Cumulus Association

Call for Participation

📍 SDGs Design International Awards 2026
August.1 – September 15, 2026

The SDGs Design International Awards, organized primarily by the Faculty of Design, Kyushu University, aims to discover creative ideas from young people and utilize them for building a sustainable society.
Since its establishment in 2019, the award has been held annually, and this year marks its 8th edition.

■ Theme for 2026
“Sustainable and Inclusive Future”
This year presents “Sustainable and Inclusive Future” ideas envisioned by students around the world.

■ Sub-Themes
Theme 1. Resilient Cities, Communities and Inclusive Well-being
This theme includes disaster resilience, community co-creation, universal design, aging society, multicultural inclusion, and sustainable community development.
Theme 2. Sustainable Green Design and Climate Action
This theme connects cities, communities, and natural environments, including topics such as circular society, decarbonization, green infrastructure, biodiversity, and sustainable lifestyles.
Theme 3. Blue Sustainability: Oceans, Water and Future Ecology
This theme covers marine environments, water resources, coastal regions, ecosystem conservation, sustainable tourism, and circular lifestyles.
Theme 4. Others
Participants are welcome to propose other related topics freely.

■ Entry Guidelines
Application Period: August.1 (Sat) – September 15 (Tue), 2026
Eligibility: Students currently enrolled in universities, graduate schools, vocational institutions, or high schools worldwide who are interested in design (including working students)
Students from non-design disciplines are also encouraged to apply.
Categories: Graphic, product, service, fashion, architecture, urban planning, social issues, etc.
How to Apply: Please fill out the downloaded either Word or PDF format and send it to [email protected]

■ Timeline
Announcement of first review results: Early October 2026
Announcement of final review results: Late October 2026
International award ceremony: November 5, 2026

■ Awards
Gold Award (1 team): KRW 3,000,000+ Certificate
Silver Award (1 team): KRW 2,000,000 + Certificate
Bronze Award (1 team): KRW 1,000,000+ Certificate
Honorable Mention: E-Certificate
Special Award for High School Students: E-Certificate

■ Organizer
SDGs Design International Awards 2026 Committee
Faculty of Design, Kyushu University, Japan. Asia Design College Consortium (ADCC), Dongseo University, Korea

■Co-operation
Socialin

■ Contact
Japan ( SDGs Design Unit, Kyushu University Faculty of Design ) : [email protected]
Korea ( Asia Design College Consortium (ADCC), Dongseo University）: [email protected]

SDGs Design International Awards 2026 website https://www.sdgs-design-awards.com/en

Across Afrika and the world, we are living through a time of profound social, economic, environmental and technological change.

Pan Afrikan Design Week 2026 creates a shared space to explore what thriving really looks like in an Afrikan context, and how we can design the conditions that make it possible to thrive across sectors, in government, in communities and through future-fit education.

Join this urgent agenda to help shape a thriving future for Afrika.

Pan Afrikan Design Week 2026
21-24 October
V&A Waterfront, Cape Town, South Africa
"How Do We Design to Thrive?"

We explore one of the most pressing questions in the world of design today:

How do we build trust, tell our stories, cultivate future-fit skills and design the systems and solutions that truly help people, communities, cities and nature across Afrika to thrive?

Pan Afrikan Design Week 2026 is a hybrid Pan-Afrikan gathering that brings together designers, innovators, entrepreneurs, educators, students, young people, thought leaders, policymakers, business leaders, cultural practitioners, changemakers and future-builders from across Afrika and the diaspora.

Tickets and more information https://www.quicket.co.za/events/386589-pan-afrikan-design-week-2026/ #/

In cooperation with Pan Afrikan Design Institute

Welcome! New dean of design at KHIO in Oslo

Kai Reaver blir ny dekan på avdeling design - Kunsthøgskolen i Oslo Kai Reaver blir ny dekan ved avdeling design på Kunsthøgskolen i Oslo. Han kommer fra stillingen som fagsjef i Norske arkitekters landsforbund og forsker ved Arkitektur- og designhøgskolen i Oslo. Dekanstillinga er et åremål på fire år.

Join the upcoming UX Design Awards Winner Announcement on September 2nd and explore the projects that are setting new benchmarks in UX. Learn what convinced the jury and gain behind-the-scenes insights into the decisions behind this year’s winning solutions.

Register now: https://www.linkedin.com/events/7485280006785437696

WOW👍🏻! A thousand metres of tablecloth have been laid out for friendship. The Summer Night’s Dinner in the city centre of Oulu in Finland on August 15, 2026 will gather thousands of people to a shared table to enjoy local delicacies and each other’s company.

The northern designer organisation partnered with one of China’s best design universities, the China Academy of Art CAA in Oulu’s sister city Hangzhou. Five students from various disciplines worked together for over a year to understand our northern environment, explore the connections between Oulu and Hangzhou, and design textile patterns telling stories of culture, nature, technology, architecture, and people. A deep commitment to peace and friendship has guided the entire project.

CAA is a member in Cumulus.

Congrats! Keeping fingers crossed the weather will be ok.

A thousand metres of tablecloth have been laid out for friendship - Oulu2026 Discover how students from the China Academy of Art designed a one-kilometre tablecloth for Oulu’s Summer Night’s Dinner, celebrating friendship, peace and cultural collaboration.

Cumulus Dunedin 2026: Design at the End of the Earth is calling for participation!

Join us at this Cumulus conference at Otago Polytechnic!
Early Bird registration open till August 31st!

+ Join Cumulus Dunedin 2026 with Cumulus Plus !

Three grants available for university-based colleagues from non-member institutions - apply now! https://cumulusassociation.org/calls-for-participation/join-cumulus-dunedin-2026-with-cumulus-plus-grant/

CUMULUS Conference 2026
Ōtepoti Dunedin, Aotearoa New Zealand
November 25-27, 2026

Humans and our systems are responsible for many troubling relationship with the earth. The themes of this conference propose that hope is to be found within design practices and in approaches towards design education. We encourage conversations that de-centre Western culture from its position of authority, to learn from and listen to voices from the edges, and from the more-than-human.

Join the conversation!

Registration information here https://cumulusdunedin2026.com/
Share within your network! Welcome!

MOME FASHION SHOW!
TICKETS ARE OPEN!
The biggest nights of the university, the 2026. 3 Sep 26.

More than 100 looks, autonomous visions, and personal stories – the next generation of textile and fashion designers returns to the runway at the MOME Fashion Show on 3 September at our Zugligeti Campus.

Get your ticket here: https://go.mome.hu/fashionshow2026

Details:
3 September 2026, 6:30 pm
Doors open: 6:00 pm
Venue: MOME Campus, 9–25 Zugligeti Road, 1121 Budapest (entrance via the Master Building)

Congrats🫶🏻! DERA.

As leading scholars in the field of design, design research and design education, the editorial team of the first editions of

DERA: Design. Education. Research.

Afrika, aims to facilitate interdisciplinary research and discourse around contemporary design practice, philosophy, research and education that centers perspectives from Afrika and the Global South.

Hurraa University of Johannesburg!
https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/dera/index

SHIFTING PARADIGMS Design Education Next. NID Ahmedabad India. Submission EXTENDED to 31 Aug 2026.

ABOUT THE CONFERENCE
The Design Education: Tradition and Modernity (DETM 2005) conference at NID marked a decisive moment in the evolution of design education in India and the region. Bringing together over 400 participants from 27 countries and more than 50 institutions, it established a global dialogue on the future of design pedagogy and practice. The Ahmedabad Declaration asserted that design is not merely a tool for economic competitiveness, but a cultural, social, and systemic force—deeply connected to sustainability, collaboration, and contextual relevance.

More than two decades later, the conditions shaping design have transformed significantly. Design has moved from the periphery to the centre—shaping not only objects and interfaces, but also systems, services, and policies. However, this expansion has also exposed a critical gap—between what we teach, what we research, and what we are able to do in practice.

This moment calls not for incremental adjustments, but for a grounded rethinking of design education itself. The question is no longer about inclusion alone, but about the reconstitution of its scope, intent, and impact—with a renewed emphasis on practice as the core of learning. Design is not only to be understood; it must be performed, tested, and experienced. Yet, in many instances, education risks drifting toward abstraction; where articulation, documentation, and qualification can overshadow the act of doing. As a practice-based discipline, design generates knowledge through engagement, iteration, and making, as much as through reflection.

What would it mean to re-centre design education around practice-based knowledge? What would it mean to build frameworks that emerge not only from global discourse, but from the lived realities, materials, systems, and socio-cultural contexts?

This requires moving beyond inherited pedagogies toward deeply situated modes of learning, teaching, and practice—approaches that respond to present urgencies while remaining grounded in context. This is not a gesture toward regional identity, but a deliberate shift toward contextually rooted and future-facing design thinking. The strength of design in India lies not only in its scale or diversity, but in its capacity to articulate alternative ways of seeing, making, and knowing. Its histories, crafts, and contemporary conditions offer not just references, but a foundation for generating new directions in design education and practice.

This conference builds on the legacy of DETM with renewed urgency. It recognises that the conditions of practice, production, and learning have fundamentally shifted; and with them, the role of the educator. Educators today are not only disseminators of knowledge, but active producers of knowledge, grounded in practice and informed by doing. At its core, Shifting Paradigms: Design Education Next is an invitation to rethink how design is taught, learned, and practised—so that it remains relevant, responsive, and anchored in the realities it seeks to transform.

Vision of the Conference
To bring India to the forefront of design practice and education within Asia and beyond
To develop a sharper and more consequential integration of theory and practice
To align design education and curricula with emerging global shifts, while asserting contextually grounded, future-facing perspectives
Themes
Evolving Theories from Design Practice
Recalibrating design methodologies
Bridging conceptual frameworks with situated practice
Practice-based research and knowledge production
Experimental, interdisciplinary, and process-led approaches
Innovation through iterative, hands-on engagement
Entrepreneurship as a form of design practice
AI and technological transformations
Design Education & Policy Framework
Learning futures in design
National Education Policy and systemic shifts
Moving beyond standardisation toward adaptive and context-sensitive pedagogies
Competency-based and interdisciplinary learning models
Integrating indigenous knowledge systems, vernacular practices, and regional diversity into curricula
Digital, hybrid, and distributed learning environments
Emerging tools and technologies in pedagogy
Shifting global systems and orders
Why Contribute to Design Education Next (DEN)?
Present Your Research
Publish Your Work
Peer-reviewed Proceedings
ISBN Conference Proceedings
Build Partnerships
Shape the Future
Abstract Submission Deadline Extended until 31st August 2026
To accommodate requests from prospective contributors and encourage wider participation, the abstract submission deadline for Design Education Next: Shifting Paradigms has been extended to 31 August 2026

IMPORTANT DATES
Abstract Submission Deadline Extended: 31st August, 2026
Selection Announcement: 30th September, 2026
Paper Submission: 15th November, 2026
Peer Review: 15th December, 2026
Final Submission: 1st February, 2027
Conference Dates: 23 - 25 February 2027

Check;

SHIFTING PARADIGMS Design Education Next The Design Education: Tradition and Modernity (DETM 2005) conference at NID marked a decisive moment in the evolution of design education in India and the region. Bringing together over 400 participants from 27 countries and more than 50 institutions, it established a global dialogue on the future o...

World University of Design inviting with their partners.

https://worlduniversityofdesign.ac.in/GLR-conference.php