The awarenness of the importance of design and designers in an industrial and postindustrial world grew at an unprecedented rate throughout the twentieth century. At the beginning of the new century, we are faced with an even more pronounced role of a seemingly universal design culture, spurred by the confluence of new technologies and new identities forged in the era of reflexive modernization. In spite of the globalizing tendencies, however, there still exists design production reflecting local needs and following local traditions.

This situation is reflected in the process of design education, which is more often than not linked to the very specific conditions of individual countries and regions. To educate designers to successfully practice their profession still entails rather different processes in different parts of the world. Educators working in the area have a lot to learn from one another, even though they are working in radically different contexts.

The British Council Zagreb and several Croatian educational design organizations have initiated a dialogue across cultures on what it means to educate designers today. The aim of this conference is to expand this dialogue to include participants from other countries reflecting on the intricacies of contemporary design education.

The organizing committee welcomes contributions on teaching and learning methods in various fields of design education, skill requirements of design graduates, new areas of study in design research, the role of business in design education, the relative importance of the local industries and the global economy for the design profession, and the related issues.