Rabat to Host International Design Conference Late June

Rabat – Over 300 people will take part in the fourth annual World Design Talks, held in Rabat June 28 to 30.

Titled “Responsible Consumption and Production”, the event aims to create a place in which to inspire and mobilize the design and innovation community. The conference will encourage conversations between decision-makers and will highlight the importance of design and its economy to the African continent.

Brought together by designer and founder of Africa Design Days Hicham Lahlou in conjunction with the World Design Organization (WDO), at least 70 influential figures in the design innovation world will impart words of wisdom.

Given the WDO’s consultative status within the UN, it shares with the conference the goal of tackling the challenges of sustainable development in sectors including education, tourism and economy.

“We are delighted with the selection of our country as a new hub of Design in Africa to host the first unprecedented edition of the World Design Talks organized by Africa Design Days and Award recognized as a platform founded in 2014,” the organizers said in a statement.

Over the three days there will be talks and panel discussions featuring speakers including CEO of London Design Biennale, Director of Ahmedabad’s National Institute of Design, CEO of Menara Holding and Director of Design at Philips Lighting.

Conference planners said “forward-looking” Morocco was chosen to host the conference due to its initiatives of sustainable development (like UN climate change conference COP 22 in 2016) and its location as a “huge African air hub.”

World Design Talks will take place at The View hotel in Rabat, a city that “sets the stage for a new urbanism.”