Design Education Summit 2025

Thu, 6 Nov, 2025, 9:00 AM - 5:45 PM (GMT+8.0)
The Star Performing Arts Centre
1 Vista Exchange Green, Level 3, Singapore 138617

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Design Education Summit 2025

Event Venue

 
 

 

This one-of-a-kind summit, held every two years, is where passionate educators, curious researchers, and creative trailblazers come together. It’s the only event in Singapore that connects voices from across the education landscape and industries to explore how design can make learning more inclusive, accessible, and sustainable for all.
 
What are the mindsets our students need to thrive in an unpredictable world? Why do they matter now more than ever? And how can we nurture these capacities meaningfully for life? 

The Design Education Summit 2025 invites you to step into The Wonder Lab—a bold, hands-on experience where design mindsets come to life through stories and immersive experiences. Be inspired by visionaries, practitioners, entrepreneurs, and our most important voices—the youths. This is more than a conference. It’s a vibrant, action-oriented space to reimagine education together.
 


*Pre-registration is required for segment A, B and C. 
#No pre-registration is required for Collective Conversations and International Workshop.
More details on the programme and speakers will be shared soon.
The organisers reserve the right to amend the event programme and speakers without prior notice.

 
 

Curated Insights (Plenaries)

Step into the auditorium and hear from bold voices reimagining the future. These sessions spark fresh perspectives and invite you to see learning in new ways.

Creative Labs (Workshops)
Roll up your sleeves and dive in. In these playful, hands-on sessions, you’ll experiment, create, and bring design mindsets to life.
 
 

A1: Love Over Algorithms: A Neurorelational Framework for the Future of Humanity
by Nikki Martyn


What kind of humanity are we raising in the age of AI? Love Lab founder Nikki Martyn introduces Love-Informed Education, reframing children’s behaviour through neuroscience and relationships to envision classrooms of healing, belonging, and love-led design.

A3: Owning the Magic: Empowering Students in Physical-Digital Making with Generative and Reflective AI
by Clement Zheng & Alexandra Primary School

Owning the Magic explores how students designed their own superpowers through storytelling, hands-on making, and a custom AI tool at Alexandra Primary School. Try the tool yourself, hear from parents and students, and imagine new ways to blend creativity, STEM, and digital making.

B2: First Shot(s) X-Change — Designing for Uncertainty
by Tzang Merwyn Tong

How can uncertainty become a catalyst for growth? Filmmaker-educator Tzang Merwyn Tong shares First Shot(s) X-Change, an experimental platform where students co-create across disciplines and borders, cultivating courage, resilience, and wonder for the future of design.

B3: SonicPlay™: Cultivating Curiosity, Empathy, and Courage through Soundscape Education in Early Childhood
by Natalie Alexandra Tse

Discover SonicPlay™, an emergent pedagogy using soundscapes and deep listening to cultivate curiosity, empathy, and creative courage in young children. Experience hands-on activities that connect sound, storytelling, and intercultural awareness to reimagine early childhood education.

B4: The City as a Classroom
by Gracia Goh


Reimagine the city as a living classroom. This workshop invites educators to turn everyday urban questions into student-led inquiries. Through a hands-on civic puzzle sprint, participants will explore strategies for place-based learning and leave with tools to connect classrooms to real-world systems.

B5: Guardians of Gaia: Imagining Resilient Futures Through Collaborative Play
by Marta Miguel & Rachna Johri

Step into Guardians of Gaia, an immersive board game where participants tackle “wicked problems” of sustainability. This workshop uses collaborative play to spark systems thinking, foster empathy, and inspire inclusive, regenerative visions for resilient futures.

C1: Who are Singapore's next Pioneers?
by Cesar Harada

Educator-inventor Cesar Harada challenges Singapore to reimagine education for pioneers of the future— shifting from scarcity to abundance and from fear to love. This combined talk and workshop explores design education for nature, others, and self, and the systemic transitions needed to build courageous, regenerative futures.

C2: The Consentaverse Experience: Playful Tools for Digital Wisdom & Emotional Safety
by Nikki Martyn

Explore The Consentaverse, a playful framework from The Love Lab. This workshop with Nikki Martyn equips educators to foster emotional safety and digital discernment, designing classrooms where technology supports identity, agency, and flourishing.

C3: Play, Write, Grow: Reflecting on Our Creative Prowess and Process through Fiero!
by Vincent Siu

Join Vincent Siu in Fiero!, a storytelling card game that sparks collaborative creativity. Build characters, stories, and ideas across genres—and reflect on the art and science of creativity.

C4: Curious Creatures: Facilitating Collaboration through Speculative Design
by Ng Fong Yee

Turn everyday objects into “curious creatures” and imagine their habitats in this speculative design workshop. Experience how play-led making fosters curiosity, collaboration, and collective imagination—no art or design background needed.






International Workshop on Design Education, Research and Practice


This workshop gathers educators, practitioners, and students to co-create visions for the future of design education. Using tools like the Sparked card game, participants will question assumptions, explore alternative pedagogies, and contribute ideas for a collective book on reimagining design learning.

Collective Conversations: Nurturing Design Mindsets in Schools
 

Step into a community space where educators, partners, and curious minds engage in a lively exchange, sharing stories and sparking ideas around Design Mindsets through Learning by Design projects. These five 30-minute sessions will be filled with honest stories, clever hacks, and eureka moments. Jump in and be a part of the conversation! For deeper one-on-one exchanges, be sure to swing by the Human Library booths to trade stories and insights with educators.



 
 

Cesar Harada is a French-Japanese designer, educator, and environmentalist. Founder of MakerBay and Scoutbots, his award-winning work in ocean innovation has been exhibited globally and recognized with the Ars Electronica Golden Nica. He has delivered 20+ TED/TEDx talks and presents internationally on design and sustainability


Clement Zheng is an Assistant Professor at NUS and head of the Interactive Materials Lab. His work blends design, computing, and material culture, with research published internationally and creative projects exhibited at Ars Electronica, Milan Design Week, and the V&A Museum.


Jessica is part of the Apple Initiatives team focusing on key areas of Accessibility across all routes to market (Enterprise, Education, Consumer & Retail) in Australia, New Zealand and South Asia region. Since joining Apple in 2006, Jessica has been dedicated to ensuring accessibility is championed as a basic human right, and bringing that message across the globe.

Jordyn Zimmerman is a passionate educator and disability advocate. After being diagnosed as autistic at a young age, she did not receive access to augmentative communication, via iPad,  until the age of 18. She now thrives on boldly showing up and redefining what is possible in learning spaces and throughout the broader community — and has personal experience challenging the status quo, which is featured in the documentary, This Is Not About Me. 
Jordyn is Manager of Education Products and Program Development for a nonprofit, an Apple Distinguished Educator, and a two-time appointee on The United States President's Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities. She previously earned her Bachelor's degree in Education Policy from Ohio University, her Master's of Education at Boston College, and her Master's of Business Administration from Quantic School of Business and Technology. 


Karin Aue is a Senior Lecturer at NUS and Program Lead for the Master of Design in Integrated Design. A Partner at Chemistry, she focuses on circular economy, systems change, and planet-centred design, drawing on two decades of practice across Europe and Asia.

In MOVING FORWARD: An Anti-Design Workshop, participants co-create “endless” games using Digital Dream’s mixed reality system, then swap and play each other’s designs. The session emphasizes courage, tenacity, and progress over perfection—turning mistakes into meaningful lessons.

Professor Lisa Scharoun, Head of the School of Design at QUT, is an award-winning educator and practitioner specializing in transdisciplinary design, workplace culture, and design for health. Her global career and accolades highlight her commitment to innovative, impactful solutions for education and society.

Lynette Tan is CEO of Space Faculty and a pioneer of Asia’s space ecosystem. Recognized as a Karman Fellow and one of Singapore’s 100 Women in Tech, she advances space innovation, talent development, and STEM advocacy, positioning Singapore on the global space industry map.

Marta Miguel is a Senior Academic Mentor at Temasek Polytechnic’s School of Design. An architect, educator, and researcher, she has worked internationally and focuses on urban sustainability and the transformative role of architecture in shaping resilient communities and futures.


Nadya Shaznay Patel is an Assistant Professor at SIT whose work bridges Critical Design Futures, entrepreneurship education, and generative AI. She leads a Ministry of Education research project on creativity and entrepreneurial readiness and is Principal Consultant at Pagasa Lab, developing Cogito, an AI futures-thinking tool.

Natalie Alexandra Tse is a sound artist, educator, and co-founder of SAtheCollective. Creator of SonicPlay™, her work bridges music, improvisation, and pedagogy to inspire deep listening, empathy, and ecological awareness in early childhood and beyond.


Ng Fong Yee is a multidisciplinary artist and child culture designer exploring participatory design with young people. Her practice uses play and co-creation to reimagine public spaces, drawing on experience as an EdTech educator and collaborations across London, Japan, and Sweden.


Founder of The Love Lab, Nikki Martyn pioneers love-informed frameworks that bridge neuroscience, attachment theory, and ethical design to reimagine education and technology as spaces of safety, connection, and healing.


Rachna Johri is Deputy Director at Temasek Polytechnic’s Learning Academy. An architect with a Master’s in Education, she leads staff development in teaching and learning, contributes to cross-institutional initiatives, and actively advances sustainability through The Circle of Human Sustainability.

Tzang Merwyn Tong is an educator, award-winning filmmaker, and program designer at Republic Polytechnic. Creator of First Shot(s) X-Change and Zen-Mind Filmmaking, his work blends storytelling, innovation, and wellness, earning international recognition and awards for teaching, creativity, and public sector transformation.


Vincent Siu is the Founder of Press Start Studios and Press Start Academy, designing award-winning games and game-based curricula for education and impact. Recognised by the Obama Foundation and World Economic Forum, his work blends design, storytelling, and play to inspire creativity worldwide.

 

The Wonder Bites is a series of curated learning journeys and experiential workshops designed around design mindsets.
Each Wonder Bite offers participants a hands-on opportunity to explore and apply a specific mindset, deepening their understanding of how design can shape and enhance educational experiences. Through these bite-sized experiences, we aim to engage the community, spark dialogue, and build shared momentum towards reimagining learning through design.

Positive Futures: Sparking Curiosity with New Possibilities
1 & 2 October 2025 | 2.30pm – 4.30pm
Organised by: ArtScience Museum
Join a guided visit to an inspiring ArtScience Museum exhibition on positive futuring, followed by a hands-on 3D modelling workshop for educators to explore design, technology, and creative innovation in the classroom.


Leading Boldly with the Art of Improvisation
7 October 2025 | 2.00pm – 5.00pm
Organised by: Catapult (CapitaLand)
This experiential workshop uses the craft of improvisational theatre to build essential leadership skills like adaptability, collaboration, and presence. Through real-time, scenario-based exercises, participants practise thinking on their feet, embracing change, and responding with creativity—all grounded in real workplace contexts.        

Curiosity Unlocked: Gamify the Way You Learn and Lead
7 – 13 October 2025 (excluding the weekend) |10.30am – 11.15am, 12.15pm – 1pm, 3pm – 3.45pm
Organised by: HIDDEN at Singapore Science Park
Unlock the power of play at HIDDEN’s Gamification Lab, where design mindsets come alive through bite-sized games, bold ideas, and hands-on discovery for the future-ready classroom.

The Next Version of Me – Strengthening the Human Edge in the Age of AI
10 October 2025 | 6pm – 8.30pm 
Organised by: Ideactio x School of MetaSkills

Lead with purpose through AI-driven change by strengthening your MetaSkills™—the human edge that fuels creativity, leadership, and lasting growth.

Design with Heart: An Experiential Journey into Empathy and Inclusion
24 October 2025 | 2.30pm – 4.30pm
Organised by: SG Enable
Explore inclusion through design and lived experience in this two-part journey. Begin with a guided trail at Enabling Village, led by persons with disabilities, to see how inclusive spaces are thoughtfully designed. Then, join an interactive sharing by Vivita and partners from the Real World Co-Design Platform to learn how students and communities co-create inclusive solutions through design thinking.


Pathways of Persistence: A Leadership Trail Through Time and Change
28 October 2025 | 4.00pm – 6.00pm
Organised by: Catapult (CapitaLand)


This walking trail offers a unique lens on leadership through the spaces we move in. From Rochester Park’s heritage bungalows to the modern lines of Fusionopolis and Geneo, each stop reveals how design reflects reinvention, values, and vision - inviting reflection on how place shapes the way we lead, work, and grow.


Curious Strokes: Sketch Your Way into Leadership
29 October 2025 | 2.00pm – 5.00pm
Organised by: Catapult (CapitaLand)
Drawn to Lead is a hands-on workshop that uses simple drawing to explore leadership and systems thinking. No art skills needed - just curiosity. Walk away with a sketchbook of insights and a fresh perspective on leading with clarity and creativity.

Planet Disruptors Escape Room: Build the Courage to Expose the Green Lie
30 October 2025 | 2.30pm 6.00pm
Organised by: Chemistry
It’s 2045 and Singapore is sweltering at 40°C. Step into our escape room challenge to uncover the truth behind bold sustainability claims and discover what it really takes to lead with clarity and courage in a climate crisis.


Yes, You Can! A Design Adventure for Kids
1 & 2 November 2025 | 11am – 11.45am, 12pm – 12.45pm, 2pm – 2.45pm, 3pm – 3.45pm, 4pm – 4.45pm (30 minutes each session)
Organised by: Children’s Museum Singapore
Children become designers for a day in a playful city-building challenge with slime and surprises where creativity meets courage and anything is possible!

(Click on Programmes)
 

Don’t give up on Planet Earth! Tenacious Design for Sustainability
4 & 5 November 2025 | 10am – 12pm, 2pm – 4pm, 4pm – 6pm
Organised by: Ipse Ipsa Ipsum
Explore sustainability as a design mindset in this reflective, hands-on workshop—where values meet action and ideas turn into real-world impact.



Lead curators: (from left to right) Chen Junhua, Dr. Jeffrey Koh, Sheena Lai, Ben Tan, Sia Pei Ying and Tamsin Greulich-Smith
 
The Learning by Design Team, led by Tamsin Greulich-Smith, helms the transformative initiative by the DesignSingapore Council dedicated to nurturing the next generation of changemakers. They are passionate about empowering youths with design thinking mindsets, fostering creativity, and the ability to navigate and shape the future. By integrating design thinking into education, this team has been cultivating a community of individuals who are not only problem solvers but also active contributors to a sustainable and inclusive future.
 
Dr Jeffrey Koh is a transdisciplinary experiential designer with a diverse background spanning fashion show design for PRADA, gallery curation for KesselsKramer, and exhibition design with the Office for Metropolitan Architecture. He holds degrees in Monumental Art, Narrative Environments, and a PhD in Integrative Sciences & Engineering. With peer-reviewed publications across disciplines and multiple international patents, Jeffrey has also served in roles such as Peer of the Australia Council for the Arts, Lecturer at UNSW, and Partner at Chemistry. Currently, he is an Advisory Board Member at Chemistry and Ngee Ann Polytechnic’s School of Design, Associate Professor at the Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT), and Head of the Design Factory@SIT. He also serves now as the Co-curator for the 2025 Design Education Summit 2025 by DesignSingapore Council.