Join us at the Global Design Thinking Festival 2022
In 2022, we have many reasons to celebrate: Students have been learning at the HPI School of Design Thinking for 15 years now, and we have been connecting the international Design Thinking community with the Global Design Thinking Alliance (GDTA) for five years.
But that’s not all: For another highlight this year, we look to Cape Town, South Africa. The Hasso Plattner d-school Afrika at the University of Cape Town is opening the first building designed specifically for a Design Thinking school.
To properly celebrate, reflect and discuss these events and the impact of Design Thinking on business and society, HPI D-School Potsdam and Hasso Plattner d-school Africa will host the Global Design Thinking Festival in September and October 2022.
Design Thinking ImpAct Conference: 15 Years of Design Thinking at HPI
The festival month kicks off with the “Design Thinking ImpAct Conference: 15 Years of Design Thinking at HPI“, which will take place on September 15 and 16, 2022, at the Hasso Plattner Institute in Potsdam and online. Over two days, we will review the highlights of Design Thinking activities at HPI over the past 15 years with alumni, project partners, researchers, and customers of the HPI Academy. We will discuss how we can continue to shape business and society with the help of the innovation approach.
Global Design Thinking Challenge 2022
We will also kick off a four-week hybrid Global Design Thinking Challenge during the Potsdam conference.
The HPI School of Design Thinking in Potsdam is partnering up with several global sponsors and Design Thinking institutions from the Global Design Thinking Alliance to innovate and create solutions tackling the 4th Sustainable Development Goal as defined by the United Nations: “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.”
We have designed a unique opportunity for learners to create global impact while experiencing Design Thinking in diverse and multidisciplinary teams. The winning teams will have the opportunity to present their most inspiring solutions at the d.confestival in Cape Town.
d.confestival is coming to Africa
Join like-minded innovators, change-makers, and thought-leaders at the d.confestival – a unique conference-meets-festival hybrid event centered around Design Thinking.
The third d.confestival will be hosted in Cape Town, South Africa from 12 to 14 October 2022.
The event follows the 2012 and 2017 d.confestival events hosted in Potsdam. Supported by the Global Design Thinking Alliance (and also marking its 5th birthday) this event will be hosted by the Hasso Plattner d-school Afrika at the University of Cape Town in its newly built home that aims to be the first 6-Star Green-rated academic building in Africa.
Centered around the subject of Design Thinking, the ‘confestival’ term denotes a combination of the traditional academic conference and the interactive, creative elements of a festival. Sessions will include inspiring keynote presentations, vibrant panel discussions as well as interactive workshops of a participatory nature.
The hybrid event takes place onsite in Cape Town and simultaneously online, with professional video streaming of presentations and discussions, interactive virtual sessions in parallel to those onsite, and audience engagement among onsite and online participants.
This year the d.confestival also doubles up as the opening of Africa’s first school of Design Thinking building: the HPI d-school building at the University of Cape Town’s middle campus.