Video about Design Ecologies with Anna Maria Orrù (Affiliate Senior Lecturer), and Fabian Hardt and Hillevi Hasseldal, examined 2024.
About the programme
On artistic grounds and situated within the expanded field of industrial and product design, the programme educates designers who create and critically examine three-dimensional artefacts, products, services, and systems in response to contemporary challenges. With the aim to contribute to sustainability, the programme promotes design's role in ecological processes, nurturing a design mindset that cares for multiple forms of life and acknowledges humans' interdependency with other species.
As a student, you work to investigate and create conditions to support socially and culturally resilient communities, biodiversity, and economies operating within planetary boundaries. You design not only 'for' users, but also together 'with' them, whether human or not, aiming to develop design proposals (products, services and systems) that are life-affirming.
Throughout the education, students design using ecoliteracy principles (the ability to understand natural systems and recognise the interdependencies between humans, other species, materials, technologies, and environments) as a guiding framework. The ambition is to develop an understanding of how ecological communities are organised and apply these principles in the creation of sustainable human communities.
In dialogue and collaboration with companies and organisations engaged in sustainable transitions, the programme connects theory and practice through design projects. Design ideas are developed and tested in workshops through individual and collective experimentation that integrates aesthetic, methodological, functional, and material considerations, preparing students for both professional careers as well as further studies at doctoral level.
Check on social media to get more insight into the bachelor programme Industridesign and the master´s programme in Design Ecologies.
How to apply
1. Apply online at universityadmissions.se (or antagning.se for Swedish-speaking applicants). Please consider the ranking order of the selected educational programmes/courses.
2. Submit all the necessary documentation to verify your eligibility at universityadmissions.se before the deadline. This includes paying the application fee or providing evidence of your fee-exempt status.
3. Upload your application assignments to konstfack.se following the instructions for your chosen programme.
Important dates
1 December 2026: Online application opens at universityadmissions.se and konstfack.se opens for uploading applicant assignments.
15 January 2027: Deadline for applications at universityadmissions.se and for uploading applicant assignments to konstfack.se.
1 February 2027: All documentation submitted to verify eligibility or ongoing Bachelor's studies must be registered at universityadmission.se, including proof of payment of the application fee or proof of exemption.
February/March 2027: Assessment of assignments and potential interviews.
1 April 2027: Selection results published at universityadmissions.se (and antagning.se).
23 August 2027: All documentation submitted to verify a Bachelor’s degree must be registered at universityadmissions.se. This applies only to applicants who have previously submitted documentation confirming their ongoing Bachelor’s studies.
30 August 2027: Start of term.
Language of instruction
All teaching, tutoring, and examinations are conducted in English.
Credits and form of study
120 credits (2 years), full-time, daytime, on campus.
The teaching consists of a combination of lectures, seminars, workshops, exploratory activities in studios, ateliers, and workshops, as well as independent work. You will work both individually and in groups. As a student in Design Ecologies, you will have access to your own workspace at the school.
Degree
Degree of Master of Fine Arts in Design.
After graduation
The Master’s programme prepares students for a professional career and third-cycle studies.
Students who graduate from Design Ecologies work in areas related to sustainable design, such as industrial and product design, service design, and experience design, among others. Some choose to start their own businesses, while others find employment. The program also prepares students for further studies at the doctoral level.
Specific requirements and selection
Bachelor's degree of Fine Arts in Design (equivalent to a Swedish Bachelor's degree of at least 180 credits), or the equivalent. And proficiency in English equivalent to Swedish upper secondary school course English 6/English B/English Level 2. Read more about English language requirements here.
The selection is made on artistic grounds and is based on assessment of artistic portfolio, project proposal and interview. Read more about requirements and selection here.
Assessment of applicant assignments
In addition to applying via www.antagning.se, you must submit applicant assignments (portfolios/files) to Konstfack's website. If you are applying for more than one programme at Konstfack, you must submit applicant assignments (portfolios/files) for each programme you apply for. Read more about how to submit work samples here.
The artistic assessment is carried out by a special assessment group consisting of professors, teachers, students and representatives from the professional field.
The selection process takes place in two stages. The first stage involves the work samples and statement of intent submitted by the applicant being assessed on the basis of their ability to express themselves artistically and to adopt an investigative and reflective attitude, in relation to social and ecological issues. We also evaluate craftsmanship and technical proficiency (including ability to digitally model/visualise in 3D).
In the second stage, selected applicants are invited to an interview. During this interview, the applicant’s motivation for undertaking the programme, their ability to reflect on their own artistic attitudes, and their relationship to social and ecological issues will be discussed in relation to the work samples and declaration of intent previously submitted. Read more about artistic assessment here.
Applicant assignment for the 2027 autumn admission
Your portfolio must be submitted digitally according to the instructions below. The samples of your work must describe results from studies and/or works that you want to refer to. If any sample is not completely your own work, this must be made clear, and you must indicate which sections you have created and your role in them.
Your application must be in English and include the following three (3) compulsory sections:
1. Your own selection of works
Send us documentation of works that you have produced on your own. You can also present work that has been done in a group, if you specify precisely what your contribution has been.
You may have produced the works during your Bachelor's programme, an internship or while you have been working professionally. You may also include sketches, paintings, and/or sculptures if you want to.
To be able to assess your way of working it is required that you present the process behind the project for at least three (3) of the works that you submit. You may, for example, present different types of sketches (some need to be made by hand), renderings created with a computer, studies, photographs of models, models tested in context, films and/or other images that show how the final proposal evolved. If you have been using imagery generated through AI, or if you have used any other type of AI technology, you should specify how you have used it and for which parts of the work. Add captions to your works, describing, for instance, starting points, intentions, task, and other aspects of your thought processes during your work.
All the samples you present should be assembled to form one (1) PDF file of no more than twenty (20) pages in A3 landscape format. Arrange your sketches, drawings, photographs, films, etc. on these pages. (Films should be represented in your portfolio by one image from the film and its title. The actual films are submitted as separate files.)
The first page must contain a table of contents covering every work in the portfolio. The table of contents should offer a clear summary of the samples of your work submitted with thumbnail images for each of them. The table of contents is used by the selection panel when the applicant assignments are discussed.
Give your PDF file a name using the following format "Surname-Forename-1.pdf".
2. Declaration of intent
In your declaration of intent, you describe why you want to attend the Master´s programme in Design Ecologies. Tell us how you want to develop and what you want to study in greater depth. What are your expectations of Konstfack? What kind of work do you think you will be doing after graduating? What kind of context would you like to belong to? Do not hesitate to raise any questions you may have about the programme that you would like to ask if you are called for an interview. Write about two (2) A4 pages, 2,000-4,000 characters (including spaces).
Give your PDF file a name using the following format "Surname-Forename-2.pdf".
3. List of experience, education, employment, etc. (CV)
Submit a CV in which you list previous education, work-experience, skills (e.g. computer programs, crafting skills etc.) and other information that you think is interesting in your application to us. Please note that the CV will not be used for selection on artistic ground, but solely as a reference for discussions during a potential interview.
Give your PDF file a name using the following format "Surname-Forename-3.pdf".
Important information regarding the rules on work samples, cover letters and AI tools
Summary, files to submit:
Three (3) PDF-files.
File number 1. Your own selection of works. No more than 20 pages, in A3 landscape format.
Name your file using the format: Surname-Forename-1.pdf
File number 2. Declaration of intent. No more than two (2) pages in A4 format.
Name your file using the format: Surname-Forename-2.pdf
File number 3. CV.
Name your file using the format: Surname-Forename-3.pdf
And optional moving images/video.
Your application must be written in English.
Technical specifications
To be able to assess your portfolio correctly, it is important that you comply with these technical specifications.
PDF
The PDF files must not be password-protected or set to force the presentation into full screen.
Video
In addition to the PDF files, you may also submit video with a total length of no more than 15 minutes.
Approved formats for video: MOV, MP4 or AVI
The videos must be compressed using H-264 compression.
Unless otherwise stated in the instructions for the applicant assignments, individual files must not exceed 300 MB. The total size of the applicant assignments must not exceed 500 MB.
Name the files with moving images/video using the format: Surname-Forename-4 and so on.
The video's title, format and length should be stated on the first content page in PDF-file number 1.
Read more about how to submit work samples here.