Continuing the tradition to provide quality events for students, between the 14th and 29th July, BEST Copenhagen organized a summer course on interaction design for 24 students coming from 17 European countries. The aim of the event was to give the students an insight into interaction design and, at the same time, to promote the European cultural diversity which was abundant, giving the large number of country representatives at the course.
The collaboration with Technical University of Denmark (DTU) was mediated by associate professor Harald Störrle from DTU Informatics, who was responsible for the academic part. The course stood up to its name – Think.Design.Interact, as the learning techniques consisted of group work with many brainstorming sessions and the possibility to interact with each other, resulting in very creative designs. In addition to this, two company visits at DIFFUS and Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design helped to inspire the students and put a light on the Danish design culture.
Throughout the course the participants had the opportunity to share and witness both Danish and European culture. Nowhere could this have been clearer than during the International Evening, where the participants put together an amazing display of food, drink, songs and dances from their home countries. The participants were, of course, introduced to the local traditions through a Danish Christmas lunch, a typical Danish birthday party and even a “Viking wedding” where the old Viking ways were presented. Discovering Copenhagen couldn’t be more entertaining: city rally with fun tasks, complete tour of the Tivoli Gardens, museums, football-kayaking in the harbor and other sightseeing activities.
The combination of productive group work during academic hours and the diverse social activities made sure that the whole group felt like one big happy family. The ending of the event was quite nostalgic as many of the participants couldn’t believe how fast two weeks passed by. Nevertheless, how many of them will look back full of joy, remembering “that wonderful time when I discovered interaction design in Copenhagen”?
If you also want to experience something like this somewhere in beautiful Europe, you just have to look out for our seasonal courses on this webpage and choose which will be your next unforgettable experience.
(Written by Bogdan Dragomir, main organizer of BEST summer course Copenhagen 2012)