Is design thinking the new brainstorming?

During the 2023 summer semester, members of the Zukunftskolleg and the Martin Buber Society of Fellows took part in a joint symposium entitled “Design: Thinking, Making, Doing. Thinking about design and thinking with design to solve big questions” between 18 and 21 April at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and from 24 to 28 July the Martin Buber fellows came to Konstanz to continue working together on this exciting project.

Participants from the Zukunftskolleg included Anamaria Bentea, Cristina Ruiz Agudo, Abena Yalley, Eduardo Luerson, James Wilson, Giovanni Galizia and Daniela Kromrey. The Martin Buber Society of Fellows was represented by Idit Ben-Or, Carolin Müller, Katharina Palmberger, Jasmin Spiegel, Christian Wollin, Christopher Roser and Peter Zilberg.

View of the Old City of Jerusalem from the campus of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

After the first part of the workshop in Jerusalem, we talked to James Wilson and Eduardo Luersen about their experiences.

During the second part of the workshop in July in Konstanz, we asked the participants about their personal definition of “Design Thinking”, the societal issues they discussed, how the method challenged and reflected their way of working, what their personal takeaway from the symposium was, and what they liked most during the workshop.

Listen here to their answers: