In order to contribute to the development of a Design culture in the city and region, which reinforces the territory as a space for innovation with a special focus on the creative use of industrial heritage and the quality of the landscape, the Covilhã Design Triennial in 2025 will bring together and debate the best practices, at a global level, of the mediation capacity that Design allows between the productive and service sectors and the geographical spaces where they are inserted, centered on the bioregional approach to design.
The event will allow us to reflect on ways of using regional resources that go beyond the criteria of economic efficiency and seek to provide environmental and social responses appropriate to each context, creating regions of excellence in the balance between the dynamism of activities, the preservation of a living urban and industrial heritage and the maintenance of a qualified and biodiverse landscape.
The proposed theme – “textile landscapes” – is based on the idea of a landscape under construction that takes advantage of the past, analyzes the present and invents a new collective future that goes beyond the productivist paradigm, but offers viable activities in a context where, in addition to economic sustainability, social inclusion and balanced and diverse ecosystems are sought.
This changing but sensorially stimulating landscape is based on the idea that Design has a transformative power in the life of the city and the surrounding countryside, which is based on the ability to envision a new role for the present industrial and landscape heritage, based on the following vectors:
Repositioning of the textile sector in the value chain and recovery of production capacity based on technological means and conceptual capacity;
Strengthening relations between small and medium-scale manufacturing sectors and the regional agricultural production system, particularly in terms of enabling and organizing the production of raw materials, as well as their contribution to a qualified landscape, a fundamental part of a differentiated tourist offer;
The ability to rearticulate broad regional and cross-border relations into systems of design and production relations;
To broaden the areas and products offered by the textile sector and complementary sectors, based on the creative capacity of design in the use of raw materials and regional resources;
To create ways of enjoying and getting to know the city and the region, helping to improve the experience and perception of them by the community and visitors and attracting new residents linked to the creative area.