K.Fund and international partners announce the launch of European Design Upgrade 3.0
The war in Ukraine has caused more than 4 million people to lose their homes due to destruction by missile attacks and forced displacement from the frontline and occupied territories. Amid these challenges, there is an urgent need for affordable, adaptive, and flexible housing. It is this problem that European Design Upgrade 3.0, an international project aimed at finding and implementing effective solutions and technologies in the development of modular housing for people who have lost their homes, is addressing.
The project aims to rethink modular construction for crisis areas and situations, such as wars, natural disasters, and other adversities. The entire EDU 3.0 program is built on the principles of human-centered design thinking to create a new approach to high-quality and comfortable modular housing.
"The key idea of EDU 3.0 is to bring together architects, engineers, designers, and entrepreneurs to create new and effective solutions in the construction of modular homes. The greatest value of the project is in the collaboration and exchange of experience. This is an important task and a serious challenge, as modular houses are the key to solving the problem of temporary affordable housing in Ukraine for all those affected by the war," comments Yurii Pyvovarov, President of K.Fund.
The project is aimed at design, construction, and architecture professionals, students, and graduates of specialized higher education institutions who want to gain new knowledge and skills in the field of modular housing and sustainable practices. The project will also be of interest to entrepreneurs and members of the public who want to get involved in the production of sustainable goods and services.
The EDU 3.0 program was developed with leading experts from Estonia, Ukraine, and Finland. During the project, participants will go through 5 stages from theory to implementation:
- Forum with project experts and speakers
- A three-day skills upgrade session on human-centered design
- Selection of participants based on the results of the seminar for a hackathon to develop new ideas, where participants will be able to plan and design their solutions for modular housing in a group work format
- Ongoing mentoring support for hackathon participants, evaluation and selection of the best projects for further awarding at the final forum
- An award ceremony for the best hackathon concepts, whose authors will receive additional mentoring support and funding
Participation is free of charge. EDU 3.0 is implemented by K.Fund, Brand Manual, UrbanMill, and Ultrahack. The project is funded by the European Union under the Creative Europe program.
European Design Upgrade 3.0 starts on March 19. You can become a participant in the program and get more information about the project via the link.