2023 / 2022 / 2021  / 2020 / 2019 / 2018 / 2017 / 2016

Creating value for the long run

As individuals, businesses, and governments, it's in our nature to focus on the present. Being in tune with the now keeps us alert and aware of the potential opportunities as well as problems that lie in front of us. However, with so much in flux, we need to look further ahead. Despite the urgency of present actions, we shouldn't lose sight of long-term challenges. It's time to start designing a better future for all.

Designers and other creative thinkers possess a unique mindset and toolkit to empathise, pinpoint pain points, connect the dots, tell the story, visualise future scenarios and contribute to positive transformation by designing valuable products and services for people and the planet.

The overall theme for the 2022 conference edition was ’Shifting the paradigm - tackle short-termism and create value for the long run’. 

For the past centuries, organisations have primarily answered to a business model built on the 18th-century productivity canon, giving birth to new consumer behaviours and habits, and altering our relationship with each other and the planet. In the rat race of quick wins and instant results, we tend to forget to carve out time for long-term thinking and value creation. By looking at the big picture, we can design interventions, make small-step progress, experiment, anticipate and adjust, being patient but confident in the results. 

We can be activists, rebels, leaders and dreamers of what the world could be. Let’s replace short-sighted plans with long-term visions. Trade quick profits for long-lasting success. Shift from persisting interactions to behavioural interventions. And act small by envisioning something bigger. The time is now to create value that can make that future happen.

The 2022 program

The conference took place in Barcelona on September 16 and 17. The program offered two days of insightful masterclasses and case studies, and new views and knowledge from experienced keynote speakers. The day before, we organised 10 open-door sessions in the city and hosted our famous welcoming kick-off party.

With 18 talks and 10 masterclasses, complemented with 4 lectures given by professors from different disciplines, SDD2022 has been an inspiring conference for the hundreds of participants from around the globe.

The line-up

How does LEGO add playfulness in exploring the future? What can we learn from Red Cross in how to find patterns in crises? What’s the secret of Polestar’s alignment with innovation? More than just stories for inspiration, these are some of the case studies that fill the SDD2022 conference agenda.

Below you’ll find the speakers, lecturers and masterclass leaders. Creative thinkers who shared their experiences with the audience and let them practice new tools and methodologies.