As we look forward to the next 25 years, it’s clear that the business landscape is changing, and the companies that win in the future will be those that make a positive contribution to the world - those driven by an authentic, deep-rooted purpose.

We believe that this shift creates a significant opportunity for Design Leaders to step-up and help business leaders address some of the world’s most pressing environmental and social challenges.

That’s why in 2019 (pre-COVID!) we invited 30 Design Leaders to gather in Hamburg to discuss the journey from Human-Centered Design towards Design for Humanity. Throughout this session there was a clear consensus that we simply cannot overlook our responsibility as Design Leaders.

It’s time for Design to evolve. Design has to scale-up its impact through collective ownership of problems, and co-creation of solutions across disciplines, organisations and industries.

Incremental, claim-driven eco-improvements of products and services are no longer enough. Design must assume its natural leadership position in developing the business models and systems that address complex political, economical, environmental and societal challenges.

This means that Design Leaders need to change their priorities. They must move their focus beyond short-term business value creation, and they must lead the embedding of a new humanity-centered mindset and approach that delivers a net- positive impact on the world in which we live.

Since 2021, we’ve fully embedded the D4H Horizon model into our consulting programmes and also launched our PARK Academy Design for Humanity module, helping more than 120 Design Managers and Leaders to define their own plan of action. However, there is so much more to learn and achieve – and we won’t make progress without a collective effort, so reach out and let’s discuss how we can work together to keep the movement moving!

“The sole meaning of life is to serve humanity.”

- Leo Tolstoy