Emerging Practices: Design Research and Education Conference 2018, Shanghai, China

Every autumn, at the College of Design and Innovation of Tongji University, we organize a highly interactive design research and education conference titled “Emerging Practices” (EPC). This series began in 2012. Now we are pleased to announce the eighth edition of EPC will be held on October 26–27, 2018.

EPC 2018 will examine complex sociotechnical systems in the context of technology. Its theme is “The Technical World and Communities” (of Complex Sociotechnical Systems). “Community” will be the main topic of the discussion. To feed the conversation with rich contextualized scenarios, we will demonstrate a local case—NICE 2035 Livingline, a communal social innovation initiative at the Siping neighborhood in Shanghai. EPC 2018 aims to inspire a conversation on how technologies can be used to better address the burning issues arising from complex sociotechnical systems and how design could contribute to the process. The conference will present best practices in this area, each grounded on a real-world design challenge and involving prototypes testing to engage relevant parties and provide evidence for development.