In June 2025 brought a first visit to Norway in seven years, and a chance to talk about where we are going to need the skills that design has given us next. This talk was given to two IxDA audiences, in Oslo and Bergen, before delivering a workshop version to Bergen Design company These Ways.
This page has the slides from the two presentation I gave, some links to videos and resources I promised to audiences, will also have the recording of the IxDA Oslo talk when it is ready too.
This was originally intended to be a new version of a previous talk, The Product of Design, but instead has evolved into a new one instead – A thing about design.
This was due in part to being in Norway, considering language, and listening more to how we all use the word ‘thing’ a lot in everyday speech. It tied in really nicely into the part of the talk that points to Bruno Latour’s observation of ‘things‘ being ‘complex assemblies of contradictory issues‘, and it gives the talk a continual, repeating theme.
Thank you to Isak Falch and Fredrik Matheson (of IxDA Bergen & Oslo respectively) for the opportunity to share these ideas with their communities. And thank you to GRAFILL & IxDA Bergen for inviting me to speak at their Sommerfest party.
Presentations
In Oslo on the 17th June I spoke alongside Thuy Gia Nguyen-Vu of FINN, and then two days later on 19th June where I spoke alongside Kim Andre Ottesen of Opening Hours Studio. Thank you to both Thuy and Kim for brilliant talks which also made me think more things about things.
Tuesday 17th June 2025 – IxDA Oslo
Because Thuy, Fredrik and I had been discussing content before, I knew the general direction of Thuy’s talk, and that part of it would fit really well with the Zenko Mapping section. So I took some pictures whilst he was presenting, and put those parts in.
Then I realised when he was describing a designer’s natural sense of what something feels like, that would fit will in the brief detour into Design Futures, so put that in there too.
Note: as always, people can’t believe, somehow, that pictures from the presentation they have just watched appear in the next talk, which let’s be honest is a nice trick (but a trick nonetheless).
What I do find it does beyond the surprise element is make the audience feel like participants, witnesses… we are all here, part of the same living experience, and it’s not just someone who wrote some slides three years ago and is just going to say what they were always going to say.
Thursday 19th June 2025 – Grafill x IxDA Bergen Sommerfest
In between the Oslo and Bergen talks I had some time wandering around both cities, and a seven hour train journey between the two as well (more on this later).
That, added to discussion after the first talk with others, meant that some of the slides were different, but more of the delivery was different. It was a very different type of room, I was talking first rather than second (and knew Kim was covering some explorations with AI), and there was a sommerfest party to come.
This talk wasn’t recorded, which really makes in feel in hindsight like you were there or you weren’t.
Finally, I was invited to give a longer version of the talk with more examples to These Ways in Bergen on Friday 20th June, and we followed that up with some short workshopping on getting hands-on with Zenko Mapping. If this is interesting for you and your team, please do get in touch.
Links & Resources
As I went through both talks, I promised links to things and videos that I was pointing at. I think this is by and large complete, but if I have missed anything please do let me know and I’ll add it.
Gardener’s World Clip
Firstly… NORWEGIANS KNOW WHO MONTY DON IS… which was kind of unexpected for me in writing the talk, but when I found out that Gardener’s World was shown on Norwegian TV as “Monty’s Hageverden”, that was just delightful.
I ended the talk by sharing some of the Nature Watch project, and Monty Don’s introduction to the video I made, plus his final summation – “John is Always Right…”. Of course, this is a phrase I now repeat endlessly at home, devoid of all context, in the hope that someone round here believes Monty…
As promised to all audiences, here is the whole video where I describe the process of rewilding a new build garden, and what housing developers should do better as a result.
dConstruct talk from 2015
The original Metadesign for Murph talk I gave in 2015 at dConstruct is here. That’s the first phase of this work really (and the third phase will be in the early 2030s).
Skills For Planet – Design Council
The new resources for the Design Council’s ‘Green Skills’ can be found here, on their Skills for Planet page. In order to make the market for green design skills, the Design Council are working with policy and commissioners on the demand side, and looking for organisations to embed it, those providing design training to embed it or create new courses to meet this demand.
There is a form at the end of the blueprint where other interested organisations can pledge their actions too.
Regenerative Design Field Kit
We’re coming up to the two year anniversary of the Regenerative Design Field Kit, a way of looking at the environment around you and beginning to add critical questions to your work flow in how you need to start thinking about working on the world.
There is a page for the kit here which explores some of the work that went into its creation, and I’ve also recently written a guide for people wanting to use it in place-based regenerative explorations.
If you are interested in the Regerative Design Field Kit, you can order one here:
Join The Steps Collective
And if you want to join up to The STEPS Collective, which sets up events and meet-ups to help people find ‘the easy place to start’ in developing a regenerative practice, you can do that here.
There are regular online meetups once a month for people to join and hear from others looking to start or advance their regenerative practice, plus we run in-person things wherever there are like-minded people wanting to explore together – maybe you want to start a local Norwegian chapter?
Photojournal
Finally, I was travelling with my camera, and took a selection of photos in Oslo, then on the train between Oslo and Bergen, and finally in Bergen itself. They are all here on Flickr, and embedded below.
Oslo
Oslo to Bergen
Bergen
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