Keynote presentations
Service Design at Intersections – Past, Present, Future (2026) Intersections -conference, Singapore. Keynote on the role of AI in design and how to do planetary design for services.
Design for Future-proofing in the Planetary Context (2025). Jiangnan University, China. Keynote on planetary design approaches for resilient and future-oriented societies.
Creating and Performing with Multispecies (2025). SuMu-Symbosium, the University of Lapland. BioARTechLab: Satu Miettinen, Heidi Pietarinen, Amna Qureshi and Melanie Sarantou. Collaborative keynote-performance on multispecies creativity, bioart, and artistic research approaches to more-than-human futures.
Service Design for Promoting Social Innovation (2023). Tsinghua University, China (Online). Service design as a driver for social innovation and societal impact.
Dialogical Arts Through Sustainable Communities: Acting on the Margins, Redefining Empowerment (2022). AMASS conference opening, University of Lapland, Finland (Online). Opening keynote on arts, empowerment, and sustainable community development.
Managing Complexity and Creating Innovation through Design (2019). Service Design Week Barcelona, Spain, organised by Elisava & Design Thinkers Group (Online). Design strategies for addressing complexity and fostering innovation.
Service Design, Future Work and Competencies (2019). AppSim-seminar, Centria, Finland. Future skills, competencies, and design approaches for changing work environments.
Prototipado de Servicios para el Adulto Mayor (2018). Innovación 2050 -event, Centro de Innovación UC, Chile. Service prototyping methods for improving services for older adults.
Autonomia, äly ja uudet palvelut (2018). Northern Service Day in Oulu, Finland. The role of autonomy, intelligence, and emerging service concepts in societal change.
Humanising Service Experience (2016).The 2nd Congreso Chileno Diseño Servicios in Santiago, Chile. Human-centred approaches to designing meaningful service experiences.
Designing Services for the Open, Public and Third Sector (2014). DESIS Symposium, Wuxi, China. Service design applications in the public sector and community-based innovation.
Creating Sustainability through Service Design Thinking (2014). Tsinghua University, China. Service design thinking as a pathway to sustainability transitions.
Service Design: Methods and Action (2014). 86th SIEC-ISBE International Conference at Arcada, Finland. Practical methods and applications of service design across sectors.
Service Design in Digital Economy (2014). Need for Speed -program DIGILE SHOK Q2 Review, Finland. Service design in rapidly evolving digital business environments.
Service Design Tools for User-Centered Design (2012). Cloud Software, Tivit-program, Finland.User-centred design tools and methods for service development.
Palvelumuotoilu yhteiskunnallisissa innovaatioprosesseissa (2012). The Week of Wicked Problems organised by Tampere University and Demola. The role of service design in societal innovation and wicked problem solving.
Textile and Tourism Development in Lapland (1998). Association of Tourism and Leisure Studies (ATLAS) conference, Greece. Connections between textile traditions, cultural heritage, and tourism development in Lapland.
Number of invited presentations delivered in 13 countries across Europe, Asia, Africa, North and South America at leading institutions including Stanford University, MIT AgeLab, Tsinghua University, Tongji University, Hokkaido University, Sapienza University of Rome, Universidad del Desarrollo, and Cape Peninsula University of Technology, as well as major international networks such as the Design Research Society (DRS), Service Design Network (SDN), DESIS, and ServDes. Topics have focused on service design, strategic foresight, digital transformation, AI, public sector innovation, design education, empathy, sustainability, and arts-based approaches to societal change.
AMASS -project and evidence-based research in Cultural and Creative Industries (2023) CCI -event organised by the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the European Union, Spain. Listen to a panel discussion.
AMASS -project and CCI impacts on health and wellbeing (2022). Culture: a driver for health and wellbeing in the EU event organised by the European Parliament’s Committee on Culture and Education, at the European Parliament. Listen to the panel discussion. You can read more in the event booklet.
Television
Film director Lauri Törhönen’s doctoral dissertation has sparked debate about the practices of the University of Lapland and the nature of scientific and artistic research. Dean Satu Miettinen and Adjunct Professor Taina Saarikivi discuss the issues raised by the case on the YLE Kulttuuricoctail program in 2023.
Podcast
Listen to Arne van Osterom’s Creative Leaders Unplugged podcast: The Story of Satu Miettinen (2023). In the Creative Leaders Unplugged podcast, Satu Miettinen discusses how art and design are mutually enriching practices that support innovation, empathy, and creative leadership. You can read the discussion insights on Medium.
