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ICoD regional meeting europe 2025: the next code of conduct

03.04.2025 Announcements

This year's ICoD Regional Meeting Europe (RM EURO 2025) The Next Code of Conduct will take place in Ljubljana on 6 June 2025 and will be co-organised with the Brumen Foundation and Design Federation OÜ and hosted in partnership with the European Design Festival.

Register by clicking here. Admission is free for ICoD Members and European Design Festival ticket holders!

The ICoD Regional Meeting (RM) will take place on 6 June, from 10:00 to 17:00, as a one-day event. The ICoD Regional Meetings (RMs) are a key part of the Council’s international programming. RMs provide an opportunity for ICoD Members to engage with the design community at the regional level on common topics and challenges – in an international context. This year, the RM will be co-organised with the Brumen Foundation and Design Federation OÜ and will be a part of the European Design Festival 2025 which will run from 5–8 June.

This year's RM will be held in Ljubljana, at the Slon Conference Center, on 6 June 2025. The context of the European Design Festival will be a place to engage with designers from Europe and discuss the topics around professionalism and design. A core topic of the RM will be about setting standards for the ICoD Code of Conduct and AI to address the role of design in understanding the complex relationships between AI and humans, the environment, cities and all forms of life.

The ICoD Regional Meeting Europe (RM EURO 2025) will be held in Ljubljana, Slovenia on 6 January 2025 as a way to actively engage with Members in that region. (Image credits: The Prešeren Monument in Ljubljana by ©Andrej Tarfila)

The Regional Meeting will include keynote speakers who will discuss the new generation of designers and what advocacy for design professionalism means today. There will also be discussions on real-life examples of how the Code of Conduct has been applied and the value of such an open-source resource. Following this, a dynamic networking activity will provide participants with the opportunity to get to know one another in a fast-paced yet meaningful way. Through a series of short, structured interactions, attendees will exchange ideas, and explore potential collaborations.

In the morning sessions, keynote speakers will introduce various perspectives around new generation design professionalism. After lunch with the rest of the EDA attendees, the program continues with a workshop, allowing participants to engage more deeply with the day's themes. The session concludes with reflections, where participants share key takeaways and highlight valuable connections, ensuring that the discussions and relationships formed continue beyond the event. We will get together with regional Members, groups and initiatives in Europe to work together on finding out how the CoC an evolve.

SUMMARY OF TALKS AND ACTIVITIES

Melike Taşcıoğlu Vaughan — Opening Remarks: Rethinking ICoD’s Role Today:ICoD 2024–2026 President Melike Taşcıoğlu Vaughan will open the Regional Meeting with a reflection on the Council’s evolving priorities, followed by announcement on ICoD’s first-ever collaboration with the European Design Festival.

Lawrence Zeegen — Gen Alpha – coming soon! What this might mean for design… Professor Zeegenexplores the creative mindset of Generation Alpha and how emerging technologies—AI, robotics, wearables—will shape design practice for and by this rising generation. His talk connects future-focused design education with pressing societal and environmental shifts.

Iva Babaja — Advocating Design Professionalism In her talk, Iva Babaja draws from her leadership within ICoD and extensive professional experience to explore the evolving role of design professionalism. She will address ethics, standards, and advocacy as tools for strengthening the visibility and credibility of the design field worldwide.

Johnathon Strebly — Design Sparks: From Code of Conduct to Collective Action In this dynamic session, Johnathon Strebly invites global design leaders to reflect on ICoD’s legacy and reimagine the Professional Code of Conduct as a catalyst for ethical, inclusive, and collaborative action. Through small-group dialogue, participants will turn values into strategies for real-world impact. Across sessions Johnathon will egnage ICoD Members and design leaders in a dialogue that transforms the Professional Code of Conduct from a document into a living tool for ethical and impactful design practice—anchored in community, shared responsibility, and future-focused actions.

Anssi Kähärä — From Paper to Practice In this session, Anssi Kähärä shares real-life case studies that bring the ICoD Code of Conduct to life—examining issues such as speculative work, authorship, and ethical dilemmas designers face in everyday practice. It's a candid look at what professionalism really means when theory meets reality.

Kyle Rath — The Next Code of Conduct (Workshop) This 90-minute workshop explores how the ICoD Professional Code of Conduct can evolve in response to emerging challenges—particularly the rise of AI. Kyle Rath invites participants to critically reflect on ethics, authorship, and responsibility in an increasingly algorithmic world, using design theory and speculative thinking to shape a more resilient code for the future.

Jonas Liugaila — Collecting Insight, Shaping Action In this bridging session, Jonas Liugaila gathers feedback from the day’s discussions and considers how it can inform ICoD’s ongoing initiatives. By turning collective insight into actionable knowledge, the session sets the stage for shaping the direction of future collaboration.

Qin Du — Closing Remarks: From Dialogue to Direction Qin Du closes the meeting by drawing a line from the day’s conversations to actionable paths ahead. The session will focus on where our shared energy and insight can lead us within the ICoD network and beyond.

HOW TO REGISTER

Please click here to register.

The ICoD Regional Meeting (RM) will take place on 6 June, from 10:00 to 17:00, as a one-day event in Slon Conference Center. Admission is free for all ICoD Members.

The European Design Festival (EDF) will run from 5–8 June, with ICoD Members receiving a 35% discount on registration.

ACCOMMODATIONS

This year's RM delegates will have the option to stay at variety of hotels. For a full description of hotels, and discounts, read the Hotel Guide. Click on the hotel and reservation links for see the PDF with detailed information on each hotel. Please also stay tuned to our ongoing Member Bulletins for updates.

Hotel Slon. Reserve here.

Eurostars uHotel. Reserve here.

Grand Plaza Hotel and Congress Centre Ljubljana. Reservation: Please fill in the EDF_Reservation form_Grand Plaza.pdf from and forward your requests to both emails: ebru.mumcuoglu@grandplazahotel.si and reservations@grandplazahotel.si

B&B Hotel Ljubljana Park. Reservation: Please send your booking requests with code European Design Festival 2025 to: grpsales-ljubljana@hotelbb.com

ibis Styles Ljubljana Center. Booking Code: EDA025 (enter the Preferential code under Special rates) ***enter the code for the reduced rate on the first page under choose your room, 3 box is special rates, where you enter EDA025.

SPEAKER BIOS

Professor Lawrence Zeegen, Director - Creative Computing Institute, University of the Arts London

Professor Lawrence Zeegen, during a career spanning over 35 years, has worked across design education and the creative industries.

Lawrence has led departments, schools and faculties at some of the UK’s most prominent universities and has lectured internationally in over 25 countries. He has led national and international academic teams in the design, development and delivery of courses spanning advertising, branding, communication design and illustration, architecture and interiors, service design and UX / UI design, fashion design and promotion and in creative computing and AI for the creative industries.

Lawrence is currently Director for the Creative Computing Institute at University of the Arts London – leading developments at the intersection of creativity and computational technologies and the application of AI and machine learning, creative coding, computational environments robotics, smart products and wearables into the creative industries.

Lawrence is author of nine published books on graphic and digital arts, including Fifty Years of Illustration and Ladybird by Design and is contributor to numerous publications. His digital design practice includes work with major international newspapers, magazines, book publishers, design studios and advertising agencies.

Lawrence is a graduate of the Royal College of Art, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a trustee of both the De La Warr Pavilion and Creative Conscience and a former trustee of D&AD. Lawrence has twice been appointed to the Executive Board of ico-D, the International Council of Design.

Lawrence’s current research focus is on the emergence of Generation Alpha and their potential impact on creativity and design and on society and our planet.

www.zeegen.me

www.meetgenerationalpha.com

Iva Babaja, Assistant Professor at Algebra University, Former President of ICoD 2013-2015

Iva Babaja, is a designer and educator from Zagreb, Croatia. She received her master's degree in 1996. at the prestigious Universität für angewandte Kunst in Vienna. She started her career as a freelance designer and continued in the advertising industry, where she achieved many successes and was chosen as one of the best creative directors in the region. In 2017, she founded Babaja Branding & Design Consultancy d.o.o. In addition to professional work, Iva has also been engaged in volunteer work from the very beginning and has spent 10 years on the Board of ICoD (International Council of Design). Through her engagement, she systematically worked on the promotion of the design profession, international regulations for tenders and professional ethics and practice, wrote numerous international regulations and implemented numerous reforms, the most significant of which is the expansion of the Council's activities from graphic design into a multidisciplinary area. Thanks to her work, in 2015 she became the first female president in the over 50-year history of the Council. Iva's works have been published in numerous publications in Croatia and abroad, and she is a frequent guest lecturer at conferences and professional conferences, and a member of numerous international juries. In addition to other awards, in 2018 she was awarded the Order of the Croatian Danica Star by the President for her contribution to the promotion of Croatian culture and design. As an educator, she is working at Algebra Bernays University in Zagreb as Assistant Professor, teaching courses across various design disciplines.

Dr Kyle Rath, Lecturer: Information Design BA(ID), MA(ID), PhD (ID), University of Pretoria

Kyle Rath holds a PhD from the University of Pretoria, South Africa, and lectures both undergraduate and postgraduate Information Design (University of Pretoria). He is genuinely fascinated by all aspects of design, however, in his current research, he takes a look at signification that describes, from a theoretical and practical point of view, the way in which AI (and particularly generative artificial intelligence) has come to dominate our post-structural society. His research is made manifest in his teaching and presentations on AI within the space of design and good governance (ethics). In particular, how AI is shaping and will continue to shape the way we engage with our technological and social spaces. He also currently sits on the board of the art and design journal, Image & Text.

Other speakers are Johnathon Strebly, Anssi Kähärä, Melike Taşcıoğlu Vaughan, Jonas Liugaila and Qin Du

BUILDING ON PAST REGIONAL WORK

New work inevitably incorporates a synthesis of past concepts and topics. Past RM's have covered topics such as Professional Accreditation/Certification, Exchange opportunities within Local Regions and with the International Design Community, Curriculum Development: Sharing Best Practices and Expertise, Collaboration in Design Research, Indigenous Craft, Metrics + Data, Globalisation, Public Design Policy, Design Agenda, and more. Our intention this year is to think-with the challenges and opportunities of AI for design and to incorporate this in an updated Code of Conduct. This year's RM will build specifically on the topic started in 2019: Sharing Best Practices and Expertise which is the foundation for thinking about updating the Code of Conduct to meet changing design practices, ethics and standards demanded by the presence and development of AI.

The ICoD Regional Meeting Europe (RM EURO 2019) took place on 20-21 June 2019 in Matosinhos (Porto) and was hosted by the Porto Design Biennale organisation.

The ICoD Regional Meeting ASEAN (RM ASEAN 2018) was held on 05-06 February 2018 in Kuala Lumpur, coinciding with the beginning of the term of President Zachary Haris Ong of Malaysia (ICoD President 2017–2019). The meeting was hosted by ICoD Member Graphic Designers Association of Malaysia (wREGA) and sponsored by government think-tank ThinkCity.

Building on past connections: The ICoD Regional Meeting Latin America (RM LATAM 2017) was conducted in Santiago, Chile on 19-20 January 2017 as a way to actively engage with Members in that region. The RM LATAM 2017 was hosted by ICoD Member Duoc UC and the Chile Design Bienal and was held at the Estación Mapocho. Among the topics were Collaboration in Design Research and Indigenous Craft.