DR. JOANA C LEMOS Research Director

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"Design & Life" inspiration from Doi Tung Thailand

To date I have refrained from publishing here my experience in Thailand collaborating with the Doi Tung Sustainable Development Project.  There are two main reasons for this; one being the project was still under development and to date has no closure.Other reason being that I have been in the process of documenting reflections on "Design & Life", inspired by the time I have spent in Thailand. Considering the recent (and ongoing) flood catastrophe in Thailand, and in honour of the friends back in Bangkok and Chiang Rai, I publish this hint of what is to come in the format of a book - photography and thoughts.

"The challenge really began upon lift-off Frankfurt runway, realizing I was not leisure traveling to South-East Asia.   But rather, professionally traveling to a +7GMT time-zone, leaving behind the predictability of western-world routines.  The responsibility really hit home, with a mixed feeling of transcendental excitement and sheer fear.  My first time solo flying a 16-hour journey to a completely unknown destination felt surprisingly comfortable, in the company of Ipod, MacBook, Canon and Chuck Palahniuk replaying "You better get your shit together and pull this one off."

If you were a designer alone in a long-haul flight, you would observe everything around you.  If you were a designer interested in sustainability issues, you would observe for clues, because you would know Thai Airlines are recognized for the many projects they are involved with that promote sustainable behaviour.  Needless to say, I was extremely excited about this flight, and the menu also."