By Design and by Desasters' main topic this year will be hope - not as naive optimism, but as a collective and empowering practice. In the face of ecological collapse, social injustice, and the rise of authoritarian forces, we ask: how can we reclaim the future through design and art in Connected Alternatives, Open Technologies.  Social Movements and Radical Reforms. These four tracks of transformation help us to guide the discussion. They complement each other and criss-cross paths.

With Connected Alternatives, we mean the multitude of mostly small and local projects and communities, which are practicing now, what is needed for a future society, based on commoning, care and circularity. They are or should be more and more interconnected – joining forces for mutual support and learning from each other, and for scaling-out instead of becoming co-opted or marginalised.

Social Movements are more dynamic – generating momentum in their peak phases, but then subside again. Opposed to the niche alternatives, they change the public debate and sometimes even dominant narratives and power relations. When things go well, niches are prospering in the larger landscape changed through social movements, while social movements benefit from the more stabile economic and cultural basis build up in niches over decades.

Programme: Hope – Reclaiming the Future - By Design and by Disaster Conference 2025