Social Design Insights

Our Special Projects Director Eric J. Cesal is a designer, writer, noted post-disaster expert, and podcast host.

Dr. Ken Yeang is a Malaysian architect and ecologist delivering and pioneering the field of hyper-green architecture.

Bruce King, PE, natural building advocate, joins us to discuss his new book “The New Carbon Architecture: Building to Cool the Planet”

Mary Ann Lazarus is an American architect and longtime leader in the field of sustainable design.

Starhawk is an author, activist, permaculture designer and teacher, and a prominent voice in modern earth-based spirituality and ecofeminism.

Dr. Kian Goh, RA, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Urban Planning at UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs. She researches the relationships between urban ecological design, spatial politics, and social mobilization in the context...

Eric Corey Freed award-winning American architect, author, speaker and green strategist, joins us to talk about the state of the union in green design.

Rania Qawasma of Architecture for Refugees joins us to discuss what designers can do to help welcome refugees.

Anna Meddaugh is an American designer who developed a personal, reusable urinal designed for women and girls in refugee camps to use at night when it is too dangerous to go to the communal toilets....

Initially a “wedding registry for humanitarian aid,” NeedsList is software that any organization can license to match needs and offers in real-time for urgent local needs.

The Refugee Academy is a Berlin-based non-profit that creates learning spaces for refugees seeking to assimilate.

Mariam Traore Chazalnoel is a Senior Policy Officer at the Geneva Headquarters of the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

Dr. Nina Hall’s advocacy and research span varying fields. Her professional work looks specifically at how international agencies like UNHCR, IOM, UNDP, DFID, etc. are grappling with climate change, new threats in the age of...

Kilian Kleinschmidt is an international networker, development, and migration expert with 30 years of experience in a wide range of countries, emergencies, and refugee camps as a United Nations official, Aid worker, and diplomat.

Amanda Baillieu founded Archiboo in 2014 as a new kind of architectural discussion space, building on the changing landscape of design media after the Great Recession.

Asad Syrkett is a design editor, writer and brand strategist in Brooklyn, New York. He currently works at Elle Decor as their Editor in Chief.

Spencer Bailey of Phaidon Publishing joins us to discuss concepts of ‘slow’ media, and how to be more conscientious about the media we consume.

Diana Budds is a design writer & producer based in New York City. She writes, edits and produces stories about design at all scales, with a particular focus on how design affects and reflects culture.

Aaron Seward is a writer and editor with over 20 years of experience in architectural publishing, currently serving as the Managing Editor at Perkins&Will.

Jerome Harris is an American graphic designer and educator whose research focuses on omitted narratives of African American designers in the field of graphic design.

Alissa Walker is a journalist and design advocate well-known for her work on urbanism and mobility. Her work examines pressing urban issues including mass-transit, accessibility, and climate change in the context of social justice, exclusion,...

Daniel Feldman and Adam Reineck of Ideo.org join us to talk about human-centered design.

Hal Aronson, Ph.D, is the Director of Technology and Education and the co-founder of WE CARE Solar – an organization working to provide light & power to medical facilities across the developing world.

Michelle Moghtader is the Director of Global Development & Co-Founder of Shared Studios, as well as a journalist and community organizer.

D-Rev, a nonprofit product development company based in San Francisco designs, develops and distributes radically affordable world-class medical products

Ken Banks, Founder of kiwanja.net, devotes himself to the application of mobile technology for positive social and environmental change. He has spent the last two decades working on projects in Africa.

Emiliano Gandolfi and Eric Cesal reflect on a full year of Social Design Insights.

Katie Crepeau is a consultant whose work helps social impact designers grow their organizations.

Designer, educator, and business strategist, Dr. Cheryl Heller’s work focuses on investigating the impacts of social design on human health and society.

Kyle Reis has extensive corporate and social design experience, allowing him to be a valuable consultant in a range of fields. Currently, along with his philanthropic work, he serves as CEO of the consulting firm,...

Orkidstudio is a social enterprise based in Nairobi, Kenya, which focuses not only on the design of great buildings, but on the design of design & construction processes in ways that promote equity, inclusion, and...

For twenty years, the Prince Claus Fund and the Prince Claus Award has supported cultural development and practice in Latin America, Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and Eastern Europe. The Fund supports artists and practitioners from many...

Katie Swenson is a nationally recognized design leader, researcher, writer, and educator. Her work explores how critical design practice can and should promote economic and social equity, environmental sustainability, and healthy communities.

Building upon an expansive career aiding in the education and support of designers, Jason Schupbach is the Dean of the Westphal College of Media Arts and Design at Drexel University.

We had a chance to speak with Marcin Jakubowski on Social Design Insights, where he and our host Eric Cesal spoke about the future of agriculture, industry, and how to make more evolved humans.

By the middle of this century, up to 300 million people will be displaced by climate change and climate change disasters. What is the ethical role of designers in adapting the built environment to such...

Wakefield is an Urban Studies Foundation Research Fellow at Florida International University in the Department of Global and Sociocultural Studies. Her work, developed over the past decade of teaching and research in New York City, explores...

As the world faces a rising tide of disasters and climate-induced migration, there are serious questions as to whether the design community is prepared to offer solutions meaningful to the crises humanity faces.

Mario and Nuno do Rosario discuss the history of design in Mozambique from Independence to the present-day.

Mario and Nuno do Rosario discuss the history of design in Mozambique from Independence to the present-day.

Architect Hsieh Ying-Chun joins host Eric Cesal to talk about how people can power rebuilding after disaster.

Mathew Sanders details the pioneering struggle of the people of Isle de Jean Charles in confronting climate change.

Alexander Rose of the Long Now Foundation speaks with us about how designers can design better by thinking differently about time.

Two central figures in public art and community building unveil how they help communities take control of their own futures.

Two central figures in public art and community building unveil how they help communities take control of their own futures.

Black in Design is a student-led biennial gathering which confronts issues of race and equity throughout the design professions.

Black in Design is a student-led biennial gathering which confronts issues of race and equity throughout the design professions.

Dr. Sharon Egretta Sutton, FAIA is an educator and scholar promoting inclusivity in the cultural makeup of city-making design professions. Known for engaging students in underserved communities of color, Dr. Sutton’s teaching and scholarship examines...

Christian Benimana is the founder of the African Design Center. He was formerly the principal and managing director at MASS Design Group.

Doina Petrescu is an architect and educator who currently serves as the Chair of Architecture and Design Activism at the School of Architecture, University of Sheffield.