On Friday the 16th of December, the SABF Community gathered in celebration to launch a new edition of the SABF and introduce the Organizing Team.
It began with Matías Buscaglia and Sofía Fraga, Co-Directors of the 2016 edition, welcoming all the guests. Together, they shared a little bit of history of the Organization and showed the closing video of the last conference, along with the objectives and trajectory of the SABF.
Yemel Jardi, Organizer of the 2010 and 2011 editions and current Chairman of the SABF Council, shared with us his experience and talked about the commitment the new team is undertaking, telling us about how the SABF affected his personal and professional life. Finally, he shared a very special message with the parents and friends of the members of the new team, emphasizing how their support is essential to every organizer throughout the year.
Afterwards, Federico Cimini and Federico Verrastro, the Federicos, the Directors of the 13th Edition, took the stand and introduced the topics for the upcoming conference:
**Main topic:**Chasing a Shared Purpose
In our reality, it is easy to get lost in the moment, surrounded by stimuli that require our immediate attention. But do we ever take the time to think about where we are going? Or even better yet, where do we want to go?
To begin the pursuit of answers to these questions, we must first understand the reality that surrounds us and how it affects us. In a sea of information, we must accept the challenge of overcoming our reality gap.
However, understanding the context is not enough if we fail to analyze our own reality from a closer perspective. It is indispensable to know ourselves. Challenging our identity, to discriminate the essential of the disposable.
Finally, we must find a way to build this future. Taking individuals as main inspiration, empathic design will allow us to question the pillars of our society. By redesigning what we assume unchangeable, we can create a future that allows us to chase a true shared purpose.
Reality Gap:
We are living in an exceptional time in history, we have an abundance of information and yet we can’t say we have gained greater knowledge of our reality. In a world full of data and information, how much of it gets transformed into actual knowledge? How do we recognize truth in an overload of information, of infinite sources and with no control authority? Furthermore, in many cases, the real issue is not about the lack of knowledge, but of its even distribution. In the solution to these problems lies the key to understand the world we live in, free of misconceptions. It will be impossible to change our reality if we don’t truly overcame this reality gap we have locked ourselves in.
Challenging Identity:
Visibility, instability and mobility. One of many things that our times have made possible is the discovery and mass awareness of different cultures, languages, heritage and perspectives. We live in a world where geographical segregation of culture is no longer a reality. Where new technologies have allowed different ways of perceiving the world and our shared experiences become widespread. It is only natural then, that we ask ourselves: who am I? What makes me different from the rest? The uncomfortable clash between people with such different realities, makes us question our own. This is a call for taking to pieces the concept of identity, redefining the values that are essential and by doing so, building a concept with true relevance in the reality that we share.
Empathic Design:
How can we design something for someone we don’t know? From a simple product to a whole functioning city, empathic design seeks the way to achieve the ultimate design that will meet the user’s true need. But, can this concept be extrapolated from the business world to every-day life? Better education methods, different working environments or even more inclusive and representative government tools. This sheer concept is the door to a new way of thinking regarding design, disrupting the classical view and taking the final user as the principal source of inspiration and creativity. Viewing design through empathy, through the eyes of real people. Finally shaping our own future.
These topics will be discussed during the 2017 conference that will be held through August 3rd to 5th, for which the applications period is from February 6th to April 16th 2017.
Finally, the Directors thanked the SABF Council, the Board of Trustees and the Organizing Team. Before introducing the members, they shared an advise with them: to enjoy and learn from the achievements as well as from mistakes, and to seize together the new experiences that await.
We would love to introduce the members of the team of the 2017 edition:
**Fundraising: **Luciana Montivero (Head), Vanesa Camila Nicora y Marcos Diehl.
Information Technology: María Candelaria Zangari (Co-Head), Lautaro González (Co-Head) and Eliseo Parodi.
**Media and Communication: **Thomas Segovia (Head), Sofía Altrui, Bautista Blacker and Andrea Ambrosoni.
**Speakers: **Guillermina Bond (Head), Roberto Santiago Chá and Agustina Soriano Sergi.
**Student Relations: **Luciano Blachman (Head), Luisina Busso, Nicolás López Llovet, María Agustina Cuello and Nicolás Rainuzzo.
