More than 200 papers following the Cumulus conference in Nantes
One year after the Cumulus conference in Nantes, plus de 200 publications more than 200 publications have been produced on the strategic and transformative role of design in shaping the world. Christian Guellerin, director of the school and honorary president of the Cumulus association, reflects on this major event, which helped foster a new understanding of design on an international scale.
In June 2025, our school had the honor of welcoming 500 teachers, students, and professionals from around the world to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the international association Cumulus in Nantes! This conférence, which focused on ethical leadership, was one of the major international design events held in France in recent years.
"We gathered in Nantes in June 2025 for one of the most significant international events on design and education in the past 30 years.
Five hundred participants from around the world (researchers, doctoral students, professors, and companies) came together to explore the role of designers in tomorrow’s world.
We are facing two major shifts in the broader context that are forcing us to rethink our approach to design:
- Environmental challenges that will compel companies to design, produce, and sell in entirely different ways in the future.
- Artificial intelligence, which raises questions about the relationship between humans and machines,
and, more fundamentally, about what it means to be human.
The role of schools has changed completely in recent years. Today, they must manage complex ecosystems that span research, education, and innovation, involving businesses and organizations.
The role of organizations in the future will be to give meaning to the society in which we want to live.
The role of the designer in the organization of the future will be to bring engineers, marketing professionals, philosophers, sociologists, and financial experts together around the table to give meaning to the future, innovation, and development.
We believe that design has become a discipline focused on managing complex systems.
That's what we've done here in Nantes with our 5 Design Labs :
The goal of these Design Labs is to bring together designers from different disciplines and with different approaches to help them tackle these complex issues.
This Cumulus event resulted in more than 200 publications, which are available on the website cumulusnantes2025.design. These proceedings likely marked the beginning of a major turning point in the emergence of design as a management discipline of complex systems."
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