MEETING OF DESIGN STUDENTS ‘MEDS' is an international network that connects all design disciplines.
Run by and for students and young professionals of Europe and beyond, MEDS encourages a cross-disciplinary collaboration to learn from each other's vision and culture through a creative hands on exchange in architecture, industrial design, graphic design, fashion, photography and many more.
In summer, MEDS annually hosts a designworkshop to enhance the exchange of knowledge and skills between design enthusiasts. Throughout two weeks, 250 design students from over 30 different countries gather in one place to reflect on a relevant theme and gain hands-on experience by creating and building projects together. Aside from designing, a tight schedule of lectures, exhibitions and social activities is presented. The workshop runs towards creating an expo presenting the theme, projects and debate to the hosting city.
Seven previous editions with original projects in divers themes and disciplines passed in Alanya, Istanbul, Ljubljana, Lisbon, Dublin, tara and Bucharest. Gent, Belgium, hosts this year’s 8th edition under the theme:
’urban haven’,
the city as breeding ground of initiative and creativity.
We see how more and more citizens around the world engage themselves to shape their surroundings in different but collaborative ways. Also in Gent, local initiatives experiment with new social models and question existing structures and habits. From local energy production and urban farming, to promoting circular and sharing economies, from gathering in maker’s collectives to throwing neighborhood parties.Inspired by their enthusiasm and vision on a sustainable environment, MEDS Gent ’17 puts the urban haven in the spotlights.
Participants expand their experience by focusing on various themes, topics and settings of the hosting city from a theoretical and practical perspective. The designworkshop is a chance to get in touch with local partners, professionals and neighbours and to collaborate through tactile projects with diverse approaches to design, different building techniques, traditions and skills.
MEDS boosts creativity, teamworking and communication skills between students from different design disciplines and cultures. Participants are given a great opportunity to develop themselves in a broader context and get in contact with like-minded people.
Every year a different country applies to host and organise MEDS. They decide the theme and get in touch with local partners for financial support, the supply of materials and tools, accommodation,… They also get in contact with the local creative universities and the city council.
