WHAT DESIGN CAN DO MEXICO GNP THEMES
This year, WDCD Mexico delves into the exploration of play, collectivity, and collaborative processes within design to showcase projects that address some of the world’s most urgent challenges such as climate change, gender inequality, economic disparity, and the colonisation of creative thinking in an impactful way. This edition focuses on diverse initiatives and designers from different disciplines, generations, backgrounds, academic formations, and geographies. We will examine the powerful influence of design as a tool for transformation and how collaboration among various social actors gives us hope to reverse current environmental, social, and economic challenges. The three pillars of discussion will centre on ancestral knowledge, exploring how to decolonize the predominant Eurocentric and patriarchal thinking in our civilization. We will also highlight voices that promote female creative thinking, lastly, we will analyse how circularity relates to collectivity.
Exploring play as a collective creative process, the communal use of technology to address local and global issues, and education as a collaborative process to better understand our contexts and differences, creating opportunities and conditions for a cleaner, more empathetic, just, and equitable world.
During this edition, winning projects from the Redesign Everything Challenge, a global initiative by What Design Can Do in collaboration with the IKEA Foundation, will be presented. This initiative maps and supports design initiatives and startups focused on circular design. These projects aim to design solutions to climate emergencies, reshape human behaviour, and reconsider the processes and systems necessary for the crucial changes our planet and society require.
We will present international guests with diverse perspectives from various regions around the world, participating in dialogues with Mexican and Latin American designers and creatives. Together, we will explore and understand the current world in order to redesign everything.
The day will be divided into three blocks of talks, organised as follows:
JOIN & PLAY!
PLAY AS AN ACT OF REBELLION
Play becomes an act of rebellion in times like these, says Cas Holman, one of the most prominent voices in the world of design and creative industries. Play is part of collectivity and a vital way of knowing and understanding our world. This year we will play, stumble, and enjoy one of the first skills we develop in our lives.
RECONNECTING WITH CIRCULARITY
To address climate and social challenges, designers are increasingly turning to ancestral and local knowledge of materials, products, services, and cultural traditions that have sustained circular communities for centuries. We will explore how women are revolutionising the design world from inspiring projects to initiatives in Iztapalapa, Basel, Rhode Island, and London, we highlight unique contributions. With a predominantly female lineup, inclusive workshops, and engaging activities, we celebrate the diversity and profound impact of women in design.
DESIGN FROM THE GROUND
Designing from the ground embodies a concept of horizontality with multiple dimensions. This segment aims to showcase some of the most innovative design proposals that have, over time, shifted paradigms on how design can transform lives, consistently considering our planet in their creative solutions. We have gathered brilliant creative minds who challenge borders, traditional production systems, and design standards, producing impactful and remarkable projects.
