Topic: Designing Beyond the Centre: Facilitating Community-Rooted, Decolonial Possibilities
Sub-topic: How diverse worldviews, Caribbean, African, rural, urban, and Indigenous, expand what design is and can be
Location
On-line
Date
17 April 2026
Hours
12:00-14:00 UTC
Description
This session invites us to rethink design beyond dominant and centralized perspectives. Designing Beyond the Centre explores how inclusive, community-rooted, and decolonial approaches can reshape the way we understand and practice design.
Drawing on diverse worldviews, including Caribbean, African, rural, urban, and Indigenous contexts, the conversation highlights the value of lived experiences, cultural knowledge, and community practices in shaping meaningful and context-responsive design. It opens space for more plural and equitable design futures.
In this framework, the session will explore, in particular, the converging notions of social design and design social innovation, reflecting on both their intersections, distinctions and meaning in different cultural contexts. While social design focuses on addressing social challenges through intentional design interventions, design for social innovation emphasizes new ways of organizing, collaborating, and creating value within communities. Taken together, these perspectives could provide a solid foundation for rethinking design as a tool for equity, sustainability, and transformative change. But to do so, they must be articulated differently, taking into account the diverse cultural worlds in which they take place.
Lesley-Ann Noel brings a critical, practice-based perspective grounded in participatory and equity-centered design. Her work emphasizes designing with communities, centering inclusion, representation, and social justice.
Ezio Manzini, from the field of Design for Social Innovation and Sustainability, contributes a global perspective on how communities act as agents of change. His work highlights collaborative practices and the role of design in enabling sustainable, community-driven innovation.
Save the Date:
📅 April 17th, 2026
🕚 12:00-14:00 UTC
📍 Zoom link: Conversations for the Planet
Kindly check your time zone here.
Don’t miss this opportunity to engage with global leaders in design and contribute to shaping a sustainable future for all. Share the event with your network and join us for this inspiring conversation!
We look forward to seeing you there!
DESIS Network Coordination Team
Speakers
Lesley-Ann Noel
Designer, Researcher, and Educator, the author of “Design Social Change”
Ezio Manzini
President of DESIS Network and Honorary Professor at the Politecnico di Milano
Francesco Mazzarella (Moderator)
Design Researcher, Educator, and Activist, striving to create positive social change
