Lea Janna Jac­ob­sen

My research interests focus on the valorisation of traditional craftsmanship and the preservation of cultural heritage. I currently manage the Horizon Europe project Hephaestus – Heritage in Europe: New Technologies in Craft for Preserving and Innovating Futures.I am particularly interested in how alternative modes of organizing can drive sustainable transformations in systems of consumption and production, as well as the role both human and non-human agents play in shaping ethical values. I am also interested in how these questions might be approached through art-based research and speculative design methodologies. 

I hold an academic background in Philosophy and Business Administration (CBS). My thesis examined how neurodiversity challenges conventional business paradigms, drawing on Foucauldian theory. Specifically, it investigated how neurodiverse individuals disrupt normative conceptions of the ‘self’, offering a critical counter-narrative to the logic of neoliberalism. In doing so, the neurodiverse perspective opens up new possibilities for businesses to rethink their purpose beyond traditional performance metrics.