The SPP2199 Winterschool of 2022 was held on the island of Borkum in the North Sea from March 7th to 11th, 2022. The event brought together 47 researchers from the 11 projects and guests for an intense week of presentations, discussions, and hands-on workshops. The event also marked the first time all researchers physically met since the COVID-19 global pandemic curtailed face-to-face meetings.
Arrival at Borkum Youth hostel after disembarking from the ferry
The event started with a meet-up at Emden from midday before boarding a ferry to the venue. The arrival at sunset allowed for some networking after dinner. On the first day, there was a formal introduction to the program, activities for the week, and who was responsible for what actions. Next, the PhD students from each project presented their topics and backgrounds in an adapted Pecha Kucha format before everyone adjourned for lunch. In the afternoon, everyone was involved in group work and brainstorming on relevant themes around the priority program. These included the rich interactive potential of everyday objects in the home and differences in privacy concerns for ubiquitous computing in private and public spaces. The group work ended, and the participants went for dinner. Afterwards, they reconvened for the poster reception, where emerging ideas from past and already published work were shared in insightful and graphically pleasing posters.
Poster session in progress
The second day of activities began with a crash course on ideation methods and pilot studies, which was done in groups. After lunch, participants met for more collaboration activities and ideation on referent scenarios in private and public spaces. After an extra hands-on activity on using the ESP32 board for tinkering under the guidance of Albrecht Schmidt, the group adjourned for dinner and then met for a screening of the documentary “Picture a Scientist.” In a social setting, discussions were had with SPP members from marginalized groups (minority races and women) to understand the challenges they face and draw parallels between those highlighted in the documentary and lived experiences.
Brainstorming and codesigning session
On the final day of activities, participants had a social Mudflat hike in the morning, where they saw the North Sea ecosystem in low tide before convening for lunch. After that, they finalized the ideation activities from the previous days before laying the groundwork for future collaboration endeavours within and between projects.
Mudflat hike
The day ended with a games night and socialization as participants left on the first ferry to Emden the following morning.
End of winter school 2022 with a North Sea sunset
The primary outcomes from the 2022 winter school were joint publications, study prototype fabrication proposals, and an update on what each priority project member was working on.
Queuing for departure on the ferry to Emden
| Monday 7 March | Tuesday 8 March | Wednesday 9 March | Thursday 10 March | Friday 12 March | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Before 0900 | Arrival | Breakfast | Breakfast | Breakfast | Breakfast |
| 0900-1200 | Opening & Welcome Tandem Petcha Kutchas (11*5) PhD students | Ideation Pilot Studies Group Work | Excursion “Wattwanderung” “Mudflat hike” | Departures | |
| 1200-1400 | Lunch (seating – Dagstuhl style) | Lunch (seating – Dagstuhl style) | Lunch (seating – Dagstuhl style) | ||
| 1400-1700 | Groupwork – Barcamp | Collaboration Planning Group Work Reference Scenarios | Collaboration Planning Group Work Closing | ||
| 1700-1900 | Dinner (Seating Dagstuhl style) | Dinner | Dinner (Seating – Dagstuhl style) | Dinner | |
| After 1900 | Poster Reception Rotation I 19-20 Rotation II 20-21 Wine and Cheese | Movie Night (Chips, Flips and Popcorn) | Game Night (BYOG Bring your own game) |