GIDEC 2013: Gaborone International Design Conference (September 2013, Gaborone Botswana)

Dates: 24-26 September 2013
Location: University of Botswana, Africa
Website: http://www.gidec2013.com/
Deadline for submissions of abstracts: 7 January 2013

Design in developing countries or new emerging economies especially in Africa is not recognized as a driving force for developing alternative socio-economic opportunities. There are few universities and institutions of high learning that offer design related courses in Africa. What could be some of the contributing factors to this scenario if design has the potential to change the society’s lives? Therefore, the goal of the Gaborone International Design Conference (GIDEC) 2013 is to lay the groundwork to build a scholarly community and advance the state of the art in design, research, theory, and practice, and produce a significant contribution to the field through the paper presentations, and conference proceedings.

Moreover, the conference aims to create an inclusive conversation among researchers, academics and practitioners from a variety of design disciplines to examine the ways in which design thinking can inform creativity,  innovation and development currently and in the future especially from an African perspective. The conference organizers strongly believe that this is the right time for a gathering of academics to take a critical look at how we can bring a scholarly lens to the ways that creativity, innovation and development may assist to advance the future of design in new emerging economies. Furthermore, the conference seek to have papers addressing design futures particularly those exploring global trends, challenges and opportunities to advance creativity, social and technological innovation to shape the future society.

The conference will also provide a unique forum for the sharing of recent research results as well as networking with colleagues. Industry participation is highly encouraged so that the conference may offer opportunities for fruitful interactions between the research and industrial communities. We are looking for researchers, academics and practitioners to submit papers on the proposed tracks, and themes but not limited to the following:

Tracks:

1. Design Future: Design and Development

2. Design Future: Design and Education

3. Design Future: Design and Research

4. Design Future: Design and Sustainability

5. Design Future: Design and Society

 

Themes

1. Design Future: Design and Development

• Designing with Business
• Product/Service Value Addition
• Design Empowerment
• Design Brands
• Design Polices and Strategies
• Design and Creative Industries

2. Design Future: Design and Education

• Learning and Teaching Design
• Design and ICT
• Design and Instruction
• Design and History
• Design and Design Discourse

3. Design Future: Design and Research

• Design Research and Knowledge Sharing
• Research Methodologies and Processes
• Theoretical Foundations and practical Case Studies
• Design Thinking

4. Design Future: Design and Sustainability

• Design and Sustainable Development
• Sustainability and Education
• Sustainability and Environment
• Green Economy

5.  Design Future: Design and Society

• Design and Social Sphere
• Design and Culture
• Social Innovation
• Service Design
• Social Responsible Design

Submission and Review Process:

Submission and review processes will be handled by our conference system. All submissions will go through a blind-review process with at least two reviewers considering each paper. All the accepted final manuscripts should be camera-ready formatted as per the authoring guidelines provided in the conference website.

Important Dates:

Announcement of the conference (on the Web) – November 1, 2012
Submission of Abstracts (500 words) – January 7, 2013
Notification of Abstract Acceptance – February 1, 2013
Full Paper Submission – May 6, 2013
Notification of Acceptance (full paper) – June 3, 2013
Submission of the Final Paper – July 1, 2013
Early Registration – July 31, 2013
Late Registration – September 2, 2013
Students Workshop – September 24, 2013
Conference commences – September 25, 2013
Conference Ends – September 26, 2013
Conference Tours (Optional) – September 27, 2013