Doing Design Differently Events

Social design in Australia and Aotearoa (New Zealand) is charting a new path forward. When you take stock of the region’s unique position in the world, steeped in local Indigenous histories and growing autonomy, we can see that being far from the hubris of Silicon Valley is an asset and not a liability.

Yet the trend of social design being exported across the globe is predominantly WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialised, Rich, and Democratic). And despite their good intentions, a lack of ethical guidelines puts designers in community and public sectors at great risk of doing more harm than good.

The Doing Design Differently tour invites design practitioners, leaders, academics, and students to engage critically and constructively with questions of power and ethics.

This is a five-city event series across Australia and Aotearoa, where leading design practitioners, academics, and supporters local to each context will host conversations on how we can use design to push back against the status quo.

Through a mix of talks, panel discussions, and interactive workshops, visiting speaker and facilitator George Aye (USA), will kick off conversations that challenge the normative ideals of design.

Join us as we try to change how design happens in this part of the world: how design work is commissioned, who gets to be a designer, how we can shape the conditions and outcomes of our projects, and where the benefits and damage of design land.

All events are taking place in person. As they have limited capacity, please only register if you can attend them live.