During intermissions the public can take part in short brainstorm
sessions led by speakers and others. All participants are invited to
share their own ideas on printed A4-forms, to be put on the wall of
ideas.
An activist design conference working toward solutions
The program structure of What Design Can Do is designed to give the conference its ‘activist’ character. The main program will lead to a side program including discussions, workshops and brainstorms, generating an exhibition of ideas, resulting in a book, used in a publicity stunt that will show the world What Design Can Do!
Each year the What Design Can Do program will be built around a specific editorial theme. For the 2011 edition this theme will be ACCESS, on many levels an urgent global issue. The theme makes it possible to formulate currently relevant answers to the general question of ‘What Design Can Do’.
The two-day program is divided into different sections, each focussing on a specific elaboration of the general theme. In this first edition sections will focus for example on ‘Access to basics’, ‘Access to information’, or ‘Access to the city’.
Each section will consist of four elements:
VISION
presentation of a broader vision on the subject
STATEMENTS
by individual designers demonstrating What Design Can Do
CONCEPTS
plans and ideas for design solutions that would solve current issues
ANSWERS
in break out sessions speakers will work together finding answers to a specific question related to one of the access-themes. The public is welcomed to join in. The conclusions will be published in the conference book.
What Design Can Do Program
Brainstorms
What Design Can Do Program
GROWING EXHIBITION
All A4-forms with ideas and sketches by participants will be collected
on an empty wall at the centre of the conference venue. In the course of
the conference, the wall will grow into an inspiring exhibition of
design ingenuity. The best ideas are added to the book.
What Design Can Do Program
CONFERENCE BOOK
Editors and designers will work on the spot to compile a publication
that will be printed on site as well. Including the conclusions of the
lectures, break outs, brainstorms and the best ideas from the wall, the
book will read as a call for action. The book will be presented at the
end of the conference in a way that will stir the world.