Workshops

In collaboration with Mateusz Halawa, a researcher in the Institute of Philosophy of the Polish Academy of Science in Warsaw, we have designed and led a diverse set of workshop, using our unique approach that builds on the synergies between food studies, ethnography, and design.

Designing the Future of Polish Food
Polish Academy of Science, Warsaw

We believe that workshops can be used as effective research tools in ethnography. As part of our research on the re-evaluation of traditional and regional food in Poland, we have been interviewing chefs, who play a crucial role as cultural mediators in the transformations taking place in the Polish foodscape. We thought that it would be particularly interesting to understand what young chefs think about these issues, as they are the most engaged and involved in thinking about the future (including their own future as professionals and entrepreneurs). We gathered eight young chefs between the age of 25 and 35, but Instead of interviewing them, we had them work together in a 6-hour collaborative brainstorming sessions. Through a series of iterative activities, we had them focus on vision and mission rather than on ingredients, recipes and dishes (although those also became part of the work, as they are the tools of their trade). The result was a set on insights and ideas about where their profession in going and how it fits in the current development of Polish consumer society.

Food Businesses as Design Clients
Integrated Food Studies program, University of Copenhagen

How can you improve communication with your client? How can you better understand what they want, especially when they use a language and ideas different from yours? How to deal with uncertainty and lack of agreement among decision makers in the client company or institution? Where do you do your ethnographic research in order to acquire the insight that may best help them in their decision process?
These were some of the question we tackled with a group of students who were collaborating with a variety of clients that ranged from public institutions to private companies and social entrepreneurship initiatives. We supported the students in refining their methodology and in acquiring more actionable information to provide the support their clients expected.

Street Food
Masters in Food Design, Scuola Politecnica di Design, Milan

Street food is becoming popular and trendy. We worked with two different groups of design students to explore the street food of Milan and to use design tools to introduce innovation in that specific segment of the food market. We reflected on how street food can contribute to improve urban life and how street vendors participate in shared efforts towards better health, a more sustainable food system, and a more enjoyable urban environment? We trained the students in basic ethnographic research methods and we asked them to go out in the city, report back, and start working on the data they acquired in their fieldwork. Through a set of iterative activities, we helped the students identify aspects or issues that they were interested in working on and focus on the principles they wanted to guide their analysis and their creativity. The first group of students also worked with designer Martí Guixe to develop their ideas into design projects.

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