A Global Dialogue at the Intersection of Care, Design and Technology
In April 2025, the ‘Creating Environments for Health, Care and Technology’ symposium marked a pivotal moment in rethinking global systems of health and care by hosting an ambitious international symposium in Milan focusing on the practices of care-centred design, enabled by technology.
Organised by the Glasgow School of Art (Scotland), The Care Lab (Barcelona), ELISAVA School of Design and Engineering (Barcelona), and Tsinghua University (China), the two-day event brought together world-leading voices working across design, technology, and care to explore synergies and opportunities for collaborative working. The event was a continuation and expansion of the European Design and Care Network, launched by the School of Innovation and Technology at The Glasgow School of Art in collaboration with The Care Lab and ELISAVA School of Design and Engineering in 2024. The network now connects international partners from across Europe (France, Portugal and Italy) and beyond (China, Dubai and Singapore), in a shared mission: to create inclusive, scalable health and care systems through care-centred practices, and design-led knowledge exchange. The emerging Design and Care Network – with the Milan symposium this year and previous year’s symposium and public exhibition in Glasgow held alongside a collaborative workshop and stakeholder engagements in Barcelona – serves as a prototype platform, uniting academic institutions, practitioners, government bodies, community organisations, and third-sector organizations in a live, iterative dialogue.
The two-day format was structured to maximise collaboration and generative dialogue. Day One focused on shared knowledge, with participants presenting and reflecting on case studies and research from different international contexts. Day Two shifted to ‘futuring’, using generative design methods to co-develop themes and co-create strategies and explore new collaborations. A live Miro board and visual mapping in situ facilitated real-time synthesis, allowing conversations to evolve dynamically. The presence of students from ELISAVA and Politecnico di Milano added a critical dimension—helping shape the future of care by incorporating the voices of those who will continue to build this future.
Across the sessions, several consistent themes emerged: the urgency of systems change, the need for inclusive and culturally aware solutions, and the power of design to bridge disparate disciplines. Quotes from participants captured the emotional and intellectual resonance of the event. “The symposium offered a valuable space for international connections,” noted Ainoa Abella of ELISAVA. Marie Coirié of Paris’s Lab-AH described it as “a moment to pause and reflect... opening a new field of potential and inspirational collaboration.”
The event also strengthened institutional ties and catalysed new global partnerships. The event’s significance was recognized by Tsinghua University, whose involvement underscored the importance of global collaboration in rethinking care. A developing funding proposal—along with an active working group across five institutions—demonstrates that this was not a one-off gathering, but the launch of a sustained innovation network.
Central to the project was an honest reckoning with the curricular challenges facing Higher Education Institutions. How can we equip future designers and technologists to navigate the complexities of health and care? As Lekshmy Parameswaran of The Care Lab put it, “The students gave me hope for a new breed of design professionals—ones driven to address the fundamental care gaps in our systems.”
Ultimately, this emerging network represents a new model for how global knowledge exchange can function—not just as academic discourse, but as a generative, activist, action-oriented force. It bridges institutional and cultural divides to develop real-world, impactful strategies. By curating a community of practice that is deeply relational and strategically aligned, the Design and Care Network is laying the foundation for a more equitable, sustainable, and compassionate health and care ecosystem. With its blend of digital tools, inclusive dialogue, and visionary leadership, it is showing what’s possible when care is treated not as an afterthought, but as a central design and innovation challenge.
If you would like to more information or get involved in the Design and Care Network, please contact: Sneha Raman at s.raman@gsa.ac.uk