Exploring Experience Design and Human Thriving in Scandinavia

Join us for the Scandinavian Experience Design and Management study abroad program to four countries: Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Iceland. On this program, we will use positive psychology and experience design lenses to investigate Scandinavian culture, institutions, experiences, and landscapes to unpack why they consistently rank at the top of the World Happiness Reports. We will use what we learn to help us as a group and individually think about how we can be more intentional builders of covenant communities of belonging back on campus at BYU and in other contexts of our lives. As part of this exploration, we will engage in a wide variety of experiences including visits to educational organizations like Kaospilot and businesses like LEGO®, EY, and Coor.

The trip will start in Denmark, with time spent in Copenhagen, Aarhus, and Billund. We will visit the World Happiness Museum, Danish Design Center, and LEGO® headquarters. We will also stop in at the Church of Our Lady to see Thorvaldsen’s Christus and 12 Apostle statues. In Aarhus, we’ll spend a day with educators at Kaospilot engaging in full day experience design workshop. In Sweden we will learn how companies like Coor and EY are using experience design to differentiate themselves, and we’ll learn how Swedes celebrate their second biggest holiday after Christmas, Midsummer. In Norway, experience the midnight summer sun as we explore Oslo and make our way via trains, ferries, and buses to Bergen. Additionally, we’ll travel north of the Artic Circle to visit the incredibly rugged and majestic Lofoten Archipelago. We’ll conclude our travels by spending almost two weeks exploring the culture and landscape of Iceland. The program will include biking, museums, cultural celebrations, hiking, swimming, business visits, hands-on workshops, adventurous eating, ocean safaris, snorkeling, and many other adventures.

Over the course of the trip, we will continuously collect insights about how to intentionally design communities and our own lives to promote thriving and belonging. As a group, we will practice validated positive psychology practices to intentionally and fully engage in the program’s experiences. Our goal is for program participants to return home saying, “I am more confident in my ability to design and live an intentional life focused on helping others and myself thrive.”

Click here to apply today!