Cumulus Design Declaration (2025)
© Rept0n1x, via Wikimedia Commons
Adopted by: Cumulus Association, international association of universities and colleges of art, design and media; co-created with associates representing 400 educational institutions and more than 40 institutional partners · Kind: Professional declaration · Scope: Universal · Adopted: 2025
Adopted on 4 June 2025 after a two-year process involving associates from 400 educational institutions and more than 40 institutional partners, this declaration is the Cumulus Association's successor to its 2008 Kyoto Design Declaration. Its five sections argue for a shift from human-centred to planet-centred design as the basis for interdependent coexistence between humans and non-humans, a new contract with nature beyond the Sustainable Development Goals, conviviality redesigned around social justice and care, the decolonising of design and a pluriversal approach that reconnects with indigenous and local knowledge, and a designerly response to artificial intelligence, synthetic biology and post-human technologies.
In June 2025 the Cumulus Association, the international association of art, design and media schools, adopted a new design declaration to replace the position it had taken at Kyoto in 2008. Its own opening paragraph explains why: given the pace of change and the contemporary challenges society faces, the association set out to revisit the Kyoto Design Declaration and reaffirm design's commitment to society and the planet. The revision was not a drafting-committee exercise. It ran for two years through surveys, workshops and discussion forums involving associates representing 400 educational institutions and more than 40 institutional partners, with semantic and data analysis alongside.
The document has five sections and each carries one move. From Human-Centered to Planet-Centered argues for a paradigm shift away from human-driven development toward planet-centred design as the basis for an interdependent coexistence between humans and non-humans, on the grounds that every design action has an impact on the entire system of life called Earth. Rethinking Sustainability credits the Sustainable Development Goals with driving real change in policy and production while arguing that what is now needed is a paradigm shift toward a new contract with nature, and alliances across institutions, disciplines, civil society and government to promote regenerative cultures. Inclusiveness and Togetherness states that conviviality must be redesigned to promote social justice and strengthen trust, and that design needs a permanent agenda promoting empathy and care as drivers for peace.
Design in Plural is the section that reaches furthest. It observes that cultural exchanges and information flows run mainly from dominant regions to the global south, states that decolonising design needs to happen so that innovation benefits localities, and calls for a pluriversal approach that reconnects with diverse knowledge from indigenous wisdom to science and holds a deep responsibility to each community and to the different ways of being in the world. The final section, Disruption with Rapidly Changing Technologies, treats artificial intelligence, synthetic biology and cognitive sciences as transforming what is understood as human, names information surveillance and augmented technologies as post-human realities, and argues that designers are well placed to envision possible futures in transdisciplinary teams.
This is a declaration by an association of schools, not a law and not a professional code. It binds nobody, carries no compliance mechanism, and creates no obligation on any student, teacher or practitioner. Its weight is the weight of who wrote it: several hundred institutions that between them educate a large share of the people who will practise design over the next decades.
One correction is worth recording for anyone comparing this record against earlier project notes. An internal reference report of 2026-08-12 described the declaration as having five pillars named regenerative design, radical inclusivity, transdisciplinary collaboration, decolonising practice and an ethic of care. That is a fair paraphrase of the substance but it is not the document's own structure, and this record follows the headings the declaration actually prints.
Key provisions · 13 provisions
Origin
The declaration was produced by a two-year open process of surveys, workshops and discussion forums, accompanied by semantic and data analysis, to co-create an evolved version of the 2008 Kyoto Design Declaration.
process · consultation · supersession
From Human-Centered to Planet-Centered
A paradigm shift is needed from human-driven development to planet-centred design as the basis for an interdependent coexistence between humans and non-humans.
planet-centred · more-than-human · paradigm-shift
From Human-Centered to Planet-Centered
Every design action has an impact on the entire system of life called Earth, and humans recognise symbiotic conditions with other living systems in order to promote healthy interactions and regenerative efforts.
systems · symbiosis · regeneration
From Human-Centered to Planet-Centered
The history of human impact on the planet leads through the current Anthropocene epoch, which significantly questions how design can be practised with meaning and consciousness.
anthropocene · responsibility
Rethinking Sustainability
Universal access to resources, food, places and information requires a wide range of design strategies and tools but also a paradigm shift toward a new contract with nature.
access · nature · sustainability
Rethinking Sustainability
Climate emergencies, economic fluctuations and natural disasters require alliances across institutions, disciplines, civil society and governments together with the design community to promote regenerative cultures.
regenerative · alliances · climate
Rethinking Sustainability
Design can redefine itself and take on new roles, from creating responsible products, services and systems to leading creative action toward the necessary transitions.
transition · role-of-design
Inclusiveness and Togetherness
Conviviality must be redesigned to promote social justice and strengthen trust, and design needs a permanent agenda promoting empathy and care as drivers for peace.
social-justice · care · peace
Inclusiveness and Togetherness
Interconnected communities of designers will face challenges including mass migration, gender issues and inequality, requiring ongoing collaboration across borders, sectors, disciplines and cultures.
migration · inequality · collaboration
Design in Plural
Information flows run mainly from dominant regions to the global south, so decolonising design needs to happen in order to ensure that innovation benefits localities.
decolonisation · global-south · power
Design in Plural
A pluriversal approach is needed, reconnecting with diverse knowledge from indigenous wisdom to science, and representing a deep responsibility to each community and to the different ways of being in the world.
pluriversal · indigenous-knowledge · responsibility
Disruption with Rapidly Changing Technologies
Artificial intelligence, synthetic biology and cognitive sciences are transforming ways of living and what is understood as human, while information surveillance and augmented technologies are post-human realities.
ai · technology · post-human
Disruption with Rapidly Changing Technologies
Designers are well positioned to seize the opportunities of technological disruption by envisioning possible futures and working in transdisciplinary teams that promote critical thinking as well as design action.
futures · transdisciplinarity · critical-thinking