Design-driven Sustainable Development
Roundtable on Design-driven Sustainable Development
Time and Venue
Time: 24 September 2025, 14:00-15:30
Venue: MGM COTAI, Macao SAR, China
Organizers
Global Green Supply Chain of Forest Products (Macao) Federation
Global Green Supply Chains Initiative (GGSC)
CIID (Guangdong)
Macau Interior Design Commercial Association
Background
Amid intensifying global climate crises and escalating resource depletion, “sustainable development” has evolved from a concept into a comprehensive action plan for all humanity. The frequent extreme weather events, the sharp biodiversity collapse, and the prominent environmental pollution issues serve as stark warnings that traditional development models prove unsustainable. The proposal of the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) charts a course for systemic transformation across all nations, proposing a blueprint for integrated progress and calling for multi-sectoral collaboration to build a harmonious coexistence between humanity and nature.
The year 2025 marks a pivotal historical juncture— the 80thsup> anniversary of the United Nations and the 10thsup> milestone since the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). As revealed in the Sustainable Development Report 2025, global sustainability efforts confront systemic challenges, with overall progress lagging: only17% of SDGs targets are projected to be achieved by 2030, necessitating urgent innovative solutions. Design, as a systemic innovation too, has gained global consensus for driving sustainability. From product forms to service models, urban planning to social innovation, the scope of design is continually expanding, and its value has transcended aesthetics and functionality, becoming a core force in driving systemic transformation. By addressing the deep-rooted social, economic, and environmental conflicts, designers leverage innovative thinking toredefine production, consumption, and lifestyle, embedding sustainability into every stage of creation.
Against this backdrop, the Roundtable on Design-driven Sustainable Developmen is hereby emerging. This event brings together pioneering forces from design, business, academia, and policy sphere, aiming to break down industrial barriers and explore how design can engage in sustainable development issues in a more efficient and forward-looking way. By sharing diverse perspectives and experiences, we endeavor to map out the practical pathways for design-led systemic transformation, dissect underlying mechanism behind successful cases, address pragmatic obstacles such as technological bottlenecks, business model innovation, and policy implementation, advance the SDGs by contributing design intelligence that combines theoretical rigor with practical application, and co-create actionable blueprints for sustainable futures.
Purpose
- To explore how design can engage in sustainable development issues in a more efficient and forward-looking way
- To map out the practical pathways for design-led systemic transformation
- To dissect underlying mechanisms behind successful cases
- To address pragmatic obstacles such as technological bottlenecks, business model innovation, and policy implementation
- To advance the SDGs by contributing design intelligence that combines theoretical rigor with practical application
Language
English, Chinese
Scale
Approximately 50 participants are expected to attend. These participants will also attend the main forum on the first day, and the Fourth Sub-forum and the Global Youth Leadership Roundtable on the Inheritance of Corporate Culture on the second day.Approximately 50 participants are expected to attend. These participants will also attend the main forum on the first day, and the Fourth Sub-forum and the Global Youth Leadership Roundtable on the Inheritance of Corporate Culture on the second day.