Kindly supported by the Turkish Federation of Furniture Business Associations (MOSFED) and hosted by Icsid board member Alpay Er, Head of the Industrial Design Department at Istanbul’s Ozyeğin University/Istanbul Institute of Design, the day-long World Design Talks featured guest speakers Prof. Dr. Murat Çelik of Istanbul Technical University; Ms. Arzu H. Toker Özkurt, Senior Industrial Design Expert at Otokar Otomotiv; and Ms. Selva Gürdoğan Thomsen of Superpool.

ATÖLYE, a creative co-working space in Istanbul, helped to fuel the creativity of our 40 participants—including local academics, industrial designers, architects, designers, and representatives of other non-governmental organizations—who addressed the local challenge of traffic congestion in the short, medium, and long-term. They explored sustainable and public transportation, including improvements to the Dolmus, a responsive mini bus, which is locally generated, flexible, and demand-driven. They discussed behaviour changing campaigns, digital technologies and signage to better navigate traffic, as well as improved use of the seaways, pedestrian accommodations, and bicycle systems.

The knowledge gathered from the World Design Talks will be shared online to further build upon and strengthen the design-led initiatives identified during the World Design Talks.

Mugendi M’Rithaa, Icsid president, who participated in the World Design Talks pilot along with other Icsid board members representing six different regions of the world, said, “Industrial designers have a unique perspective to lend to the challenges inherent in today’s megacities. They are problem solvers, addressing an issue through a human-centred approach. As we develop our World Design Talks, we hope that other regions will benefit from the design innovation shared during these collaborative and multidisciplinary sessions.”

Created by the Icsid Board to address member priorities, World Design Talks will be held in regions around the world to address local challenges, with global relevance, from a design perspective. These initiatives will help to define our common ground and ultimately inform our global design agenda as the world body for industrial design. The next World Design Talks is scheduled for Shanghai, China in October 2016.

About the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design
The International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (Icsid) is an international non-governmental organization (INGO) founded in 1957 that promotes the profession of industrial design. Icsid recently approved a name change, World Design Organization, to be implemented and celebrated during its 60th anniversary in 2017. Icsid advocates industrial design driven innovation that creates a better world, engaging our more than 140 member organizations in collaborative efforts and carrying out international programming—World Design Capital®, World Design Impact Prize, World Industrial Design Day, and Interdesign. Icsid has United Nations Special Consultative Status.