#Design Kerala summit to help rebuild state after floods

KOCHI: Seeking to leverage path-breaking design solutions in rebuilding the flood-ravaged Kerala, the state government is organising #Design Kerala summit on December 11 and 12 in Kochi.

The summit forms the key segment of India’s largest design festival, the six-day ‘Kochi Design Week’, in Kochi. The festival will be attended by leading design luminaries, architects and decision-makers from around the world, concludes on December 16.

The event will showcase technology options which can be used during the rebuilding phase as installations so that various stakeholders can experience them. Ideas emerging out of the event will be distributed to relevant departments for their reference.


Arun Balachandran, chief minister’s IT fellow, Kerala said the core focus of the event will be to find out how we can include design thinking into rebuilding Kerala as it is going through an important phase pertaining to reconstruction after floods.’’

“As part of the event, the summit will have panel discussions, interactive sessions, debates and dialogues centering round designing of a futuristic and sustainable ecosystem for Kerala,” he said.

Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan will address the summit on December 12.

While the central theme of the meet is to “design a sustainable ecosystem for the future”, various sessions will be taken up for deliberation topics like public infrastructure, technology infrastructure, tourism, handloom uplift and living spaces. Experts from each area will innovate and outline models that ensure a sustainable ecosystem for a better Kerala.

Presentations and deliberations at the conclave will take place in different segments—Design Kerala Summit, Design District, Design Challenge, Design Summer School, workshops and master classes. The summer school is being organised in partnership with Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design (CIID).

The design challenge will comprise a series of competitions. Ana Laura Farias, head Summer School, CIID said such an event to tackle social issues is not only important to Kerala but to the whole world.