanding to service-orientated business models which requires a new set of expertise and capabilities. Linus Schaaf (M.A.) examines in his doctoral dissertation the possibilities to use service design in business development for human-centered accelerated decision-making by application of digital co-creation.