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The annual Designs for a Cooler Planet festival showcases thought-provoking prototypes, experiments, and perspectives. Every autumn the open-for-all exhibitions and events present a well-curated collection of projects designed by the Aalto Community, offering a glimpse of hope for a more sustainable future.
The festival celebrates creativity across all disciplines and highlights the impact of border-crossing collaboration. Both are crucial in order to achieve profound change and truly novel solutions to the challenges we battle with.
Designs for a Cooler Planet is an official event of Helsinki Design Week and part of the EU Commission's New European Bauhaus initiative.

Cross-cutting projects celebrating creative thinking
Our 2023 festival theme highlighted the role of invisible in our lives and for the future of our planet. The festival reached around 7 000-9 000 people in Otaniemi and satellite locations. More than 300 corporate R&D executives, donors, foundation representatives, funders and partners attended to our guided exhibition tours. The most common visitor feedback was 'Multidisciplinarity and multidisciplinary collaboration was surprising' and 'The role of design in research projects is interesting'.
Contact Cooler Planet team
Enni Äijälä
Senior specialist, Outreach with partners
+358 50 359 4810
[email protected]
Tiina Toivola
Communications manager, Radical Creativity
tiina.toivola@aalto.fi
Collaborators: Radical Creativity, Aalto Networking Platform, Advancement and Corporate Engagement, Aalto Communications team, Sustainable solutions, Entrepreneurial mindset, Leadership Support Services, Väre Takeout, Strategic Events, and the School of Art, Design and Architecture.
Cooler Planet related events
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The Aalto stand is home to smart, sustainability-driven science.

Revolutionary bio-based materials took center stage at Dutch Design Week
Aalto University Bioinnovation Center participated in the prestigious Dutch Design Week (DDW) for the very first time, joined by several experimental initiatives from the Aalto ChemArts program.

Partners
Helsinki Design Week is the largest design festival in the Nordic countries. Held annually in September, the festival presents new designers and multidisciplinary phenomena, promotes design internationally in collaboration with various organisations, and provides a platform for citizens to participate in the development and discussion of the city through design. Collaboration with Aalto University brings the academic voice and multidisciplinary way of doing to that discussion.
New European Bauhaus is an initiative launched by the European Commission to develop new policies that reduce the carbon and material footprint of housing and construction and promote human and natural well-being. The aim is to create a new European way of life and attractive societies that work in harmony with nature, and to bring the European Green Deal into our living environments. Aalto University is a partner in the New European Bauhaus initiative.
More about New European Bauhaus in aalto.fi:
New European Bauhaus at Aalto University
Vibrant living environments are created through more inclusive, sustainable and aesthetic desig
In 2023, Designs for a Cooler Planet was one of the World Circular Economy Forum partner events.
The World Circular Economy Forum is a landmark event of the year that brings together business leaders, policymakers and experts to present the world’s best circular economy solutions.
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