LCD Retreat
LCD Retreat
Immersive Design Experience
Life-Centered Design Retreat
Dive into a transformative week in the majestic Spanish Pyrenees, experiencing the perfect blend of nature, culture, and Life-Centered Design that will forever change your design journey.
Cecilia Brenner, Experience Design Director, Philips
“Enrolling in the Life-Centered Design School is the most rewarding re(treat) you can give yourself as a design professional.”
The Retreat
Price: 2400 euros excl. VAT
Dates: October 20-26, 2024
Course type: Retreat
Are you a senior designer ready for more meaningful, positive, and ethical work but need to know where and how to start?
Are you a design director ready to lead your team/ organization to include climate change and social justice in the day-to-day work?
Do you want to move from a human-centred design practice to a holistic and systemic one, including all life forms?
Life-centered design gives you the principles, mindset and methods to design with nature, communities and economy in mind. It allows you to understand the climate & ethical implications of your design work. With life-centered design, you include the natural life and invisible communities that never had a voice before.
Join Jeroen Spoelstra & Marcela Xirinachs, Founders of the Life-Centered Design School, for an immersive and active week of design & reflection in the foothills of the Spanish Pyrenees.
We leave the rush of the design sprints behind and embark on design walks that allow you to immerse in nature and our local culture and create a deeper understanding of Life-Centered design.
Our outdoor design & coaching sessions will help you to slow down and be in the moment, which is crucial to reconnect with yourself and reflect on your design work.
During the retreat, you will work as a group on a local challenge to acquire essential Life-Centered Design skills, mindset and knowledge. You will also work individually to reflect on your career and define the next steps.
Number of participants: Max. 5 participants
Duration: 5 full days
Location: Aínsa, Spain
The price includes One week of immersive life-centered design training, two immersive adventures, six-night accommodations, all the meals, coffee & tea, and pick-up from Barcelona.
Five Transformative Days
Dustin Hostetler,
“I'm having one of the most profound experiences of my design career." ✨
Usana, Banastón
For the week, you will be staying in a magical village of 32 people located in the foothills of the Spanish Pyrenees. Your accommodation for the stay will be at Dos Arcos Usana, a beautiful "Casa Rural" with the most amazing hosts, Yif and Emma.
We designed this course for senior designers, design leads and directors to be able to:
Apply the Life-Centered Design philosophy, mindset and methodologies
Understand why Life-Centered Design exists in this time & age.
Lead & design with purpose in a life-centered and holistic way.
Start the conversation with your team & management about the relevance of including climate change and social justice in your organization.
Take time and reflect on your design career.
Actively determine your next steps with a purpose that allows you to create an impact.
Design beyond human needs and place nature at the core of your design project.
Create a positive impact on nature, communities & the economy through design
Understand the importance of creating an inclusive design approach with other species, cultures, and resources.
Sobrarbe, Spain
Usana-Banastón lies in the comarca of Sobrarbe in the center of the Spanish Pyrenees. We combine our love for its natural beauty and loving community with our passion for design and the design community to create the Life-Centered Design School.
What do participants say?
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"This week-long immersive journey allows you to harness the power of nature and meaningfully connect with local communities, species, cultures and environments. Ultimately, gaining a holistic framework that empowers you to design for the betterment of life."
Cecilia Brenner, Experience Design Director, Philips
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"I really had a truly transformative time and can't express enough that the embodied learning and community building was so incredibly valuable to me. You are wonderful folks and I am here to support you in this endeavour."
Jennifer Jenkins, Head of CX Design, Scotia Bank
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"It's been a week since participating in an immersive retreat in the Spanish Pyrenees offered by the Life-Centered Design School & Jeroen Spoelstra and I am forever changed! If human-centered design is focused on problem-solving for people, I describe life-centered design as pulling the camera up to include a focus on the environment and resources around them."
Dustin Hostetler - Ford
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"I will echo again what we said to you all, the nightly discussions and the 'living' there with everyone, both in the beautify space, environment, birds flying by us, proximity to nature and to you and your family, Emma and Yif and what all they shared was one of the best things about the retreat. I loved it!!!"
Cathy Brett- Solvat Consulting
FAQs
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It would help if you had sufficient knowledge and understanding about design so we can dive straight into Life-Centered Design.
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The retreat takes place in the village where we live, Usana, in Sobrarbe, Spain. For some reference, we are three hours by car from Barcelona (we will pick you up there). The accommodation is also in our village, in a beautiful "Casa Rural" called Dos Arcos Usana. The hosts are our dear friends Yif and Emma.
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Absolutely! This was the feedback we received from our past participants; a few stayed two days longer to do some touring in the area. Others came earlier and stayed in Barcelona for a few days.
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A basic fitness level is needed. This means you can do an easy-level hike with design sessions along the way. However, the purpose of the retreat is not to push your fitness level but rather to connect with nature and learn life-centered design.
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We offer single rooms; we want you to be comfortable and have time to decompress after a long day. It is possible to accommodate two people in one room if they are friends or a couple.
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No problem; we will make sure we can accommodate your needs. Do expect emails from us asking about your dietary preferences and medical conditions (if any).
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Yes! Some companies have development programs with fixed budgets, while others may still be open to covering the training costs if they recognize the benefits. To find out, simply contact your manager or HR department and express your interest in joining the Life-Centered Design Retreat as part of your professional development.
About Jeroen Spoelstra and the school
The Life-Centered Design School brings my love for design, education and the outdoors together. Living in a tiny village in the Spanish Pyrenees over the last five years has allowed me to develop a life-centered design approach that thoroughly embeds nature & community in the design profession. In 2022 I connected living in this beautiful area with 20 years of experience in both product design, human-centered design, design research and educational design in both the business, social and educational space to start the school with my wife, Marcela Xirinachs.
I am also the co-founder of Unbeaten Studio, the design agency I started in 2017 with Marcela Xirinachs and where we serve clients with design strategy, co-design and visual communication.
Being a part-time mountain bike guide in the Pyrenees allows me to wander deep in the Spanish Pyrenees, connect with nature and share my love of nature with fellow bikers.
