The organizers of the World Design Summit – Montréal 2017 have an ambitious vision: to bring together designers across all disciplines with government representatives, industry business leaders, NGOs, and the media to address how design can shape the future. The event will be a 10-day affair taking place in October, and will tackle issues such as environmental sustainability, societal pressures, and political instability. The program is summarized as, “More than a mere celebration of design, the summit will demonstrate the tremendous power of design to create viable solutions to global social, economic, cultural and environmental challenges.”

To that end, the Summit organizers have issued a call for speaker proposals. Practitioners of all design disciplines – architectural, landscape, graphic, communication, experiential, user interface, industrial, interior, etc. – and stakeholders are invited to submit proposals. Interested parties are encouraged to address the major themes of the summit: Design for Participation (participation in the political process and public discourse), Design for Earth (environmental sustainability), Design for Beauty (promoting well being), Design for Sale (commodities created with the greater good in mind), Design for Transformation (responding to environmental and societal changes), and Design for Extremes (supporting sociological, economic, and political migrations). Speaker proposals are due July 29th, and should include a 500-word abstract, 40-word summary, and five key words.

The Summit agenda will include an accredited conference for students, professionals, and stakeholders; a summit of over 50 organizations; a festival taking place in over 30 locations around Montreal, and an exhibit of design-related products and services. The Summit of organizations will seek to produce a joint declaration of intent and proposal for the design community to effect positive change (social, economic, and environmental) through multidisciplinary means.  The Summit founding partners are ico-D (International Council of Design), IFLA (International Federation of Landscape Architects), and IFHP (International Federation of Housing Planning), with support from the governments of Canada, Quebec, and Montreal.