Designs for a Cooler Planet — Helsinki Design Week 2020
We are in a race for a cooler planet
The clock is counting down. Current issues concerning energy production, single-use products and packaging, aggressive urbanisation and unsustainable consumption are alarming and require radical change.
Achieving our goal of a sustainable transition requires focused, novel approaches from all areas of society.
Our community has over 30 projects that show how collaboration between designers, researchers and stakeholders can lead to better solutions for people and the environment to help us reach the Sustainable Development Goals.
It’s our future, so there’s everything to play for.
According to the current coronavirus guidelines, only the Aalto students and personnel can visit the Otaniemi campus exhibitions without pre-booking.
Aalto University employees, students and visitors are expected to work and study remotely for two weeks after returning from any trip abroad.
From September 7 onwards, we will organise a few small group visits to the exhibitions at Väre and Vuorimiehentie 2A. Visits must be booked in advance.
Registration to the Väre tours
Registration to Vuorimiehentie 2A
For the time being, we’ll organise all events (except Infrastructure walk) as virtual events.
Check out the outdoor locations you can visit at Otaniemi, no pre-booking needed:
bio.modules.pavilion is an experimental architecture project. The pavilion is made out of biomaterial that reacts to weather changes. Located at: Alvarinaukio behind the Harald Herlin Learning Center, Otaniementie 9, Espoo. Open for visitors until 09:10:2020.
The Otaniemi campus area exhibitions are in five different locations which all have different opening hours. Please check specific and updated details from the individual event pages. We are monitoring the COVID-19 situation closely, and the event will follow all of the rules and regulations set by the Finnish authorities. The safety of the employees, students and visitors is always prioritised.
Meet our four brave teams who have important goals to meet
Farewell to fossil fuels
More than half of our energy still comes from fossil fuels. No single technology can replace our reliance on them.
Close the loops
Making things and manufacturing processes produce pollution and environmental degradation, draining natural resources.
Hack our habitat
Aggressive urbanisation is straining our ecosystem. Rising construction volume causes massive demand for energy-intensive construction materials, and construction already accounts for 39 per cent of the global CO2 emissions.
Consume consciously
Household consumption accounts for more than 60 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions and 50–80 per cent of total land, material and water use.
ONLINE: Designs for a Cooler Planet — online programme
See the virtual event program.
Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, the General Assembly of the United Nations introduced the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, with 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at its core.
We now have ten years left to reach the SDGs. To make the necessary shifts, we need intelligent and well-designed solutions, designed together as teams.
This race isn’t won with speed, it’s won with creativity.
Designs for a Cooler Planet
The event is a part of Helsinki Design Week’s official festival programme. The largest design festival in the Nordics takes place 3–13.9.2020. Designs for a Cooler Planet is also one of the EU's Green Week 2020 partner events.
Graphic design: Olga Elliot and Milja Komulainen.
Designs for a Cooler Planet 2021
In a world of plenty, what is wise to design for the next generations? This year's theme is Resource wisdom, and a university-wide event will take place in September 2021.
Cooler Planet is an event organised by the Design Inside initiative.
Learn more about what Design Inside does:
/fi/tutkimus-ja-taide/design-inside
Read more news
Herd immunity may not work how we think
A new study from researchers at Aalto University suggests that our picture of herd immunity may be incomplete — and that understanding how people are connected could be just as important as knowing how many are immune.
Aalto computer scientists in ICML 2025
Department of Computer Science papers accepted to International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML)
Satellite images reveal the positive effects of restoration in the northern hemisphere peatlands
Satellite data spanning over 20 years shows that the temperature and albedo of restored peatlands begin to resemble those of intact peatlands within about a decade