New producer plans to introduce new Design Week concept

What Taina Torvela, the new producer of the upcoming Rovaniemi Arctic Design Week (ADW), wants most is to find out new ways of developing profitable business using design as a key element.

The next Rovaniemi Arctic Design Week is scheduled for March 16 to March 22, 2020. Its newly appointed producer, Torvela, has two decades of professional experiences in communications, marketing, and services design and 28 years as an entrepreneur. She intends to include various new ideas into ADW to make the event more effective and international.

“I would like to make the event more international for business organisations, audiences, our users, visitors and the design students of the University of Lapland,” said Torvela.

“Design is one of the key elements to develop business. I will introduce five new models in the upcoming Arctic Design Week to turn Lapland and northern Finland more successful. I seek cooperation from all in this regard,” she said, adding that details of the five new ideas will be disclosed later in mid September.

Torvela, a master in economics, said design means how to develop business and her efforts will be to really develop new ways of doing business. She said that ensuring good products/services is the most important issue in marketing and developing a company. The citizens of Rovaniemi, the students of Art and Design of the University of Lapland, and the entrepreneurs should develop and design more customer orientated products and services to advance their businesses.

Referring to the ongoing international design competition among six universities, she said such competitions are important for good products and profitable business. Bombardier Recreational Products (BRP) organised the 4th edition of its International Design Competition. Six universities are taking part in the event. They are the Université du Québec à Montréal and the Humber College from Canada, the College for Creative Studies from the United States, the University of Lapland and the Lahti Institute of Design from Finland, and the Design School Kolding from Denmark. On January 17, 2020, BRP will announce the finalists of the competition.

“I am very happy and my motivation is very high,” said Torvela, adding that they would think about organising more such competitions in the near future.

Arctic Design Week, founded in 2009, is the world’s northernmost design festival. The City of Rovaniemi, renowned for its winter wonderland landscapes, invites people to come and experience the 7-day city-wide festival held annually in March.

The event brings together professionals in the fields of business and design in its mission to highlight designs from the Arctic regions and to display the vital role design plays in our lives.

The theme of the coming ADW is ‘recreate,’ centred to sustainable design. The week is organised by the City of Rovaniemi, the Rovaniemi Regional Development Agency, the University of Lapland’s Faculty of Art and Design, and various business partners.

The organisers have already invited the design and business community from all industries to submit talks, roundtable discussions, demonstrations, workshops and trade fair products for the design week.