Partners

The IKEA Foundation is the main partner of the No Waste Challenge. It is the philanthropic arm of INGKA Foundation, the owner of the IKEA Group of companies. Its mission is to improve opportunities for some of the world’s most vulnerable children and youth by funding holistic, long-term programmes that enable their communities to create sustainable livelihoods, and to fight and cope with climate change. Learn more at www.ikeafoundation.org.

Design couple Marianne van Sasse van Ysselt and René van Geer have worked for many industrial clients over the past decades. Since 2009 they have been focusing 100% on their own brand: Secrid pocketwear, driven by their dream to be able to create products entirely according to their own values and insights. And without making concessions to customers or shareholders. Secrid consciously opts for production in the Netherlands, with a focus on people and the environment. For more information, please visit www.secrid.com.

The ‘Nationale Postcode Loterij’ (Dutch Postcode Lottery) was founded in 1989 to support charities that work towards a fair, healthy and green world. The lottery raises funds for its charities and communicates about their work.

CLICKNL - for creative professionals and enterprising researchers The creative industry is a driver of innovation. It delivers human-oriented solutions for societal challenges. To be able to continue to deliver that impact, CLICKNL, Top Consortium of the top sector Creative Industries, wants to enhance the creative professional's knowledge base. In doing so, we strengthen the sector and the innovative capacity of the Netherlands.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the channel through which the Dutch Government communicates with foreign governments and international organisations. It coordinates and carries out Dutch foreign policy.

Dezeen is an online architecture, interiors and design magazine based in London, with offices in Hoxton and also previously in New York City.

Positive News is the magazine for good journalism about good things. When much of the media is full of doom and gloom, instead Positive News is the first media organisation in the world that is dedicated to quality, independent reporting about what's going right. We are pioneers of 'constructive journalism' – a new approach in the media, which is about rigorous and relevant journalism that is focused on progress, possibility, and solutions. We publish daily online and Positive News magazine is published quarterly in print. As a magazine and a movement, we are changing the news for good.

Dutch Design Daily is an online platform that shows a new current topic every day in the broad field of Dutch Design, architecture, digital design, photography, graphic design, fashion & textiles, product design and spatial design. It also features interviews with designers and focuses on education and heritage. www.dutchdesigndaily.com

The Association of Dutch Designers (BNO) connects, represents and strengthens the design sector. BNO was founded by and for designers. Our history goes back more than a hundred years. Today we are the largest community of designers and design agencies in the Netherlands, with a professional team that supports and promotes designers and their work.

shado is a lived-experience led community of artists, activists and journalists united in the fight for social change. They believe those with lived experience of an issue or injustice are best placed to advocate for meaningful change within that space. shado exists to disrupt, diversify and decolonise the current media landscape through amplifying the voices of people on the frontline of social change. They do this through connecting journalists, activists and artists across borders through collaboration. shado works with a community of over 300 artists, activists and journalists in 56 countries around the world to spotlight necessary and innovative stories – promoting their main mission of decolonising and demystifying some of the most important issues of our lifetime. For more information please visit: shado-mag.com

XXI Architecture Design and Art focuses on architecture and design's capacity to generate sociality, quality public life, and equality. Through projects, interviews, and critical articles, XXI aims to provide a general view of the current approaches. We are very aware that spatial politics is dominant in every part of our daily life. And architecture and design play a crucial role in this. We are curious to discover architecture and design’s possible roles and potentials in generating new responses to the realm of neoliberal space-making practices. For more information, please visit: xximagazine.com.

Instituted in 2014, STIR was founded to promote, propagate and foster creativity and innovation in the fields of design, architecture and new-media art in India and across the world. For more information, please visit stirworld.com.

State of Fashion is an international fashion platform that connects pioneers in fashion design, research and business, and shares their ideas and innovations with the world. We stand for critical reflection on common positions and models in the fashion industry. With a biennale, discussion programs, labs for design research, exhibitions and publications, we bring visionary ideas from the Netherlands and abroad together. Together with designers, companies, scientists, educators, consumers and other stakeholders in fashion, we actively explore an urgently needed new fashion system. More information: stateoffashion.org

Designboom is a daily web magazine covering the fields of industrial design, architecture, and art internationally.

KoozArch is a research-driven studio and digital magazine exploring our un-built environment. In conversation with visionary contributors, we propose alternative critical readings of the un-built as a form of constructive resistance to current inequalities and instabilities which are affecting our contemporary society and environment. To this end, we explore the un-built as Tool for Critical Thinking, Research for Action and Ground for Virtual World-making. Via our magazine, whose formats span from columns to essays and interviews, we strive to inspire unbuilt imaginaries, drive systemic change, and nurture new voices.

Online magazine that focuses on design, art, craft and our relationship with the environment and sustainability. Curation of positive and responsible design. Plural Magazine is a space to inspire designers, artisans and researchers.

Twyg is pronounced twig which means “a new branch or shoot” or “getting wise”. Both these meanings are appropriate for the work we do. We create content, events and campaigns to promote a way of being that is sustainable, circular, regenerative, caring and ethical. We interface with consumers and producers to promote SDG12. We create digital content to inform, inspire and educate. Our stories feature people and products that don’t harm the planet nor people. We also create bespoke experiences, workshops and campaigns in collaboration with like-minded organisations.

The Circular Economy Hub (CE-Hub) brings together academics, industry practitioners, policymakers and civic society stakeholders committed to delivering circular economy research and innovation programmes in a joint and systemic way.

IDEAS FOR GOOD is a Japanese online magazine that shares 800+ social good products and services around the world. It spreads a wide variety of inspiring ideas, from cutting-edge technology to creative design to tackle social issues.

Unbore is an organisation based in the Netherlands that fosters and advocates arts, life sciences and technology intersections. The international platform celebrates and facilitates divergent thinking, endless experimentation and creative reflection. Fundamentally, Unbore strives to encourage social commitment to the crucial issues of today through advocating for interdisciplinary collaboration as an engaging source for cultural insights.

The European Creative Hubs Network (ECHN) is a peer-led network with a mission to enhance the creative, economic and social impact of creative hubs. This is the only network in Europe specifically tailored to support hubs that host and connect multiple creative businesses. As focal points for cultural and creative professionals, creative hubs play a key role at the intersection of culture, economy, society, education and technology, and they offer the most effective way to support the growth and impact of the CCS. To achieve this, hubs themselves need to network, to pool resources, share best practices, and build on advocacy, policy and opportunities - and this is what ECHN offers to its members.

Minato Lab is a platform operating in Japan with the concept of connecting the ocean and people through learning. Aiming to create a sustainable relationship between humans and nature/ocean environment, various projects are implemented with education at the core. We conduct workshops with designers and artists to solve problems in the ocean environment using the power of design, as well as to reaffirm and pass on the richness of the ocean. Since 2022, International Conference on Design for Ocean Environments is held annually to share and promote actions in ocean environmental design.

GNP is the Founding Partner of What Design Can Do in Mexico - a Mexican insurance company with the most experience and solidity in the country. GNP’s commitment to Mexican families is reflected in the protection it provides to its more than 4 million policyholders in the Life, Major Medical Expenses, Damage and Auto insurance lines. Learn more at https://www.gnp.com.mx/.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the channel through which the Dutch Government communicates with foreign governments and international organisations. It coordinates and carries out Dutch foreign policy.

Mandacaru is the organization partner of What Design Can Do Brasil. As a production and communication studio with more than a decade of experience in cultural and events management, Mandacaru maintains an extensive network of collaborators both locally and internationally. Since 2015, Mandacaru has been the Brazilian partner of What Design Can Do, producing successful conferences, design challenges and workshops in Brazil. Learn more at www.mandacarudesign.com.br.

The diplomatic mission of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Brazil aims to ensure that the Dutch cultural sector has a strong position abroad through visibility, exchanges and long-term partnerships, supporting bilateral relations through Dutch cultural expression. The mission seeks to harness the power of the cultural sector and creative industries in efforts to achieve the SDG.

Questtonó is a corporate innovation and CX consultancy, which is part of the QNCO creative ecosystem. A hybrid of strategy and design, that combines the best in human behavior, creativity and technology. For more information, please visit: questtono.com 

The Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Japan is a funding partner of What Design Can Do Tokyo. The Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is the linchpin in the long-standing relations between Japan and the Netherlands. The Public Diplomacy, Political & Cultural Affairs of the embassy engages in the bilateral political exchange, is in charge of the communication strategy and implements the International Cultural Policy of the Dutch government in Japan. Learn more at www.netherlandsandyou.nl/your-country-and-the-netherlands/japan.

Quicksand is the research partner of What Design Can Do Delhi. Positioned as a hybrid between design studio and business consultancy, Quicksand facilitates the creation of meaningful experiences through design research and innovation. Their practice builds on inspiration and insights from the ‘experiential reality’ of people, whether they be users, stakeholders or clients. Quicksand also has access to a broad and multidisciplinary network of professionals through their annual international festival UnBox. Learn more at quicksand.co.in.

Founded by Quicksand, UnBox Cultural Futures Society is a platform exploring new narratives and building action at the intersection of disciplines, to reimagine India’s plural futures.

The Embassy in India represents The Kingdom of the Netherlands and promotes its interests in India. We support companies, citizens, knowledge institutions, development- and civil society organisations. We promote business partnerships between both countries and the use of Dutch expertise and technology in the food security, water management and sustainability in India. We also inform non-Dutch people who have an interest in the Netherlands concerning general, business or cultural affairs.

Kenya Climate Innovation Center (KCIC) is the funding partner of What Design Can Do Nairobi. KCIC offers incubation, capacity building and financing options to new, small and medium business ventures and Kenyan entrepreneurs that are developing innovations to address the challenges of climate change. We provide holistic and country-driven support to accelerate the development, deployment and transfer of locally relevant climate technologies. Learn more at https://www.kenyacic.org.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the channel through which the Dutch Government communicates with foreign governments and international organisations. It coordinates and carries out Dutch foreign policy.

We showcase design through exceptional, unconventional experiences, such as Nairobi Design Week. See the feed for community news.

STBY is a strategic partner of the Redesign Everything Challenge. As a design research consultancy based in London and Amsterdam, STBY connects organisations with the lives and experiences of their customers, bringing real people into the heart of service innovation processes. STBY is the initiator and co-founder of the global REACH network and has been a design research partner of What Design Can Do since 2015. Learn more at www.stby.eu.

Arco is a family business founded 118 years ago. Since then, Arco has focused on designing, developing and manufacturing handcrafted wooden tables by embracing both artisanal skills and modern technology. Arco’s mission is to develop traditional craftsmanship into craftsmanship for the 21st century. All Arco’s products are manufactured in its own factory, preferably from local materials, and always to the highest quality. Arco’s designs are contemporary, understated, and not subject to the vagaries of fashion. In other words, Arco’s tables are timeless: a table for life, less a traditional dining table, more a “living” table, the heart of a modern office or home. As such, Arco makes sustainable choices when it can, and strives to make more such choices every year. We are Arco, we make tables. For this generation and the next. And the next. Please visit arco.nl.

Printing house with high standards in colour management, lithography and prepress. This to achieve the highest quality in offset productions.

Design People Planet is an Amsterdam-based creative agency focusing on the design and strategy of visual communication. Next to commissioned work for clients, De Designpolitie also initiates and produces design projects and events.

We develop interior products by today's' standards. This means we produce sustainable, use the full lifecycle of products, and eventually give them a new life. Use us as a tool, customise your own.