PROGRAM

The CWG Design for Placemaking aims at investigating on a possible specific design perspective about the activities and interventions included in its renewed definition. Indeed, the initial characterization of placemaking mainly based on territorial marketing and the attraction of tourists, has been lately intended as a citizen collaborative process by which shaping the public realm (the commons) to maximize public value. It is an opportunity to study possible reconfigurations and re-signification of public and private spaces acting both on the “light” infrastructural and intangible (cultural, relational, etc.) levels, through the engagement and inclusion of a variety of stakeholder and bottom-up groups. The approach guiding the CWG is responding to the New European Bauhaus principles of beauty, sustainability and togetherness.

Ethics by Design: Women’s Voices in Transformative Leadership

Exploring how women in design education and leadership are shaping new ethical paradigms. Grounded in the Cumulus Conference theme of Ethical Leadership, this working group spotlights inclusive, responsible, and innovative practices driven by diverse female perspectives across generations. Through dialogue, storytelling, and collaborative activities, participants will identify strategies to embed ethical principles into leadership models, foster intergenerational learning, and build a more just, empathetic, and future-ready design culture that empowers emerging and established voices alike.

With more than twenty years’ history, X‐files is the oldest CWG in the history of the association. It is a forum for international networking, a vehicle for the cultivation of existing collaborations and the discovery of new opportunities, as well as a platform for global engagement and interaction. Participants of the X‐files working group include all types of university personnel: faculty members, administrative staff, deans, directors, and researchers. Cumulus conference attendees are welcome to take part if they share the group’s main objectives:

1. To facilitate collaborations during the Cumulus conference and to provide members with tools to sustain conversations;
2. To help members find prospective partners and lay the groundwork for new collaborations;
3. To provide space and time to all Cumulus conference attendees to connect with an active network of international academic programs;
4. To establish networking opportunities in the creative context of the conference.

Co-organised by the City Design Lab at L’École de design Nantes Atlantique and the cluster FAISTOS, the meet-up aims to explore the fertile crossroads between research, innovation, artificial intelligence (AI) and design in order to rethink and to reshape how cities and regions are made. As ecological and social transitions and public expectations redefine our living spaces, the integration of emerging technologies, particularly AI, offers opportunities to imagine and model sustainable and inclusive environments. 

The meet-up explores the contributions of design, research, pedagogy and innovation to the design of cities, to industrial prospects and to economic and territorial transformations, with a focus on transdisciplinary approaches mobilising AI and design to meet metropolitan, urban and rural challenges from a national and international perspective. 

It provides an opportunity to discuss scientific, methodological, educational and experimental issues at the crossroads between research, the socio-economic sphere and the public sector.   

It brings together researchers, designers, industrialists and public decision-makers to work together to imagine innovative paths for development. By combining expertise and experience, this event aims to create a space for dialogue and foresight, enabling concrete courses of action to be formulated for the harmonious transformation of cities and regions in the age of AI. It’s a unique opportunity to collectively sketch out the contours of an ambitious, co-constructed future.   

In this workshop, the participants will be introduced to the Cumulus working group on ‘Design Education for Social Change’ (DESC). They will engage in hands-on collaborative activities to develop a glossary of terms relevant to design education for social change. The participants will review an initial list of words and advance the definitions of key concepts, supported by projects to exemplify them as case studies. A ‘hands-on arts-based activity’ will be facilitated to create imagery to enrich the glossary and illustrate the growing field of design education for social change. Come and join this collective reflection, discussion, and networking opportunity within a community of practice committed to social change, in and through design education.

Workshop Facilitators: Cecilia Casas Romero (Teacher and Researcher at ESDA), Dr Francesco Mazzarella (Reader in Design for Social Change at London College of Fashion, UAL) and Prof. Jonathan Ventura (Co-founder of the Social Design Network and Professor at Shenkar University).

The Cumulus+IxDA partnership – with institutions and organizations from different parts of the world – creates diversified and constructed spaces for conversations building on the synergy of education and research expertise, brought by Cumulusians, along with the practitioners’ perspectives brought by IxDA and its local partners.

End 2022 saw a shift in Digital Culture with the Cult of AI.
How are we bending the corners as practitioners, as researchers, as educators ?
The P-R-E series encourages focused conversations on identifying critical elements that further capacity building for designers, at different stages of their careers, from studies to professional practice to lifelong learning. The Nantes P-R-E meeting will allow to craft what could be or should be at stake for “critical thinking” for any stakeholder. Let’s bend design? Let’s bend AI?

Design schools, media schools, and art schools have the unique chance to assert themselves as leading educational institutions on par with schools for the natural and social sciences.

Primarily because the world lacks solutions to crucial challenges and because in a context of mounting complexity, it is clear that our society’s progress and wellbeing as human beings cannot be left exclusively to economic discourse and/or scientific discourse.

How do we make full use of the art and design disciplines’ role to make a positive impact in favor of more sustainable and humane development frameworks?

With over two decades of history, Global X – International Affairs Working Group (X-files) stands as the longest-standing CWG within the association. It serves as a pivotal forum for international networking, fostering existing collaborations, uncovering new opportunities, and promoting global engagement and interaction. 

Co-organised by the City Design Lab at L’École de design Nantes Atlantique and the cluster FAISTOS, the meet-up aims to explore the fertile crossroads between research, innovation, artificial intelligence (AI) and design in order to rethink and to reshape how cities and regions are made. As ecological and social transitions and public expectations redefine our living spaces, the integration of emerging technologies, particularly AI, offers opportunities to imagine and model sustainable and inclusive environments. 

The meet-up explores the contributions of design, research, pedagogy and innovation to the design of cities, to industrial prospects and to economic and territorial transformations, with a focus on transdisciplinary approaches mobilising AI and design to meet metropolitan, urban and rural challenges from a national and international perspective. 

It provides an opportunity to discuss scientific, methodological, educational and experimental issues at the crossroads between research, the socio-economic sphere and the public sector.   

It brings together researchers, designers, industrialists and public decision-makers to work together to imagine innovative paths for development. By combining expertise and experience, this event aims to create a space for dialogue and foresight, enabling concrete courses of action to be formulated for the harmonious transformation of cities and regions in the age of AI. It’s a unique opportunity to collectively sketch out the contours of an ambitious, co-constructed future.   

We identify and publish new creative competencies that designers and art students need to adapt to prepare them for their future. We organize hands-on workshops at the end of the conference to peer review what this year’s conference has yielded. We then publish these newly minted creative competencies and how they can be taught by means of case studies on the Creative Competencies Resource. To date, the working group has identified and published 50+ creative competencies.

A creative competency is defined as the knowledge (as it relates to thinking, cognition); the skills (doing, making); and the behaviors (feelings, attitudes, motivations) students need to acquire. Understanding the different creative competencies that students need to develop is useful for educators in creating, managing and facilitating learning experiences. This working group is a platform to share the rich diversity in designing learning experiences to educators and practitioners from all over the world.

The CCR supports Cumulus in delivering on its mission and vision as it provides an effective platform for knowledge exchange and fosters year-round community.

The session will explore the relationship between people and food based on topics of food adaptation, connectivity and identity, specifically from a food design perspective. The session will invite food experts from different disciplinary and cultural backgrounds, to deliver and discuss keynote lectures and to take part in an open panel to discuss food design topics and connec*on to sustainability and transformation. 

Dr Dolly Daou Online and Prof. Melanie Sarantou On-site 

The panel discussion will follow a hybrid format, with panel experts present on-site and online

Chair of panel discussion: Prof. Melanie Sarantou

Panel members: Christian Guellerin, Jean-Marc Ferrandi, Angus Campbell, Heidi Pietarinen, Satu MieKnen

The workshop question:

– 1. What is the role of design in developing a cultural iden4ty?

– 2. How to reconcile between global food transforma4ons and ecological iden4ty?

Julia Kunkel presents Food Design Lab 

This session will feature presentations by professors from the University of Monterrey (UDEM): Antonio Garza (Architecture) and Cristóbal Guerra (Graphic Design), who will share student projects in which artificial intelligence was used in different levels. Following their presentations, the session will open for dialogue. Attendees are welcome to ask questions about the work presented, share related projects, or engage in an open discussion about the role of AI in art and design education.

Contemporary Art is a CWG that aims to be a forum for international networking, a vehicle for the cultivation of existing collaborations and the discovery of new opportunities, as well as a platform for global engagement and interaction. The main objectives of the group are:

1. To facilitate collaborations during the Cumulus conferences and to provide members with tools to sustain conversations;
2. To help members find prospective partners and lay the groundwork for new collaborations;
3. To provide space and time to all Cumulus conference attendees to connect with an active network of international academic programs;
4. To establish networking opportunities in the creative context of the conferences.

Participants of the Contemporary Art working group include all types of university personnel: faculty members, administrative staff, deans, directors, researchers, and students.

Contemporary approaches to methods and cultural scenarios for learning and didactic experiences

The intention is to create within the framework of Cumulus an interior design community and to explore themes of interest within education, research and practice.

Knowing that the theme is wide and the actors present in Cumulus are coming from different cultural, historical and academic backgrounds, this working group intends to create moments to meet and exchange without borders. For instance, the wg could share information and best practices on how teaching ‘space’ design since after the second half of the 1970s, has been increasingly influential in delineating new types of space. How space can be flexible, hybrid, temporarily set up and reversible, dense with cultural, anthropological, emotional meanings, a space contaminated (but enriched) by art, communication, fashion,… and also profoundly technological, sustainable and last frontier, inclusive.

We believe that the CWG could be the right place to develop through the different Cumulus conferences a thread to keep alive the conversation and a constant update on the evolution of the discipline of Space and Interior Design.

Design With All Beings: Expanded Communities of Social Innovation

The brand new DESIS Network cluster “Design With All Beings: Expanded Communities of Social Innovation” will gather for its second event at Cumulus Nantes. The cluster is a collaborative effort to explore social innovation initiatives worldwide that consider more-than-human agents, while reflecting on the necessity and implications of this expanded perspective. Bringing together diverse sensitivities and points of view from across the network, the cluster seeks to foster dialogue around inclusive communities, more-than-human representation, and multispecies cohabitation. During the 90-minute session, we will present the ongoing mapping of network projects and engage in a collective discussion on the challenges and opportunities of broadening the scope of social innovation to include more-than-human actors.

In line with the conference’s theme on ethical leadership, there are many ethical questions that arise from the space mission, in particularly the new Martian identity, changes in human physiology, survival systems, the moral good and the concept of colonisation. Join us to explore the role of science and design in exploring ethical leadership in space.

Schedule Welcoming note by co-chairs: Thais Russomano: Chairing the session online. Cees de Bont: Chairing the session onsite

• Thais Russomano (space anatomy, MD)
• Dumitru Prunariu (Romanian Cosmonaut Video)
• Silviu Pivru (Urbanist, space and Health CogniKon)
• Micky MengKng Zhang (Assistant Professor)
• Cees de Bont, (Industrial Design) 

The uniqueness of graduate and postgraduate study programs at the « Beaux-arts » schools of art and design

This session, which leaves room for interactive discussion, is organised for participants to get to know France’s vibrant design scene, in-the-making, through its publicly-funded art and design schools. A cartography of the vast network of 44 schools, the majority of which have design departments, will be presented along with a handful of projects and programs that highlight their major spheres of interest and priorities. Within the art schools, practicing artists, designers and theoreticians guide experimentation and research, accompanying students to develop their personal project; these are key elements that unite the otherwise very diverse practices that this session will explore. The national network ANdEA, which collectively represents all the public Art and Design schools offering graduate and postgraduate studies in France, aims to reach out through this session to create opportunities for future partnerships on an international scale.

The Systemic Design Working Group at CUMULUS aims to explore the role of Systems Thinking and Systemic Design in Design Education. This group wishes to bring diverse and cross-disciplinary design perspectives together to examine how Systemic Design can be implemented into the different curricula. Who We Are This is an initiative by the Erasmus+-funded “ESDL Project”, a collaboration between École de Design Nantes Atlantique, OsloMet, and HTW Berlin, as well as Susu Nousala, founder and co-president of CSRP Institute. Our work bridges theory and practice, equipping the next generation with tools to navigate complexity effectively. What Sets Us Apart We focus on how education can act as a catalyst for sustainable transformation. We emphasise interdisciplinary collaboration and connecting systemic design with fields like sustainability, transformation in industry and infrastructure, social innovation and policy-making. Our Goals 1. Facilitate Discussion: Engage with CUMULUS participants to share insights and methodologies from our research. 2. Empower Educators: Explore the evolving responsibilities of professors in shaping systemic thinkers and designers. 3. Prepare Future Generations: Develop and reflect on tools and methods to equip students for complex challenges. 4. Create Collaboration: Build a global community that bridges disciplines and cultures to advance systemic design education. 5. Facilitate exchange for students and staff to engage in the teaching and learning within systemic design. Join us at the upcoming CUMULUS conference in Nantes, France, to explore these themes further! 

Chairs: Angela Giambattista, Loredana Di Lucchio, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy; Clémence Montagne,L’École de design Nantes Atlantique, France.

The DEsign for Health, wellbeing and Aging (DEHA) Working Group aims to foster dialogue and collaboration on the role of design in improving health, well-being and ageing. By connecting experts, researchers, educators and professionals, it seeks to explore how design can drive innovation and address global challenges related to health and aging. The scope is to create a dynamic platform for exchanging results, strategies and ideas to develop innovative and sustainable approaches to health, well-being and ageing through design.

For the Cumulus Nantes 2025 Conference, the DEHA WG will focus on all three core areas of the knowledge triangle – Research, Education and Innovation – in line with its mission to explore the role of design in improving health and well-being:

• Research – Presentation of ongoing doctoral and design-led research exploring social, public and industrial innovations to transform health, welfare and public design.
• Education – Sharing of educational experiences and projects from international institutions, focusing on developing new skills to address health and well-being challenges.
• Innovation – Engagement with companies and stakeholders to explore new design solutions in the healthcare sector, with particular attention to collaboration with national and international technology clusters.

4:00 – 4:15 pm | Introduction and WG Initiatives

4:15 -5:15 pm | Research, Education and Innovation
– [Research] Clémence Montagne, Head of Care design Lab, L’École de design Nantes Atlantique, France (onsite)
– [Education] Joana Quental, Rita Maldonado Branco, “Response_Able Futures” Erasmus Mundus Joint Master’s programme, University of Aveiro, Portugal (online)
– [Innovation] Martina Frausin, Cluster MEDLAB, Iuav University of Venice, Italy (online)

5:15 -5:30 pm | Q&A and Debate

Fashion and Textiles Working Group (FTWG) is a CWG that focuses on education and research within the field of fashion and textiles. FTWG provides its members with an academic forum for knowledge transfer and development in fashion and textile design higher education and with relevant information about the educational, research, and cultural policies of different countries regarding our respective field, with a goal of reaching excellence and innovations in fashion and textiles while promoting cooperation and partnership between member institutions through projects and publications.

The uniqueness of graduate and postgraduate study programs at the « Beaux-arts » schools of art and design

This session, which leaves room for interactive discussion, is organised for participants to get to know France’s vibrant design scene, in-the-making, through its publicly-funded art and design schools. A cartography of the vast network of 44 schools, the majority of which have design departments, will be presented along with a handful of projects and programs that highlight their major spheres of interest and priorities. Within the art schools, practicing artists, designers and theoreticians guide experimentation and research, accompanying students to develop their personal project; these are key elements that unite the otherwise very diverse practices that this session will explore. The national network ANdEA, which collectively represents all the public Art and Design schools offering graduate and postgraduate studies in France, aims to reach out through this session to create opportunities for future partnerships on an international scale.

Considering how pertinent designers’ skills are to tackle the climate emergency and social inequalities we are facing around the world, why aren’t all CEOs queueing in front of Design Schools offering designer roles? And why isn’t the value of Design clear enough to businesses, students, and the general public alike?

To respond to this provocation, in this conversation and interactive workshop, Professor Brigitte Borja de Mozota(Emeritus professor Université Paris X and founder of Designence©) and Dr Francesco Mazzarella (Reader in Design for Social Change at London College of Fashion, UAL) will invite participants to engage in hands-on activities, personal reflections and a collective discussion on designers’ skills, roles, and value. After sharing a bit of their journeys into the world of Design, Brigitte and Francesco will present initial insights from their analysis of data collected through a range of tests with students eliciting designers’ skills and roles, and will facilitate a workshop activity for participants to draw and map out their own Design journeys, with related skills, roles and value. The data, visuals, and narratives to be collected in the workshop will inform the development of a framework to aid Higher Education Institutions in nurturing designers’ skills, businesses in embedding designers’ roles into their organisations, and public agencies in better supporting and advocating for the value of Design. Come and join a new community of practice committed to nurturing designers’ skills and supporting designers’ roles within the private and public sectors, and help us shape this advocacy work to better evidence the value of design!