Design Influences

Three years have passed since the signing of the Design Declaration in Montreal in 2017, and one and half has passed since we last convened as coalition around the Design Declaration in St. Etienne in 2019. The Steering Committee has since been making efforts to establish projects, as proposed in the Montreal Design Declaration, and has been advancing future Design Declaration Summit meetings at which additional Design Declaration iterations will be issued that will focus on a specific topics. These efforts of course have been impacted by the COVID crisis – a crisis that makes the Design Declaration effort evermore relevant and topical.

This on-line gathering was an opportunity to hear the voices of the 20 plus organizations underpinning the Design Declaration, along with thought leaders and experts, on the influences impacting design and how design can best influence.

DESIGN INFLUENCES
A Zoom convening on 21 January 2021 @ 16:00 – 18:00 CET

We convened a spectrum of voices, instrumental to the Design Declaration, to share and hear what is influencing design and the design community and how design and the design community can influence.

  • Design Influences – what are currently the most significant influences on design
  • Design Influencing – how design is currently influencing the world around us
  • Design Influencers – who are at the crux of design

Design Influences was co-chaired by Regitze Hess and Alok b. Nandi.

It was an initiative on the part of the Design Declaration Steering Committee, consisting of the Bureau of European Design Associations (BEDA), Association of Universities and Colleges of Art, Design and Media (Cumulus), the International Council of Design (ICoD), the International Federation for Housing and Planning (IFHP), the Interaction Design Association (IxDA), the World Urban Campaign (WUC). Design Declaration Steering Committee activities are supported by representatives from member organizations – Eija Salmi (Cumulus), Regitze Hess (IFHP) and Brenda Sanderson (IxDA).

A Confluence of Design Voices

Design Influences featured a confluence of voices from a line-up of organizations: ASF-INT, BEDA, CAP, Cumulus, DDC, DEFSA, EMF, GPN, INDEX, IxDA, ICoD, IFHP, MEDEA, SDN, UIA, WUC

Representing thinkers, practice, policy, activism and leadership influential to influenced by design, being represented (in alphabetical order) by:

Essam Abu-Awad MEDEA & ICoD
Mariano Alesandro, INDEX
Mariana Amatullo, Cumulus
Flemming Borreskov, IFHP
Herman Botes, DEFSA & Cumulus
Jesse Grimes, SDN
David Grossman, ICoD
Christian Guellerin, Cumulus
Regitze Hess, IFHP
Christina Melander, DDC & BEDA
Andrea Mignolo, IxDA
Eleanor Mohammed, CAP & GPN
Alok Nandi, IxDA
Morten Nielsen, IFHP
Ligia Nunes, ASF-INT
Eija Salmi, Cumulus
Brenda Sanderson, IxDA
Desiree Smal, DEFSA & Cumulus
Jeff Soule, WUC
Johnathon Strebly, ICoD
Päivi Tahkokallio, BEDA
Min Wang, Chongqing Government, Committee of Commerce
Simon Widmer, EMF
Ishtiaque Zahir, UIA

The Design Influences programme was in three parts, each a flow of voices framing and offering perspectives on Design Influences, Design Influencing and Design Influencers.