Design Futures Forum 2024:
Designing Our Collective Future

1 - 2 October 2024 | 9am-6.30pm | Victoria Theatre and The Arts House

What will be the role of design and designers in the face of rapidly advancing technologies, a planet that is at the point of “global boiling”, and a future in which the global life expectancy is increasing? The Design Futures Forum returns with an expanded two-day programme this year, examining the critical role of design in creating a better future in the areas of emerging technology, sustainability, and care.

Keynote speaker and “godmother of the spatial web” Cathy Hackl (CEO, Spatial Dynamics) will join segment curators and programme partners to usher in insights from fellow thought leaders on design’s critical role in areas of emerging technology, sustainability, and care.

Featuring thought leaders and practitioners from Singapore and around the world, the forum will explore how people – from an individual scale to a larger, societal one – and design intersect to make a positive impact and create a better future for all beings. With a mix of thought-provoking presentations, engaging panel discussions and interactive hands-on sessions, participants can expect to be informed, intrigued and inspired to enact change in their own spheres of influence after.

Tickets for the forum are now on sale with an early bird discount of 20% until 31 August 2024. Check out the forum content below.

As we strive for a more sustainable and values-driven future, the true magic of innovation happens when technology is combined with human ingenuity. As we stand at the cusp of an AI-driven revolution that will transform how we work and live, it is only natural to ask: who are today and tomorrow’s designers, and what skills and experiences are essential for them to lead the way in shaping our lives? 

Industry leaders will present their unique perspectives on the evolving dynamic between emerging technology and design, delving into the impact of these developments on the role of designers and the influence they wield in shaping our collective future.

Curated by Debra Langley

Photo courtesy of Debra Langley.

Debra Langley is an experienced leader in fashion, retail, and technology. She is a Venture Partner at Lyra Ventures and Senior Advisor to LABEL Ventures, and also provides expertise to pioneering tech ventures reshaping fashion and culture. She serves on the board of WRAP, is a member of the advisory boards for the DesignSingapore Council and Vogue Singapore, and is a participant in the National Retail Federation's Innovation Advisory Committee.

The current cataclysmic trajectory of our planet has made sustainability – which often means simply minimising ecological harm – insufficient in ensuring a viable future. This is why designers and others are now turning to regenerative practices that aim to do good by helping to heal the planet, rather than being “less bad”. This includes the growing area of more-than-human perspectives, which emphasises the needs and interests of non-human life.

By presenting a range of approaches at different scales – from object to city to landscape – this session will illustrate the potential for design to have a net-positive effect on the environment.

Curated by Aric Chen

Photo courtesy of Aric Chen.

Aric Chen is General and Artistic Director of the Nieuwe Instituut, the Netherlands’ national museum and institute for architecture, design, and digital culture, in Rotterdam. Chen previously served as Professor and founding Director of the Curatorial Lab at the College of Design & Innovation at Tongji University in Shanghai; Curatorial Director of the Design Miami fairs in Miami Beach and Basel; Creative Director of Beijing Design Week; and Lead Curator for Design and Architecture at M+, Hong Kong, where he oversaw the formation of the museum’s design and architecture collection and programme.

With advances in medical science, babies born today are likely to live for more than 100 years. However, lifestyle choices and environmental changes are placing greater pressure than ever on our health. Would we want to live to a hundred if most of those years were lived in poor health, burdened with chronic conditions or fighting life-threatening illnesses?

Explore how the future of care can be enhanced through design, so that we can live long, and well. From the clothes we wear to the spaces we live in, find out how experts are designing care into our futures, and what can be done to bring more care, and better health, into our lives. 

Curated by Tamsin Greulich-Smith

Photo courtesy of

Tamsin Greulich-Smith.

Tamsin Greulich-Smith is Director of School of X at the DesignSingapore Council, building learners’ design skills whilst tackling social challenges. She leads the Council’s Design X Care work, and is faculty at the Centre for Healthcare Innovation. She was previously founding Chief of the “Smart Health Leadership Centre” at the National University of Singapore, where she used digital data and design to transform health outcomes. In the UK, she ran an innovation firm specialising in strategic design across public and private sectors. She began her career in the first jointly-funded role between London’s Barnet Council and Barnet Health Authority, pioneering integrated care initiatives.

Exploring the intersection of emerging technologies and design, this session will examine how new technologies in product design can create long-lasting impact on people and the world. Speakers will delve into the transformative impact that new technologies like AI, machine learning, and other smart technologies have on improving existing products and creating new ones.

While highlighting future trends and making predictions, experts will share how these innovations are reshaping creative processes and addressing critical global challenges. Gain a deeper understanding of how emerging technologies, innovative products, and new design practices are steering the future towards a more technologically enriched world.

Programmed by Design Matters

Image courtesy of Design Matters.

Design Matters is a Copenhagen-based conference on digital design – made for designers, by designers. It is a place to gather, share ideas, and discuss experiences. Design Matters involves a knowledgeable community of creative and curious minds who share the same drive and passion for digital design, technology, art, society, and sustainability.

This session will dive into transformative ideas with two dynamic panels. The first, "Rethinking Systems for the Common Good", will explore the macro impact of climate change and the role of design in creating sustainable futures, while highlighting global trends and local innovations.

The second panel, "Deep Diving into the Plastic Crisis", illuminates the plastic waste crisis in microscopic detail, breaking down the insurmountable issue and spotlighting local movements and ocean plastic recovery where waste becomes resource. Audiences will be inspired to drive large-scale change through small ground-up actions. 

Curated by Wendy Chua and Dr Ying Seow

Photo by Michelle Mantel.

Wendy Chua is an interdisciplinary design researcher, curator, and educator. As a design anthropologist, she mediates across fields to negotiate new forms of design practices in response to social and climate-related issues. Through her practice Forest and Whale, Wendy has designed products, services, and experiences that redefine how people live, age, and gather. She leads the new programme BA (Hons) Design for Social Futures at LASALLE | UAS. Selected for the EU STARTS art-science residency, she is currently exploring toxic algal blooms through VR for the TAT Museum in Berlin.

Photo courtesy of Dr Ying Seow.

Dr Ying Seow has over 15 years of experience in developing sustainability approaches for businesses. With a PhD in sustainable manufacturing and a background in product design engineering, she has driven eco-friendly innovations across sectors, from consumer goods to major infrastructure projects. Ying combines creative thinking with data-driven approaches to develop solutions that create positive impact for the environment, people, and communities. She is currently leading the development of the sustainability strategy for the UK's Parliament Restoration and Renewal Programme.

Get hands-on and start designing for care during this interactive session exploring an actionable Future of Care.

This session brings homegrown design talents and global change makers together, to co-create artefacts to shape tomorrow’s care outcomes. Be part of the conversation shaping the future of care as design experts from the fields of fashion, space, and culture pitch their proposals for design’s greatest potential to transform care outcomes. Audiences will play a part in driving the dialogue forward through interactive conversations with the speakers.

Programmed by School of X

Image courtesy of School of X.

The School of X is a classroom without walls, established by the DesignSingapore Council to equip everyone with collaborative design skills and design-led creative thinking to solve real-world social and business challenges, with lasting impact. Participants, design experts, and challenge sponsors will work within a framework that includes tools, workshops and more with a network of partners from the industry and public sector.

Keep a lookout for our full speaker line-up, which will be unveiled soon on sdw.sg.