DESRIST 2026

The Story Behind DESRIST 2026

What could it mean to design for better futures? And, more importantly, what might lie beyond the artificial?

DESRIST 2026 invites researchers from the design science community and beyond to reflect critically and creatively on the role of design in shaping the futures we imagine and hope to build. As technologies become increasingly complex and intertwined with our social, ecological, and institutional worlds, we must design systems that are sensitive to the broader ecosystems, both human and non-human, in which our designs take hold.

With the theme “Design for better futures. Beyond the science of the artificial,” this year’s conference seeks to expand the boundaries of what counts and could count as design science. In doing so, it opens space for new ways of thinking, knowing, and creating that are as adaptive, entangled, and generative as the challenges we face.

The conference logo reflects this spirit. It draws inspiration from organic forms—branching structures, root systems, mycelium networks—as metaphors for the kind of futures we hope to cultivate: grown in dialogue, shaped through co-existence, and rooted in a deep awareness of the living systems around us.

DESRIST 2026 is more than a space for presenting research. It is an invitation to reimagine design science as both a practice and an art of cultivating futures that are not only smarter, more ethical, and sustainable, but alive: growing, adapting, and breathing with the worlds they take root in.