KYOTO DESIGN DECLARATION 2008
Cumulus International Association of Universities and Colleges of Art,
Design and Media consisting of 124
first class global members from 41 countries signed last week on Friday
28 March 2008 KYOTO DESIGN DECLARATION that commits the members to the
principles of sustainability and its development in the society.
Members of Cumulus will also agree to seek collaboration with
educational and cultural institutions, companies, governments and
government agencies, design and other professional associations and NGOs
to promote the ideals of sustainable development, and share their
knowledge about it.
The Kyoto Design Declaration was signed in Kyoto International
Conference Center by the Executive Board of Cumulus, President Christian
Guellerin, Past President Yrjö Sotamaa, Rector Kan Shimamoto, Kyoto
Seika University, and Industrial Designer Takuo Hirano from Japan,
representing the 124 global members of Cumulus.
The Declaration received support also from ICSID, BEDA, AIGA and EIDD.
The 800 participants in the moment of the signing of the declaration
found out the moment being a turning point in the history of Cumulus as
well as in the international art, design and media education and
research. The next step will be Cumulus Green Award for the promotion of
sustainability,
“Human-centered design thinking, when rooted in universal and
sustainable principles, has the power to fundamentally improve our
world. It can deliver economic, ecological, social and cultural benefits
to all people, improve our quality of life, and create optimism about
the future and individual and shared happiness”, do say Cumulus
President Mr. Christian Guellerin L’École de design Nantes Atlantique
France and Cumulus Past President Mr. Yrjö Sotamaa, rector of the
University of Art and Design Helsinki TAIK in Finland.
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KYOTO DESIGN DECLARATION 2008
A statement of commitment, by the members of Cumulus to sharing the
global responsibility for building sustainable, human-centered, creative
societies.
Proposing New Values and New Ways of Thinking
All the people of the world now live in global and interdependent
systems for living. We continue to enhance the quality of our lives by
creating environments, products and services utilizing design. Design is
a means of creating social, cultural, industrial and economic values by
merging humanities, science, technology and the arts. It is a
human-centered process of innovation that contributes to our development
by proposing new values, new ways of thinking, of living, and adapting
to change.
The Imperative for Designers to Assume New Roles
A paradigm shift from technology driven development to human centered
development is under way. The focus is shifting from materialistic and
visible values to those, which are mental, intellectual and, possibly,
less material. An era of "cultural productivity" has commenced, where
the importance attributed to modes of life, values and symbols may be
greater than that attributed to physical products. Design thinking
stands steadfastly at the centre of this continuum. Simultaneously, this
development highlights the importance of cultural traditions and the
need to extend and revitalize them.
Seeking Collaboration in Forwarding the Ideals of Sustainable
Development
Global development, and an awareness of the growth of related
ecological and social problems are posing new demands and offering new
opportunities for design, design education and design research. Design
is challenged to redefine itself and designers must assume new roles and
commit themselves to developing solutions leading to a sustainable
future.
Seeking Collaboration in Forwarding the Ideals of Sustainable
Development
The members of Cumulus, representing a global community of design
educators and researchers, undertake the initiative, outlined in this,
'THE KYOTO DESIGN DECLARATION', to commit themselves to the ideals of
sustainable development. Furthermore, the members of Cumulus, have
agreed to seek collaboration with educational and cultural institutions,
companies, governments and government agencies, design and other
professional associations and NGOs to promote the ideals of, and share
their knowledge about, sustainable development.
From Education to Global Responsibility
In order to fulfil its declared mission to contribute to sustainable
social, environmental, cultural and economic development for current and
future generations, and to contribute to an environment and culture that
makes harmonious and healthy life possible, the Cumulus members make
this declaration. Members will commit themselves to accepting their part
in the further education of our youth within a value system where each
of us recognizes our global responsibility to build sustainable,
human-centered, creative societies.
The Power to Make Fundamental Improvements to Our World
Human-centred design thinking, when rooted in universal and sustainable
principles, has the power to fundamentally improve our world. It can
deliver economic, ecological, social and cultural benefits to all
people, improve our quality of life, and create optimism about the
future and individual and shared happiness.
Implementation
The signatories of this Declaration agree to submit annually a
Sustainability Report to Cumulus Secretariat informing of the actions
they have taken to implement this Declaration. The reports will be
published on Cumulus website and through this they are available to all
interested parties.
More information at www.cumulusassociation.org
Please do not hesitate to contact Eija Salmi as below.
UNIVERSITY OF ART AND DESIGN HELSINKI TAIK
International Affairs
CUMULUS International Association of Universities and Colleges of Art,
Design and Media
CIRRUS Nordic Network of Universities and Colleges of Art, Design and
Media
Eija Salmi (ms)
Director, Secretary General
Hämeentie 135 C 00560 HELSINKI FINLAND
tel. +358 9 7563 0 534
fax +358 9 7563 0 595
www.taik.fi
www.cumulusassociation.org
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Cumulus is the only global association for art, design and media
education and research. Cumulus was founded in 1990 and currently has
124 institutional members worldwide. It is a forum for partnership,
transfer of knowledge and best practices. See http://
www.cumulusassociation.org.
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