“It’s about asking the right questions”
This year the Design Research & Innovation Festival DRIVE was back for a new edition. During Dutch Design Week, speakers and visitors came together for five days of interactive DRIVE events. We joined an inspiring session on mobility.
On 19 October the Effenaar hosted Drive Mobility 2020, although most guests participated online. In a two-hour session, it was all about mobility evolving around hubs and blue skies for all. Experts from the world of science, business and design addressed the issues in their field.
One of the speakers was Rob Adams, curator of the Embassy of Mobility. It’s not about finding answers, he said. It’s about asking the right questions. Adams and his team had been looking with great interest at a world turned upside down by a pandemic. During the Embassy of Mobility they presented an overview of inspiring mobility initiatives they collected worldwide.
Ultimately it’s not about flexible mobility systems, Adams says. It’s about cities and villages that are pleasant to live in, and are able to adapt to changing circumstances. He mentioned the initiative for a 15-minute city by the mayor of Paris, where all the necessary facilities can be reached in fifteen minutes by foot or bicycle.
Drive Mobility also focussed on the role of designers in mobility issues. Madelaine Berlis of Afdeling / Buitengewone Zaken explained how a social designer works in realising behavioral change. She sketched the process using a case from her own practice, a project to reduce the impact of traffic near the beach of Hoek van Holland.
The Design Research & Innovation Festival DRIVE was organised by CLICKNL together with 4TU research center Design United. The festival took place during Dutch Design Week addressing a different theme every day.
