The winner of the Helsinki Design Award champions hope

“The world will not become a better place by itself – it has to be made so,” states the exhibition Designs for a Cooler Planet, winner of the 2025 Helsinki Design Award, as its guiding principle. Aalto University’s largest annual exhibition brings together science, art, technology and business, showcasing the latest solutions, experiments and ideas from Aalto’s students and researchers that aim to change the world.

We spoke with Enni Äijälä, artistic director of the exhibition and senior communications specialist, about building a better world and holding on to hope in times when challenges are particularly complex.

Where to begin if the goal is a better world? The challenge is immense

“We need strong networks and broad collaboration. What matters in collaboration is that each of us is willing to expose ourselves to dialogue – and even criticism. Problems on this scale can’t be solved with ready-made, 100% perfect answers that are simply presented to the world one day. Solutions must be sought together. Only through working together does ownership of solutions become truly shared,” Äijälä explains.

Serendipity has always had a role in both science and art. By creating the right settings for encounters, new solutions and genuine multidisciplinary collaboration can emerge.

“Good things often happen through what I call ‘planned coincidences’. We can create conditions for chance, but we cannot force the outcomes. For example, we took an exhibition on the green transition in the textile industry to Brussels, to the European Parliament, just as policymakers were gathering to discuss the EU’s textile strategy. The exhibition presented researchers’ solutions to this complex issue and created space for dialogue.”

“Good things often happen through what I call ‘planned coincidences’. We can create conditions for chance, but we cannot force the outcomes.”

The exhibition Designs for a Cooler Planet was created to respond to several needs at once. On the one hand, Helsinki Design Week sought new ways to broaden the concept of design by bringing research more strongly into the picture. At the same time, Aalto’s renewed campus needed activities open to the public, while the business sector voiced a wish for closer cooperation with the creative student and research community.

The exhibition now presents Aalto University’s research and experiments not only to the wider public but also to multidisciplinary stakeholders and the university community itself. 

What is the value of bringing together projects and solutions in an open exhibition, in terms of fostering a better world?

“What makes the exhibition unique is how deeply it is tied to the university’s strategy – it acts as a tool of strategic management within the community. It’s not just about ‘design’ but about a sustainable future. Instead of separate themes, this red thread guides the exhibition from year to year. Each year, however, we also bring in new perspectives and areas to develop,” Äijälä explains. The exhibition is also about continuously developing science communication and strengthening ties with different stakeholders.

“The polarisation of debate is typical of our times. Exhibitions have enormous value in that we encounter things together, standing physically side by side with the same issues and solutions. In this situation, we are inevitably more receptive, and dialogue becomes more constructive.”

“The polarisation of debate is typical of our times. Exhibitions have enormous value in that we encounter things together, standing physically side by side with the same issues and solutions. In this situation, we are inevitably more receptive, and dialogue becomes more constructive.”

Making research accessible and understandable was a particular emphasis when building the exhibition. Research often deals with enormously difficult and complex issues that aren’t automatically accessible and understandable to the public. By shaping each project’s core ideas, insights and messages into something clear and approachable, the conditions for meaningful discussion are created.

“It’s not easy, but it is hugely rewarding! It’s wonderful when things start to fall into place and the central message becomes clear and understandable. That’s what it’s all about.”

This year, Helsinki Design Week’s theme is celebration – understood as conscious pauses where we reflect on the milestones we have achieved as we also cast our hopes forward. But how do we maintain optimism in a time of conflict and anxiety? How do we motivate designers and researchers – especially young people – to continue approaching the future with enough hope to keep seeking new solutions?

“From the very beginning, one of our guiding ideas has been creating hope. Many of our researchers are specialists in very narrowly defined fields. Working on a project can sometimes feel lonely. By bringing people together, we create opportunities to take an interest in each other’s work and encourage one another. It’s inspiring to hear that, for example, larger companies or policymakers have developed a genuine interest in your research topic. Some of the experiments showcased in the exhibition have even grown into exciting start-ups.”

Now in its seventh year, the exhibition still represents only a short span from a research perspective. Yet Äijälä notes a shift in the way we talk about change.

“Previously, we felt the need to counter the idea of a sustainable future as something gloomy and joyless. Now, at least in the Finnish context, that narrative no longer needs to be emphasised in the same way. Our awareness of the crisis has deepened. We understand better that sustainable solutions are not only about giving things up – they can be genuinely inspiring and motivating.”

What about the future of science and research? Can we still think of them as making the world better?

“If we, as a society, hope to strengthen our economy in the long term, we must invest in research, education and culture. These are the foundations of a better future. Research, in particular, is long-term and forward-looking work – we must safeguard its conditions now. We need strong conceptualisation and ambition to tackle vast systemic challenges. And we need makers and thinkers who can envision a better future and communicate it clearly and inspiringly,” Äijälä says.

“We cannot leap straight to solutions. We need visions of where we are heading and creative concepts to start implementing. We also need far-sighted design expertise – design that allies itself with nature, not that seeks to dominate it.”

Designs for a Cooler Planet runs until 28 October 2025 at the Marsio building on Aalto University’s Otaniemi campus.