Nik Baerten
Nik Baerten is a knowledge engineer. For several years he was active as a multidisciplinary researcher at the Digital Culture Department of the Maastricht McLuhan Institute, where he blended insights across disciplines such as design, architecture, new media, history, biology, philosophy, intelligent systems, organic systems, etc. In 2004 he co-founded Pantopicon, a studio for foresight and design, based in Antwerp (Belgium). The studio crafts provocative futures in order to stimulate debate regarding tomorrow’s challenges and opportunities. Hence they help both public and private organizations to explore the long term, to build visions and strategies, to design concepts for new products, services and experiences, often in a participatory way. In the studio’s way of work a lot of attention goes to rendering the future tangible through various means, as a way to allow a wide range of audiences and co-creators of solutions for the future to engage with it in a inspiring and productive way. Besides a frequent speaker on all things future, foresight & design, and design for social innovation, Nik is also a guest lecturer at the MAD Faculty (C-Mine, Genk, B) and part of the DESIS network. As creators of the “Museum In Our Street” toolkit for the enhancement of social cohesion, Pantopicon and partner Studio Dott were awarded with a Henry Van de Velde label by Design Flanders and recently a Service Design Award by Core77.
