LCD Weekly Issue - 021 -Closing Chapters

Jun 3

🏔️ Words from the mountains

This weekend was my last day as a mountain bike guide. I started guiding as a side job when I moved to Ainsa in 2018. What the people of Zona Zero have done in Ainsa is one of the reasons Marce and I moved to this part of the Spanish Pyrenees, and I am forever grateful for their fantastic work 🙏. Thank you!

But it is time to say goodbye to guiding. I can identify two reasons.

With Marce and a fantastic team of volunteers, I am building an international design school that focuses on upskilling creatives in sustainability and regeneration. I am very passionate about building the Life-Centered Design School, and while it is getting traction, it needs all my attention to succeed. Although I love to do many different things, I have come to a moment in my career to bundle my experience as a designer, educator, and nature lover into one focal point: the Life-Centered Design School.
I trained hard for this guiding season and had this little voice asking from the first client: "Why do you do this?" For the first time, I started questioning my guiding work, and that question kept popping up with each client. So, two weeks ago, I decided to stop.

I loved guiding until I stopped enjoying it. I want to have fun biking with my family and friends, and sometimes, I want to wander alone into the mountains on my bike. I'd like to thank all my clients from the past six years for riding with me and letting me show them this beautiful place. And a special thanks to Marce for supporting all my crazy ideas.

After deciding to quit guiding, I immediately felt lighter. Quitting frees up space in my head and simplifies my private and professional life, which I like.

What chapter do you need to close?

🐅 LCD in the Wild - Non-Human Persona Workshop

Today, we will use this space to showcase our upcoming Non-Human Persona Workshop on Thursday, June 6! The two-hour event will be held in person at Westerpark Amsterdam, where you can learn about Life-Centered Design, connect with your environment, and give nature a voice in the park by creating a Non-Human Persona!

Then, we will collectively design a small prototype, a creation that will inspire park-goers to connect with nature and embrace sustainable actions. We will provide all the necessary workshop materials. All you need to bring is your imagination! Our friends at The Pollinators will gift us seed bombs! As a family designer family, feel free to bring your kids or babies. Nature is fun for everyone!

Details:

Tuesday, June 6, 2024
Time: 3-5 pm
Location: Westerpark, Amsterdam
Cost: 25 euros

Get your ticket here!

🪄 Inspiration- The Call of the High Ways

This week's inspiration comes from the mountain bike brand Orbea. They have a YouTube series called Trail Tales. They made a video about Zona Zero, where I am biking. The video tells the story of the trail builders, the history of the ancient trails and the old smuggling routes over the mountains between Spain and France.

This is where I wander off on my mountain bike

Enjoy watching it here

🔥 Hot in the School - LCD Talks # 2: Life-Centered Design and Facilitation

Daniel Wirtz will join us during our second LCD Talk to explore the facilitation of life-centred and sustainable design processes and workshops. Designing more holistically changes the way we facilitate a design process. Decisions are made differently in other moments. The rhythm of a workshop might change. And much more

We invited our friend and co-founder of the Facilitator School to shed some light on facilitation. Together, we explore how facilitation might change when you organise workshops and guide the design process with a sustainable or life-centred purpose.

In the first 40 minutes, Daniel and Jeroen have an in-depth conversation, followed by the Q&A, during which you can ask questions about Life-Centered Design and facilitation.

Join the LCD Talk #2 and learn about facilitating a sustainable design process

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Until next Monday!

Have a great week!

👋 Jeroen

Jeroen Spoelstra

I am a passionate designer and mountain biker focusing on bringing people forward using a human centered approach. As a designer you could call what I do Social Design, but nowadays there are hundreds of different design names. So for me I am a designer and try to be humble to the world. I like solving issues together with other people in co-design and I love helping people reach there goals.

I find inspiration in mountain biking, traveling and in my current home the Spanish Pyrenees. I use sports, traveling and being outside to get inspired for my work as a designer.

Design to me is constantly shitifing between making meaningful products to creating impactful and real solutions/ approaches/ business that can make a difference.

The Design profession shouldn’t solely be reserved for the designer (in developed world), but for everyone! I design for impact and help people bring out their little designer in himself or herself. I am not saying everyone should become a designer, but I do think people can use a little bit of design to help themselves forward in their personal/ professional life.

https://www.unbeatenstudio.com