Cumulus design conversations

The Cumulus 2025 Spring Conference "Ethical leadership : a new frontier for design" will bring together more than 400 schools, researchers, and design practitioners from 60 countries in Nantes , to explore the role of design in the face of major contemporary transitions. In a world disrupted by climate change, the rise of artificial intelligence, and growing social inequalities, design emerges as a key discipline to envision sustainable, inclusive, and ethical futures.

The Cumulus Design Conversations between research, education, business representatives and design practitionners on June 5, 2025 will highlight design as a driving force for transformation: how to rethink education, skills, academic alliances, and industrial partnerships to prepare a new generation of committed designers? What attitudes, tools, and languages can make design a lever for collective resilience?

Three main axes will structure the discussions:

• Ethical leadership in design: how can designers become influential actors of change?

• Skills of tomorrow's designer: what critical, technical, and collaborative abilities are needed to act in complex contexts?

• The role of schools in the transition: how to transform curricula and pedagogical cultures to meet the challenges of the 21st century?

Keynote Speech: Ethical Design Leadership in a World of Constraints - Speaker: Gilles Rougon (World Design Organization, APCI)

In a rapidly evolving world marked by environmental, technological, and societal disruptions, the role of designers has never been more critical. Design is no longer just about crafting better products or services—it is about embracing complexity, shaping new futures and redefining leadership.

This keynote speech by Gilles Rougon will challenge participants to rethink the positioning roles and skills of designers to better tackle the simultaneous global constraints in front of us. How can design go beyond method and management to become a strategic force in navigating these shifts? How does AI impact the designer’s expertise, and what new skills must emerge? Most importantly, how can ethical leadership in design drive meaningful change?

Panel Discussion 1 : "Climate Change and Resilience: The Key Role of Ethical Design leadership"

Climate change demands a profound transformation of industrial and social practices, where resilience becomes essential in the face of growing geopolitical and environmental constraints. Can design play a pivotal role in developing sustainable, eco-responsible models adapted to an ever-evolving world? This panel explores how various industries collaborate with design to address these challenges, showcasing concrete and innovative solutions.

Panel Discussion

Risk New Normal: Anticipating and Managing Climate Risks
Speaker: AXA- Clara Bove
AXA will share insights on how the insurance industry is responding to the growing impact of climate risks and how design can help visualize, forecast, and communicate these risks to communities and policyholders.

Producing and Living Differently: Building Resilient Spaces and Materials
Speaker: Saint-Gobain - Katie Cotellon
Saint-Gobain will discuss its efforts in creating materials and solutions for more sustainable living spaces, highlighting the integration of eco-design principles at every stage of the value chain.

Industrial Model for the Future: Designing and Scaling Resilient Value Creation Models
Speaker: Orano - Nicolas Buche
Orano will present its approaches to explore, modernize and develop innovative industrial models meeting challenges such as global energy needs, critical material recycling and health. Nicolas will discuss how design can support the exploration, understanding and acceptance of innovative and sustainable new industrial models.

Innovation and territorial design challenges
Speaker: APCI - Emmanuel Thouan

How design labs initiatives can act as innovation accelerators within local ecosystems. Examples of successful cooperation models between designers, businesses, and policymakers.

Fruitful Conversations #1

Speakers: Srini Srinivasan, COO Design Innovation Institute Shanghai (China), Past president WDO, Joseph Press, Dean, NACAA (China).

Panel Discussion 2 : "AI and the Designer: Rethinking Intelligence & creativity in the Age of Machines"

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming industries, professions, and our understanding of what it means to be human. For designers, this shift raises critical questions: How does AI challenge traditional practices and create new opportunities? What role does the designer play in maintaining human-centric values in an increasingly automated world? This panel explores the intersection of AI, design, and humanity, addressing the balance between innovation and ethics, and examining how design can lead in shaping responsible and sustainable futures.

Panel Discussion

Design only challenged by AI?

Speaker : Orange, Jérôme Ferrari Fromager

As AI reshapes productivity and workflows, designers must redefine their value through expanded roles, from user research to production. Jérôme explores how design skills shift, scale, and specialize to meet new demands—doing more with less, and better. His talk highlights how operational excellence, ethical frameworks, and ecosystem thinking create meaningful impact.

Euipo : Georgios – Alexandros TSALTAS IP & Learning Specialist

Future of Work

Speaker : Dassault Systèmes, Anne Ascensio
In industrial and operational settings, AI offers new opportunities for designers to shape processes and systems. Insights from Anne will highlight how human input remains critical in automated environments, emphasizing the designer’s role in maintaining innovation and adaptability within AI-driven industries.

Design, Trust and AI : Speaker : Quentin Le Pape (ComandAI)

Trust is a cornerstone of AI adoption, particularly in sensitive fields of new services based on AI.

Fruitful Conversations #2 : Design Education and Resilience

Remarks on the role of design education in preparing future professionals to tackle global challenges and foster resilience.

Christian Guellerin, General Director, L’École de design Nantes Atlantique (France), Fabienne Munch, Professor and Chair, Ohio State University (USA), Yongqi Lou, Vice-president & Professor, Tongji University (China).

Executive summary

La conférence mondiale de printemps Cumulus "Ethical leadership : a new frontier for design" réunira à Nantes plus de 400 écoles, chercheurs et praticiens du design issus de 60 pays, pour explorer le rôle du design face aux grandes transitions contemporaines. Dans un monde bouleversé par le dérèglement climatique, l’essor de l’intelligence artificielle et les inégalités sociales croissantes, le design apparaît comme une discipline-clé pour imaginer des futurs durables, inclusifs et éthiques.

L'événement Cumulus Design Conversations le jeudi 5 juin mettra à l’honneur le design comme moteur de transformation : comment repenser les formations, les compétences, les alliances académiques et les partenariats industriels pour préparer une nouvelle génération de designers engagés ? Quelles postures, quels outils, quels langages pour faire du design un levier de résilience collective ?

Trois grands axes structureront les échanges :

• Le leadership éthique en design : comment les designers peuvent-ils devenir des acteurs influents du changement ?

• Les compétences du designer de demain : quelles aptitudes critiques, techniques et collaboratives pour agir dans des contextes complexes ?

• Le rôle des écoles dans la transition : comment transformer les cursus et les cultures pédagogiques pour répondre aux défis du XXIe siècle ?

Une série de keynotes et de tables rondes évoqueront différents points de vue sur des enjeux contemporains, chercheurs et designers en lien avec le monde socio-économique autour de deux sujets – changement climatique et résilience, impact de l’intelligence artificielle sur le travail des designers.

Evénement en langue anglaise organisé par L’École de design Nantes Atlantique, entrée gratuite sur inscription.

Lieu : Stéréolux, salle Maxi.