Symposium – Contested Ethics of Worlding Design and Radical Inhabitation

Welcome to the Symposium – Contested Ethics of Worlding Design and Radical Inhabitation
Problematising Human-Centred Design through Disciplinary Hybridity

Join us at Lecture Theatre N001, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) on 10 December 2025 at 9:00 AM (Asia/Hong_Kong) for a symposium that brings together scholars and practitioners to critically examine the ethical dimensions of design in shaping contemporary and future modes of inhabitation.

Open to students, researchers, and practitioners across disciplines, the event fosters a plural platform for dialogue and exchange, encouraging critical discussions at the intersection of ethics, design, and radical inhabitation. Situated within theory, critical humanities, and transdisciplinary practice, the symposium challenges human-centred design by framing design as an ethical and epistemic practice grounded in problematisation rather than solution-making.

Through the thematic lenses of De-signing the Design Problems of Future and Re-signing the Design Practices for Future, the programme explores how critical hybridity, radical inhabitation, and worlding practices generate new ethical imaginaries within complex technological and ecological conditions, repositioning design as a field that questions normative logics and rethinks ethical possibilities for future practice.

This is a unique opportunity to engage with design thinkers; scholars; and partitioners, expand your perspectives, and participate in meaningful cross-disciplinary dialogue. We look forward to welcoming you for an intellectually stimulating and thought-provoking day.