The Design specialisation within the Faculty of Visual Arts and Design at the George Enescu National University of Arts, Iași (UNAGE Iași), in partnership with the Institute for Multidisciplinary Research in Art (ICMA), organised, on 31 October 2025, in Building 3 – Balș House, UNAGE Iași, a one-day workshop dedicated to developing ideas for a speculative design project inspired by the real world.

Under the guidance of David Kester, from the British design studio Optimistic Futures, participants learnt and tested design-thinking methods specific to the field of design. The Co-Lab workshop explored questions concerning creative collaboration in a world in which technology plays a central role.

David Kester is co-founder of the design studio Optimistic Futures. Over a design career of more than thirty years, he has worked with global businesses, governments, and the third sector to turn systemic challenges into innovative products and services. As Chief Executive of the UK Design Council, he worked with four governments to design citizen-centred services and produced the first economic report on the role of design for HM Treasury. In healthcare, David led NHS projects on infection control, emergency services, and dementia care. Through his own design studio, he has initiated a range of social and environmental innovation projects, including a global system to reduce single-use plastics in supply chains operated by SAP, a design lab on workforce integration for the Mayor of London, and the Urban Hack schools project, which aims to cultivate a future generation of social designers. David has recently co-authored a book with Professor Jeanne Liedtka, a leading business academic, on designing and running business experiments. Previous roles include leading the international design and advertising organisation D&AD, serving as a non-executive director at the arts publisher Thames & Hudson, and membership of the Council of the Royal College of Art. David is an Honorary Professor at Warwick Business School, an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Art and Falmouth College of Art, and holds an honorary master’s degree from the University for the Creative Arts.

Coordinators:
• Lecturer Alexandra Ghioc
• Associate Professor Silviu Buraga
• Associate Professor Loredana Gașpar
• Assistant Professor Mihai Gâdei
• Assistant Professor Andrei Lazăr

Workshop held within the framework of the project International Promotion of UNAGE Iași in the Digital Environment and the Consolidation of European Values in Arts Education through Collaboration with Partner Institutions, funded by the Romanian National Commission for the Financing of Higher Education (CNFIS) through the Institutional Development Fund (FDI), under grant no. CNFIS-FDI-2025-0300.

Project Director: Professor Cristian Nae.