Learn more about Natacha and Jose below.

Natacha Poggio
Assistant Professor of Graphic Design
University of Houston Downtown (uhd.edu), USA
PoggioN@uhd.edu

Natacha Poggio is a social impact educator, TEDx speaker, and advocate of design for social change. In her teaching at the University of Houston-Downtown, she concentrates on the role nature plays in our lives and encourages students to find solutions that will inspire positive change in society. She is the founding director of Design Global Change (2008), a creative collaborative designing planet-centered solutions to address global health, environmental, and social justice problems. She has over two decades of professional practice, and her work has reached hundreds of communities in Latin America, Africa, and Asia, garnering recognition as a two-time recipient of the Sappi “Ideas that Matter” award. Since 2011, she has been on the Winterhouse Institute Advisory Council (working on the teaching and practice of social innovation in higher education). When not teaching, Natacha is judging competitions; contributing to books and publications on social design, global health, and sustainability; and volunteering for AIGA –the professional association of design. Natacha earned a B.F.A. in Graphic Design from the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina, and an M.F.A. in Experience Design from The University of Texas at Austin, United States. She is a native of Buenos Aires, Argentina but considers herself a citizen of the world.

José Ignacio López Ramírez Gastón
Director of Innovation and Technology Transfer
Universidad Nacional de Musica, Lima – Peru
https://www.unm.edu.pe/
https://www.unm.edu.pe/ditec/
jlopezr@unm.edu.pe

José Ignacio López Ramírez Gastón holds a PhD in Computer Music from the University of
California San Diego (UCSD) where he studied under the supervision of Miller Puckette. He is
currently a lecturer at the Universidad Nacional de Música (ex Conservatorio Nacional de
Música), where he is in charge of the music and technology courses, coordinates the Laboratorio
de Música Electroacústica y Arte Sonoro and is Director de Innovación y Transferencia
Tecnológica. He also lectures on Sound Arts and Popular Music at the Pontificia Universidad
Católica del Perú. In 2019 he published the book La Guardia Nueva. Visiones Sobre la Música
Electrónica en el Perú.

Overview of the program
The Cumulus Plus Grant Program is a unique opportunity for researchers, academic and administrative staff to receive a scholarship to attend a Cumulus Conference and benefit from the knowledge exchange and community-building that results from meeting the diversity of our Cumulus members. The program is intended to assist colleagues in a country and/or region of the world typically underrepresented within the Cumulus network, opening the door for mutual learning and future collaboration.

Please learn more about Jamely and Joao and follow our social media channels for their contributions and impressions. You will find our accounts in the header.

Jamely Esmeralda
UArtes, Ecuador
jamely.esmeralda@uartes.edu.ec

Literature student at the University of Arts of Guayaquil. She has been published at Ruta Colectiva maganize. Mention of honor at LibreLibro Literary Contest, category: narrative (2018). She has colaborated with local NGO´s for the development of political, cultural and artistic projects for women and LGBTQ community. She gives virtual workshops of decolonial studies and class, gender and race critical theory (2020-nowadays). She translates texts and gives translation workshops for the AWTC (Academic Writing and Translation Center) in colaboration with the International Relationships Department at the University of Arts. She will represent the University of Arts as Ambassador for the Cumulus Guayaquil 2021 Conference.

Joao Jiménez
UArtes, Ecuador
joao.jimenez@uartes.edu.ec

Music production student with experience in audio editing and mixing for new media. Passionate about the artistic sector that is born from innovation and technological vanguards. With a view to generating innovative musical and sound projects, he has entered the world of programming. In addition, he has participated in cultural projects to vindicate independent art in cities like Loja, Saraguro, Otavalo and Guayaquil. He will represent the University of Arts as Ambassador for the Cumulus Guayaquil 2021 Conference.

ABOUT THE PROGRAM:
The Cumulus Student Ambassador Program is a special student award and merit-based initiative of the Cumulus that recognizes exceptional student leaders from the universities and institutions hosting the Cumulus Association Annual Conferences. Each year, Cumulus invites a total of four Student Ambassadors (two per annual conference) to contribute their singular voices to the Association’s Conferences and the Cumulus community overall.

Through the Cumulus Student Ambassador Program, the Cumulus Association is committed to bringing the perspectives and voices of exceptionally talented and articulate students to the forefront, with the goal of highlighting the changes that the next generation of artists and designers are shaping in an increasingly complex and interconnected global marketplace for art and design.
#cumulusstudentambassadors

The Cumulus Green 2022: Nurturing Our Planet competition invites students from all Cumulus member institutions to consider submissions that advance the United Nations’ Sustainable Goals (SDG).

For the 2022 edition, Cumulus is choosing to bring the talent and creativity of its global community to focus on SDG2: Zero Hunger.

Under the umbrella of zero hunger, SDG2 is not only about ending hunger, but also achieving food security and improved nutrition and promoting sustainable agriculture.

The competition will reward the best work with 3 different categories of prizes as well as with honorary mentions. The prize pool is 20.000 EUR.

The judging process is led by jury co-chairs and Cumulus Executive Board representatives, Anne Pikkov and Jose Allard, and international experts in design, cultural diplomacy, sustainability and circular economy including Rahul Bhattacharya, Erik Ciravegna, Dolly Daou, Lynda Deakin, Daniel Grushkin, Philipp Heidkamp, Soojin Jun, Silvana Juri, Anna Meroni, Pedro Reissig, Vishnu Swaminathan, John Thackara, Xiao Yong and Francesca Zampollo.

Cumulus has partnered with the One Club for Creativity to host the submission platform and the jury room of the Cumulus Green 2022 competition. The competition prize pool has been doubled thanks to the sponsorship of BE OPEN Foundation.

Deadline for submissions has been moved to March 15, 2022.

More information available and the entry submission platform open soon at cumulusgreen.org. Stay tuned!

For any further questions, please contact the Cumulus Secretariat at cumulusgreencompetition@aalto.fi.

Read the whole text of the Call for Entries here CumulusGreen2022call

Conference information:

Cumulus virtual conference Guayaquil 2021: Arts Imagining Communities to Come
November 8-11, 2021 hosted by the Universidad de las Artes, Ecuador

The Conference will explore four research tracks: Crisis, criticism, and creation (Keywords: Global crisis, counter-hegemony, design thinking, social engagement in arts, imagination-creation.), Production Design in the Arts (Key words: DJ, transdisciplinary design, rent, influencers, co-creation, digital strategies.), Art, nature, biology and technology (Key words: Smartification, World design and worlding, cosmopolitics, artivism, southern epistemologies.) and Urban art and redesigning cities (Key words: Urban art, city, public space, laser tag, graffiti, design.).

The keynotes for each track include a performance theorist, media creator Jon Mckenzie (USA), visual artist Delma Rodríguez (Uruguay), scientist and theorist in New Media José-Carlos Mariátegui (Perú) and visual methods scholar, specialising in street art, graffiti and forms of urban creativity Susan Hansen (UK).
Full program information will be introduced on the conference website.

Conference host
Universidad de las Artes del Ecuador (UArtes), founded in 2013, is one of the four public universities devoted solely to the arts in Latin America. As a public higher education institution in the arts it has five schools: Film, Sound Arts, Literature, Visual Arts and Performing Arts. UArtes offers 7 bachelors within their schools; and four master programmes.

Overview
The Cumulus Plus Grant Program is a unique opportunity for researchers, academic and administrative staff to receive a scholarship to attend a Cumulus Conference and benefit from the knowledge exchange and community-building that results from meeting the diversity of our Cumulus members. The program is intended to assist colleagues in a country and/or region of the world typically underrepresented within the Cumulus network, opening the door for mutual learning and future collaboration.

Eligibility
– Cumulus Plus awards are directed to individuals who have an academic or administrative role, who hold a full-time position in a higher education institution with a college, school or department in the fields of art and design.
– Applicants must belong to an institution outside the Cumulus Association membership at the time of application. (Before applying, please refer to our current membership list).

Selection Process
A review panel from the Cumulus Executive Board and a prior Cumulus Plus grantee reviews all applications and selects the grantees. The panel takes into consideration individual candidates’ academic/professional achievements, their motivation to attend the conference, and evidence of alignment between candidates’ participation with the overall objectives of the program to promote access and knowledge exchange between the Cumulus membership community and colleagues outside the network in underrepresented countries and regions of the world.

Terms of the Grant
Candidates should review these terms before considering an application. Grantees must be able to comply with the following requirements if they accept the award:

Before the Conference
Return an award confirmation letter with your acceptance.

During the Conference
Cumulus Plus Grantees will be announced to all conference delegates at the start of the conference. They are expected to ensure enough time and good internet connection to follow most of the conference closely. Grantees shall agree separately with the Cumulus secretariat about their involvement in the virtual conference; it might be a short introduction, active joining a session, activity in social media, etc.

After the Conference
Grantees agree to submit a “first person”, reflective contribution about their learnings and any relevant highlights of their experience as Cumulus Plus grantees of the conference. This submission will be credited and published on the Cumulus website and promoted through other channels of the association. The submission may take the form of a short essay (between 500 and 100 words) and/or visual narrative (video testimonial, short film, photo or visual essay). We highly value staying in contact with the grantees after the conference.

Application Guidelines
Applications should be submitted by e-mail with the subject title ʺCumulus Plus Grantʺ to the Cumulus Secretariat, please contact Coordinator Justyna Molik at justyna.molik(at)aalto.fi. The submission deadline is October 29 (final deadline). Five (5) grants offered.

The application consists of the following components, which must be submitted in English:
– A letter of intent providing an explanation for your motivation to participate in the Conference and the overall significance attending the event may have in the development of your academic/professional trajectory and/or positive impact for your institution
– A nomination letter indicating institutional endorsement of your candidacy from an administrative officer in your institution (i.e., senior administrator, provost, dean, department chair or program director).
– Short biography and for academic applicants, an additional Curriculum vitae
– Your photo (JPEG or PNG maximum file size is 8 MB; pixel size between 400 x 400 at a minimum)
– Contact information including full name, position title, home institution address, institution website and contact details (email, mobile and social media handles).

DISCLAIMER: Cumulus keeps the right to reduce the number of grants admitted or to withdraw from granting any for a specific call. The grant cannot be exchanged into money. The registration cannot be moved to another person.

Under three subthemes, Designs for a Cooler Planet presents over thirty of Aalto University’s research-based projects until September 29, 2021. Cumulus member institution, Aalto University ranks currently 7th in the world in the field of Arts & Design.

Over 100 biomaterial researchers, designers, architects, physicists, engineers, artists and students have worked together to showcase radical ideas and experimental prototypes for a more sustainable future.

• Better to Wear | Projects set out to make fashion more planet-friendly and fair: garments from Näytös (the famous Aalto’s student fashion show), wearable solar cell jackets and bio-colours.
• Loving Environments | Ideas that can make living environments more sustainable, aesthetic and inclusive: Arctic travel architecture, climate-friendly wood construction, culturally knowledgeable architecture, shimmering structural colour made of wood, casted wood and many more. (part of the New European Bauhaus)
• Infinite Materials | Experiments with novel materials and alternative, resource-wise production methods: foam wood packaging, seaweed shrine, flower leather, bandage made of betulina fungi, and inspiring biomaterial experiments.

More information:

The Cooler Planet introduction video (1 minute)

The Cooler Planet event main page

Virtual exhibitions:

Better to Wear virtual exhibition

Loving Environments virtual exhibition

Infinite Materials virtual exhibition

Hosted by the Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) and organized by Cumulus partner – the Seoul Design Foundation (SDF), the Award recognizes designers who built harmony between people and society as well as people and the environment to form sustainable cities.

The scope of the award has been broadened to encompass product, visual, digital and multimedia, space and system, experience, service, social, etc. with the intention to encourage the good efforts of designers in all fields.

In addition, the Citizens’ Award is introduced for the first time this year, which allows the public to take part in the screening process. The jury comprised of world-renowned experts in urban research and design has engaged in a total of three in-depth screening processes every year. This year, professional jurors from Korea and abroad will conduct the first and second rounds of screening in November and December, and the third round will be accompanied by presentations and by interviews with the top 10 candidates as well as citizens’ voting.

The screening will focus mainly on three aspects: whether thedesign provided (1) solutions for urban life issues, (2) visions forthe future, and (3) global values.

Another special award titled the “Safety & Security Award” is also introduced for the first time. This award will be presented to a project that helped maintain safety and security in cities in the face of threats from infectious diseases, natural disasters, and crimes.

The submission period is from Sept. 1 to Oct. 31. Application form can be filled out and submitted via the official website (http://humancitydesignaward.or.kr). Details of the announcement and the submission method can also be found on the website.

“The spirit of the Human City Design Award is to find solutions to problems in cities through design and local cooperation and solidarity,” said Joo Yong-tae, acting director of the SDF. “I hope to see a diverse range of projects reflecting this spirit submitted this year so that the Award can play its role as a platform for sharing sustainable future designs.”

Official Schedule
Notice Period: 29 July 2021(Thu) ~ 31 October 2021(Sun) (KST 24:00)
Submission Period: 1 September 2021(Wed) ~ 31 October 2021(Sun) (KST 24:00)
Screening Period: November 2021 ~ February 2022
Award Ceremony: 21 March 2022(Mon)

Enquiry Contact
Homepage : humancitydesignaward.or.kr
E-mail : humancity@seouldesign.or.kr

The site showcases student projects across over 40 programmes, and highlights projects of Advanced Design Studio, Industry Partnership and Global Virtual Exchange, some of which featuring cross-disciplinary collaboration and project-based learning.

The annual design show of the Hong Kong Design Institute (HKDI) and the Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education (IVE) (Lee Wai Lee), Emerging Design Talents 2021: Design for Humanity, ran from 10 to 20 June 2021.

With Design for Humanity as the theme of the event this year, the show will illustrate how design, people and environment can coexist to bring out positive energy and happiness to us. The event offered a platform for our young and talented designers to showcase their innovative thinking and creative flair.

Get to know the projects here.

Please learn more about our new great ambassadors from Sapienza University of Rome, Italy: Camilla and Dimitri who are based in Rome will follow the Cumulus conference Roma 2021: Design Culture(s), June 8-11, 2021 Rome, Italy hosted by Sapienza University of Rome.

Camilla Gironi
camillagironi3@gmail.com
www.linkedin.com/in/camilla-gironi

Camilla Gironi is a second-year student majoring in Interaction Design and minoring in Human-Computer Interaction at the Master of Science in Product and Service Design, where she has been selected to participate in the Advanced Course, at Sapienza University of Rome. She has an academic background in Project Management, with working experience in Graphic Design, Enterprise Communication and Digital Marketing.

Camilla has also taken part in interdisciplinary teams in different extra-curricular activities, including international architecture and design competitions and national hackathons with award-winning projects. She has served as a UX Design advisor for the IoT course in Computer Engineering at Sapienza University and is actively volunteering as a designer in Poliferie, a national no-profit organization aiming at cultivating and supporting neglected potential of young people living in suburban areas.

Dimitri Russo
russodimitri@hotmail.it
linkedin.com/in/dimitri-russo

Dimitri Russo is a second and final year student of the Master’s Degree in Product and Service Design at the University of Rome ”La Sapienza” and is majoring in People-centred design. After a three-year degree in Architectural Sciences, he continues to deepen various topics including 3d modeling, product design and interior design and dedicates himself to several personal projects and various collaborations in the field of architectural design, product design and graphic design. He works as a tutor for exams and theses of the Faculty of Architecture and participates in various competitions.

ABOUT THE PROGRAM:
The Cumulus Student Ambassador Program is a special student award and merit-based initiative of the Cumulus International Association of Art, Design and Media that recognizes exceptional student leaders from the universities and institutions hosting the Cumulus Association Annual Conferences. Each year, Cumulus invites a total of four Student Ambassadors (two per annual conference) to contribute their singular voices to the Association’s Conferences and the Cumulus community overall.

Through the Cumulus Student Ambassador Program, the Cumulus Association is committed to bringing the perspectives and voices of exceptionally talented and articulate students to the forefront, with the goal of highlighting the changes that the next generation of artists and designers are shaping in an increasingly complex and interconnected global marketplace for art and design.
#cumulusstudentambassadors

June 21-25, 2021 – 53 finalist teams from 20 countries will compete for the Glass Microbe at the online Biodesign Challenge Summit 2021. Teams have spent the academic year creating projects that bridge art, design, and biology to reimagine more equitable and sustainable futures. Their innovative ideas explore topics such as medicine, architecture, fashion, food, materials, bioethics, and more. There will also be an online student gallery exhibition on June 21.

Over 60 leading experts in academia, industry, and the arts will judge and award prizes. This year’s sponsored prizes include the Barilla Prize for Regenerative Living Ecosystems and the Science Sandbox Prize for Public Engagement.

Summit speakers include Janina Jeff, geneticist and host of the podcast In Those Genes; Kathy High, artist, curator, and scholar of bioart; and Lisa Margonelli, author and senior editor of Issues in Science and Technology. Speakers will give their talks on Friday, June 25th.

BDC aims to foster the first generation of biodesigners who use the life sciences as a tool to create and critique applications of biotechnology. The students come from across disciplines to explore the ethical implications of current and future biotech.

“To serve society as an entirety, science and technology need to be equally accessible to everyone at each stage of creation. I’m looking forward to this year’s Summit dialogues around what we want from our technologies,” says Daniel Grushkin, founder and Executive Director of Biodesign Challenge.

Over the last six years, BDC alumni have gone on to form sustainability-based startups (raising over $6M+ collectively), receive patents, and win notable awards including the H&M Global Change Award, National Geographic Chasing Genius Award, LVMH Innovation Award, Prix Ars Electronica, among others.

Alumni have traveled the world to engage the public at museums and festivals, including the V&A, London Design Biennale, Gregg Museum, World Economic Forum, the Tech Museum, Dutch Design Week, MIT, and the United Nations.

Sign up to attend the event here: https://biodesignchallenge.org/summit-2021

ABOUT BIODESIGN CHALLENGE
The Biodesign Challenge (BDC) is an international student competition and educational program that partners high school and university students with artists, designers, and scientists to imagine, create, and critique the future of biotechnology. During the academic year, students develop bold and feasible projects that use biotechnology to address pressing issues or to critique biotechnology’s impact on society.

**
BDC is a partner of Cumulus.

Cumulus has the pleasure to welcome three Cumulus PLUS+ grantees to virtually join our conference in Cumulus Roma 2021 Design Culture(s) on June 8-11, 2021. Please learn more about Noha, Ralitsa and Schalk!

Dr. Noha Essam, PhD, MA, MSc
A Futurist, Sustainable Design Researcher & Environmental Psychologist, Postdoc Associate at London South Bank University (LSBU)
A. Professor of Interior Architecture & Interdisciplinary Design, German University In Cairo (GUC), Egypt
E-mail: noha.khamis@guc.edu.eg

Dr. Noha Essam is a Design Educator, Interior Architect, Interdisciplinary Designer, Creative Trend Consultant & A futurist, and A Certified Environmental Psychologist.
Dr. Noha works as A. Professor of Interior Architecture & Interdisciplinary design at the German University in Cairo (GUC). A Postdoc Associate at London South Bank University (LSBU), Former A. Professor of Interior Architecture MSA University. Adjunct Prof. of Interior Design, AASTMT. A Member of World Design Organization-WDO. Dr. Noha received her Ph.D. with honor from Faculty of Fine Arts in Cairo, and two Masters degrees, M.Sc. Environmental Psychology from St. Lawrence College, Canada and M.A. Interior Architecture, Faculty of Fine Arts in Cairo, Egypt. She was shortlisted for The Best PhD Interdisciplinary Thesis among Middle East Universities for the topic of “Phobia of Spaces” for the year 2018.

She is the founder of Studio ne+ (Foresight Research based Design Platform). Also, She is the founder of “Be Transformed” Initiative to bridge the gap between education and creative industries. Dr. Noha’s researches develop better understandings of the relations between art and design education, and the creative industry. Her researches focuses on the interdisciplinary studies of future literacy of design education, environmental psychology & attaining SDG’s through design education and futures forecasting. She has over Fourteen years of experience in interior architecture, design consultancy and business development upon working in several firms in Egypt & Canada. Dr. Noha’s consultancy practices side to side with her academic background enhances the language of creativity in the design community. Through her passion for sensory design, ethnographic researches, and future forecasting techniques that is based on human experience and the reflection of users’ needs, Dr. Noha focused on linking the scientific research methodology, typological studies, art-based communication tools with practical practices to design and consult for corporates and brands in order to add value to the creative industry and design education.

Ralitsa Diana Debrah
Designer, Educator and Researcher
Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Ghana, West Africa
E-mail: rddebrah.art@knust.edu.gh

Ralitsa Diana Debrah is a design educator and researcher at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Ghana, West Africa. She is part of the Design Research Activity Workgroup network (DRAWn) – Afrika at KNUST and the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), South Africa where she serves as a design researcher. Ralitsa has been working collaboratively with the DRAWn Afrika team and DesignBRICS network to explore sustainable solutions to climate change matters by design on the Afrikan continent. She is currently exploring Pluriversal design strategies in education through DESIS Lab initiatives to promote sustainable “design for a better world” – WDO.

Ralitsa’s research interests include: – Design for Social Innovation and Sustainability; Educational Technology for Social Transformation; Informatics and Design within Trans-disciplinary settings. She is a lifelong learner and a Futurist. She loves People, Design, Technology and Research.

Schalk van Staden
Acting Section Head: Department of Visual Communication, and Lecturer: Integrated Communication Design
Tshwane University of Technology, South Africa
E-mail: vanstadenps@tut.ac.za

Schalk van Staden is a design educator interested in philosophy, art and design, and design education. From a young age, he has been fascinated by cartoons, comics, illustration, drawing and yes, toys. He was particularly intrigued about the transcending ability these mediums have to move beyond reality and shape a different world, which led him to study art and design. He has thirteen years of experience in higher education and currently works as a lecturer and acting section head at Tshwane University of Technology, Faculty of Arts and Design, in the Department of Visual Communication, South Africa. He is in the process of completing his doctoral study titled, Towards a new epistemology of design: The cosmosisation of the common and the Lefebvrian production of space, specialising in epistemology and cosmosisation of design and design practice. From a design education perspective does he use design thinking as a strategy for organisational and student development, enabling students and an organisation to develop creative and innovative solutions to problems, building global citizenship to positively impact society and be leaders of change and future pioneers.

About Cumulus PLUS+
The aim is to create the opportunity for friendship between people and generate partnership and exchange of knowledge between the different institutions. Cumulus mobilizes candidates with a travel grant to come over to the conferences under the Cumulus umbrella. The target group are academics and staff working in colleges and universities in art, design and media in higher education from different parts of the world and countries less familiar to Cumulusians.
#cumulusplus #cumulusgrants