Design as a transformative strategy to shape our future Tokyo Forum 2024 discusses how we can harness the power of design to address challenges
In an era marked by scientific breakthroughs and economic strides, we face daunting challenges such as the climate crisis, economic disparity and geopolitical conflicts. At this critical juncture, design has emerged as a crucial endeavor to foster collaborative and integrative practices for addressing these challenges.
This was the theme of Tokyo Forum 2024, which gathered researchers, artists, public-sector specialists and business leaders from around the world to discuss the power of design as a transformative strategy from the perspectives of their respective disciplines.
The sixth annual symposium, held November 22 and 23, 2024, was co-hosted by the University of Tokyo and South Korea’s Chey Institute for Advanced Studies under the overarching theme of “Shaping the Future.” The event, which was open to the public and focused on the theme “Shape the Future, Design for Tomorrow,” was held in person at ´ºÓêÖ±²¥app’s Yasuda Auditorium and attracted more than 1,000 audience members.
In his opening remarks, ´ºÓêÖ±²¥app President Teruo Fujii stated that a human-centered design approach that values empathy, creativity and collaboration can drive transformative change for global challenges. He underlined the importance of integrating diverse knowledge through interdisciplinary approaches acquired through experimental and iterative learning.
“This is where higher education institutions like the University of Tokyo play a critical role,” he said. “We are positioned to serve as catalysts for innovation, bringing together the public sector, private industry and civil society in a collaborative effort” to address such challenging issues as health care, education, climate change and economic inequality.
In his opening remarks, Chairman Chey Tae-won of South Korea’s SK Group praised this year’s theme. Drawing from his experience leading the SK Group, one of South Korea’s top four conglomerates, Chey emphasized the importance of design power in evolving business to ensure sustainability, while addressing social challenges.
Exploring what design can offer
The opening remarks were followed by keynote addresses by two speakers: Alice Rawsthorn, co-founder of Design Emergency, a project exploring design as a force for change, and ´ºÓêÖ±²¥app Professor Yutaka Matsuo from the Department of Technology Management for Innovation at the Graduate School of Engineering.
Rawsthorn, a renowned design critic and author of Design as an Attitude, discussed why and how design can be utilized as a social, political, economic and ecological tool to foster positive change during these turbulent times, rather than being viewed merely as a stereotypical stylistic, consumeristic or public relations tool.
“(Design) is a complex and elusive phenomenon that has adopted different meanings at different times and in different contexts, leaving it prone to muddles, misunderstandings and cliches,” she said. “But I believe that despite this, it has always had one central role: Design is an agent of change that can help us make sense of what’s happening, and to turn it to our advantage.”
Professor Junho Choi from the Graduate School of Information at Yonsei University discusses the role and power of design, as a panelist during the plenary talk session.
Matsuo, one of Japan’s leading artificial intelligence (AI) researchers, discussed how generative AI is transforming our society and what future we can envision.
“Picture a world where AI empowers individuals, unlocking our true potential and sparking creativity,” he said. “As routine tasks are taken care of by AI, people will have more time to focus on what makes us uniquely human: art, relationships and experiences that give our lives meaning. This future is within our reach if we work together across disciplines and borders, guiding AI in a way that truly benefits humanity.”
Immediately following their lectures, the two speakers participated in a plenary talk session, which was joined by Professor Junho Choi from the Graduate School of Information at Yonsei University in Seoul and moderated by Associate Professor Naomi Aoki of ´ºÓêÖ±²¥app’s Graduate School of Public Policy. The panelists defined what “design” means to them, what design can do in the public sector, and what AI can be applied to the power of design, among other topics.
Choi described how the role and power of design have expanded into the everyday lives of South Koreans, including public spaces, public services, banking and transportation. “Now, many government policymakers and administrators (incorporate) design, or human-centered principles, into their public services,” Choi said. However, he sounded an alarm about the introduction of AI into every corner of society as a design tool, due to the complex nature of AI.
Matsuo said using AI in industrial design, for example, could speed up the process of developing high-quality products. However, challenges remain regarding how to collaborate with AI, as the roles of humans and AI will change as AI becomes more automated and advanced.
Meanwhile, Rawsthorn described AI as a “brilliant example of how carefully we need to consider the human, societal and ecological implications of every new technology, as AI can bring immense benefits to society while also introducing negative aspects.” Referring to the environmental impacts of AI, which consumes massive amounts of energy, she added, “I also think there is a meaningful role for design in terms of the design of AI systems.”
Choi, who praised human-centered AI, which aims to augment human capabilities rather than replace them, asked Matsuo about the principles and guidelines engineers could use to develop applications that benefit people.
Matsuo responded by stating that challenges remain in reducing bias in the datasets from which AI learns because doing so can compromise the model's performance. Nonetheless, he emphasized the importance of developing AI in a way to allow humans to play a central role, rather than leaving everything to AI.
The panelists also discussed the challenge of teaching students the power of design.
While acknowledging that researchers in his field do not typically use the term “design,” Matsuo agreed that educating AI developers in design would be beneficial. He added that design thinking is essential when collaborating with stakeholders, such as policymakers, bureaucrats, medical doctors and patients, among others.
Choi noted that design is a wonderful tool for identifying problems and finding solutions for a diverse range of issues. However, as an educator he expressed concern about how to teach students and researchers across every discipline on campus, as it requires collaboration with people from many different fields.
Regarding Choi’s concern, Rawsthorn noted that younger generations are more eager to collaborate. “I do think there is a generational shift on this,” she said. “There is more and more fascination with collaboration, and a far greater understanding that it can make our working lives better informed, … more enjoyable, more imaginative and innovative.”
Design in research, urban planning, education
This year’s symposium featured three panel discussions. In Panel Discussion Session 1 on Day 1, themed “Gendered Innovations Shaping the Future: Changes in Evaluation, Funding, and Education for Science,” the panelists discussed an initiative called “gendered innovations.”
Londa Schiebinger, the John L. Hinds professor of history of science at Stanford University in the U.S., explained that the initiative addresses the question of how researchers “can harness the creative power of sex, gender and/or intersectional analysis for discovery and innovation.”
She is the founding director of the Gendered Innovations in Science, Health & Medicine, Engineering, and Environment project, which launched the initiative and has been instrumental in its propagation. The scheme has been embraced in North America, Europe and East Asia, including South Korea and Japan.
Schiebinger highlighted the importance of gendered innovations in research by citing examples from the pharmaceutical sector. She said that according to 2001 statistics from the United States General Accounting Office, 10 drugs were withdrawn from the U.S. market due to life-threatening effects, eight of which posed greater risks for women.
“Improving women’s health could add a staggering 1.6 million quality-life years for women and, in the U.S., boost the economy by $28 billion annually by 2040,” she said, referencing one study. “So, it’s a win-win: It’s a win for women and a win for society.”
Heisook Lee, president of the Korea Center for Gendered Innovations for Science and Technology Research, introduced South Korea’s legal framework, enforced in 2021, to incorporate sex and gender analysis in science and technology policies and practices. South Korea is a pioneer in that regard in East Asia, and several years ahead of Japan, in embracing gendered innovations.
The panelists, including Nature editor-in-chief Magdalena Skipper, agreed that journals and educational programs play essential roles in helping researchers integrate sex and gender analysis into their research.
On Day 2, two panel discussions were held. In Panel Discussion Session 2, panelists engaged in discussions on the theme of “Inclusive Urban Planning – a Dialogue between Urban Planning and Economics on Social Common Capital.”
Rita Olufunmi Adeoye, accessibility and inclusive design principal at the London Legacy Development Corp. (LLDC), highlighted how her organization’s project to redevelop Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park incorporated concepts of affordability based on income levels and accessibility to meet the needs of diverse occupants.
For example, LLDC began by transforming the London 2012 Athletes’ Village, which housed 17,000 athletes and officials during the summer games, into the East Village, where more than 5,800 homes — 40% of which were affordable — were built. “I think everyone would agree that the quality of our homes has a direct impact on our lives,” she said, adding that LLDC’s priority concepts of “high-quality buildings, equality and inclusion” were reflected in the development.
Professor Tetsuya Yaguchi of the Department of Architecture at Waseda University in Tokyo discussed Japan’s housing situation in terms of affordability. Although housing prices in Japan are much lower than in the United States and the United Kingdom, Japan faces a shortage of affordable housing for low-income individuals. To address the issue, Yaguchi proposed implementing “inclusionary zoning,” which encourages developers to provide affordable housing through tax incentives and bonuses, alongside higher-priced units for high-income households.
In Panel Discussion Session 3, themed “Design Unbound – Fusions, Frontiers, and Boundary Breaking in Design,” the panelists discussed the importance of co-creation among individuals from diverse disciplines and the need to educate the next generation of design leaders.
Moderator Miles Pennington, professor at the Interfaculty Initiative in Information Studies and the Institute of Industrial Science at ´ºÓêÖ±²¥app, introduced the university’s plan to launch a new College of Design (CoD), as the initiative is provisionally called, in 2027.
“Design is perhaps a method of helping to convert understanding into ideas and actual deployable solutions,” Pennington said. “The goal (of CoD) is to create different types of visionary leaders who understand challenges and foster social transformation and positive change.”
Pennington asked the panelists about the importance of diversity in harnessing the power of design, which Japan appears to lack.
One of the panelists, Professor Vali Lalioti at the Creative XR and Robotics hub of the Creative Computing Institute at the University of the Arts London, stated that diversity is crucial for successful education that integrates science, design and other disciplines. “We celebrate the fact that we have a high percentage of women in our courses and that we have individuals from various economic backgrounds, ethnicities and races,” she said about her institute.
Students showcase their brilliance in creating new designs
The symposium also hosted the Business Leaders’ Session on Day 1 to discuss design in the context of business. For example, Chey of SK Group explained the Social Progress Credit (SPC) initiative his company established to create social value. “To generate better value, we need a social value measurement system,” he said, referring to tradable SPC. He added that his company reports on the value it has created and that which it has destroyed, including factors such as greenhouse gas emissions and plastic disposal, using the SPC.
Students also pointed out that hostility toward children is a serious issue in both countries, as exemplified by the establishment of “no-kids zones” in South Korea. This policy restricts children's entry into restaurants in order to have a quieter atmosphere. In Japan, local residents have filed lawsuits against the noise from children at day care centers.
To address this problem, the three teams proposed reviving community-based child care by introducing a shared housing system through a joint venture among leading Japanese and South Korean companies; launching a “Kids Belong Too” campaign to enhance inclusiveness for children; and providing educational programs about sex, birth and child-rearing.
The remaining two teams proposed entrepreneurial ideas to address the issue. One is a matching app called Linky, which connects parents with seniors who have child care experience. Another is a bank of care app, which allows individuals to “deposit” caregiving activity as “time currency,” which can be “withdrawn” whenever the depositors need to receive care for themselves or their family.
After the wrap-up session, where he engaged in dialogue with the students, Fujii delivered closing remarks commending the youth as changemakers. “Coming from diverse social and institutional backgrounds, they bring unique perspectives, yet share a profound commitment to facing today’s challenges with courage and insight,” he said. “Their vision reminds us that Korea and Japan, as close neighbors in East Asia, hold great potential to make meaningful contributions to the future of our world by considering new designs for problem-solving.”
