Prof Kristina Niedderer Wins Marie Curie Fellowship for Dementia Service

Prof Kristina Niedderer who led the European MinD project (2016-2020) on 'Designing for People with Dementia' has won a prestigious Marie Curie fellowship.

MinD project member Dr Isabelle Tournier from Luxembourg will come to work with prof Niedderer at Manchester Metropolitan University for two years to develop the ICanDo Service which will allow people with dementia to offers their skills.

The project aims to help people with dementia engage in social contexts to improve psychosocial wellbeing. People who are affected by Alzheimer’s disease or other dementias often face cognitive, behavioural and psychosocial difficulties, including impairment and degeneration of memory and of perceptions of identity. In a social context, this can cause difficulties of recognizing, relating to and empathising with other people. These difficulties often pose a challenge for engaging socially, reinforcing their effects and reducing personal well-being.

Find out more about the project here.

Kristina Niedderer is Professor of Design at Manchester School of Art at Manchester Metropolitan University.

Kristina Niedderer (Ph.D., MA [RCA]) joined Manchester Metropolitan University as Professor of Design in 2018. Kristina was originally apprenticed and worked as a goldsmith and silversmith in Germany. She then trained as a designer and design researcher in the United Kingdom. Previously, she worked at the University of Hertfordshire (2005-7) and at the University of Wolverhampton (2007-18), first as a Reader and then as Professor of Design and Craft. She is recognised for her work on mindfulness in design, in design research methodology as well as her contribution to the field of craft research.

Kristina's research focuses on the role of design to engender mindful interaction and behaviour change. She currently leads the European project 'Designing for people with dementia: designing for mindful self-empowerment and social engagement' (2016-2020), MSCA grant agreement No 691001. Utilising the concept of mindful design, the project investigates innovative design solutions to enable self-empowerment and confidence building of people living with dementia. In 2014, Kristina was principal investigator for the collaborative AHRC funded project 'Creating Sustainable Innovation through Design for Behaviour Change’, which led to the publication of the edited book 'Design for Behaviour Change’.

The idea of mindful design and behaviour change has also inspired Kristina's work in craft and design practice in which she focuses on exploring complex emotional expression through (elastic) movement, using new technologies, which was funded by the Arts Council in 2005, and the AHRC in 2008-9. Her work has been shown in museums, galleries and trade fairs in Britain and Germany.

Kristina has been a Council Member of the DRS, and Secretary for Special Interest Groups (SIGs) from 2007-2019. In 2010, Kristina founded the journal 'Craft Research' (Intellect Publishers), dedicated to developing and advancing contemporary craft practice and theory through research, which she co-edits with Dr Katherine Townsend, Nottingham Trent University. Since 2010, Kristina is a member of the AHRC College of Peer Reviewers, since 2014 she has been an expert reviewer for the European Commission, and since 2019 she is a reviewer for the World Health Organisation. She is internationally recognised for her research through regular invitations as invited and keynote speaker at national and international events.