Go “Beyond Boundaries” during the World Design Policy Conference Nov. 12-13 in San Diego
Join policy leaders, innovators and creative thinkers for an interactive and disruptive global dialogue to design a better future for urban communities.

 

 

SAN DIEGO (Sept. 12, 2024) — The World Design Policy Conference on Nov. 12-13 in San Diego, Calif. will be like no policy conference you’ve ever attended. Fresh, fluid and fun, organizers are inviting urbanists, policy makers, community leaders and the global design community — including students and educators — to shake off their stale policymaking and conference stereotypes and step into two days of workshops, design sprints, serious games and democratized design challenges applied to the biggest issues facing urban communities from housing to health, clean energy to biotech, cross-border migration to AI, and so much more.

The conference theme, “Beyond Boundaries,” is inspired by its affiliation with the World Design Capital San Diego Tijuana 2024, an international yearlong designation awarded to the binational region by the World Design Organization.

Keynote speakers include Rick Bright, former Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority director and current pandemic nemesis; Tim Brown, executive chair of IDEO and one of the world’s foremost experts in design thinking; María Rosario Jackson, chair of the National Endowment for the Arts who convened its first national summit on the role of arts and culture in communities; Linda Fischetti, director of the

MITRE Health Innovation Center bringing together cross-disciplinary teams to take action on America’s most critical health and healthcare issues; Patricia Moore, a World Design MedalTM recipient and pioneer of universal design; and Marco Werman, host of the NPR radio program The World.

“This is a must-attend event for thought leaders, policymakers, companies and design professionals looking for new frameworks and solutions to stubborn challenges and conventional thinking about urban communities,” said Mai Thi Nguyen, director of the Design Lab at UC San Diego and a conference chair.

Cohosted by the Design Lab at UC San Diego and the City of San Diego, the conference will be held at IQHQ’s Research and Development District (RaDD), located along the San Diego Bay. Attendees will be among the first to experience RaDD’s six-block waterfront site, featuring five acres of green space, a public art walk and convenient access to the Trolley, COASTER, Amtrak and San Diego International Airport.


Photo courtesy of IQHQ by Sudenim Visual Media

 

“The conference is a paradigm shift. We’re interlacing performance and play to push attendees out of their comfort zones and unlock new ways of thinking for more creative problem solving,” said James White, chief programs officer with the World Design Capital San Diego Tijuana 2024.

Conference tracks include:

  • Beyond Borders: Ecosystem of Connections – Participants can expect site visits to seereal-world border issues in addition to discussing them. Topics include cross-bordercollaboration, transboundary governance and climate adaptation.
  • Beyond Creative: Ecosystems of Commerce – Learn from the Taiwan Design ResearchInstitute and its design exchange with the Philippines exploring sustainable product design and circularity. Topics include global creative city development, artists in social justice and community-led creative development.
  • Beyond Health: Ecosystems of Change – Attendees will participate in possibility- expanding sessions and dynamic activities to co-create a resilient healthcare model that works for everyone. Topics will range from future bio-AI systems to innovative value propositions and collaborative business models.

Beyond Innovation: Ecosystems of Consequence – Participate in an affordable housing design sprint with real-world viability, feasibility and desirability constraints. Topics include alternative housing futures, clean energy paths and life science advancements.

Register or learn more at https://wdc2024.org/design-policy-conference. Registration ranges from $500 to $625.

Visit www.wdc2024.org and follow WDC 2024 on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube.

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For more information, please contact David Cumpston, (W)right On Communications, (415) 902-4461 or dcumpston@wrightoncomm.com