Design4Health is the collection of events, publications and networks established by Lab4Living. Design4Health includes an international peer reviewed journal and a series of international conferences, first convened in 2011, that bring together designers and creative practitioners with researchers, clinicians, policy makers and users to discuss and disseminate their research.

Our publications and events provide an opportunity to reflect on how the disciplines of design and health might continue to develop new ways of thinking and working, and how we might impact positively and sustainably on the social, economic and cultural factors within our communities and beyond.

The next full conference is hosted by Lab4Living in Sheffield from 25-27 June 2024.

Conference Programme

D4H2024_Programme_Digital Download

Please be aware the schedule may be subject to change.
We will keep delegates updated throughout the conference but please keep a regular check on the programme.

REGISTRATION NOW OPEN

Click on the link to register for D4H2024 and follow the instructions to the registration payment page. Delegate fees are outlined below as well as on the registration payment page. We look forward to welcoming you!

Equilibrium in a time of permacrisis.

We continue to live in a time of unprecedented change. Since Design4Health2018, we have experienced a global pandemic, been confronted by economic uncertainty, witnessed climate change’s devastating impact, and continue to experience societal inequality. Advances in AI and other technologies promise new opportunities while raising ethical challenges.

Permacrisis is a term used to describe an extended period of instability and insecurity. We have taken this as the overarching theme of Design4Health 2024, which will be hosted by Lab4Living in Sheffield, UK. History has shown that new ways of thinking can be borne in times of overwhelming change and crisis. We hope the 2024 conference will offer space to pause, reflect and examine the role of design and design research in re-imagining the discipline of design for health in the context of rapidly evolving challenges. D4H2024 will allow us to explore how design research and creative practice might enable us to envision alternative futures as we consider a new equilibrium.

As in previous conferences, we welcome contributions of research that explore any aspect of design and creative practice in the context of health and healthcare. Within the overall theme of the conference, we particularly welcome submissions that consider the role of design in:

Redressing power imbalances
Responding to planetary health and our relationships with the planet
Exploring future design pedagogies
Debating the role of new technologies in health
Addressing ethical questions relating to the field

Keynote Speakers

Ken Arnold

Ken Arnold is Director of Medical Museion and Professor in the Department of Public Health at University of Copenhagen. Medical Museion is also part of the Novo Nordisk Foundation Centre for Basic Metabolic Research. This world-class university museum combines innovative public exhibitions and events with adventurous and collaborative research in medical humanities. Until June 2022, he was Head of Cultural Partnerships at Wellcome – the London-based charitable foundation, where he earlier helped found Wellcome Collection, directing its first decade of programming. He regularly writes and speaks on museums – today and in the past – and on the interactions between the arts, humanities and sciences.

Lorna Ross

Lorna Ross is an internationally recognised leader in the area of healthcare innovation. Her career spans 30+ years of professional experience leading strategic design activity across a range of industry sectors from healthcare to government services. Her work at The Mayo Clinic established the first and largest activity of desing-led innovation in an academic medical institution and became recognised internationally as the benchmark in patient centric healthcare transformation. Nationally, Lorna sits on the Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment’s Expert Group on Future Skills Needs and The Dept. Public Expenditure & Reform Design In Government; Design Our Public Services. She acted as design advisor to the Department of Education, Research, Innovation & Science during the Creating Our Future citizen engagement in research strategy campaign.

Lise Autogena

Lise Autogena is an artist and researcher and Professor in Cross Disciplinary Art at Sheffield Hallam University. Her practice-led research has involved large scale performances, site-specific works, and multimedia installations, developed in collaboration with organisations and individuals across many diverse disciplinary and specialist fields. These projects have used custom built technologies and visualisations of global realtime data to explore how the economic, geographic, technological and societal systems we are creating, impact on our human experience and sense of self in the world. Lise is founder and manager of the Narsaq International Research Station, an independent non-profit research platform with a focus on cultural and scientific research in South Greenland. The Research Station is located in a region of outstanding natural beauty and cultural heritage that is central for understanding some of the most urgent challenges the world is facing today. Lise was recently awarded a national Lifelong Honorary Award by the Statens Kunstfond, the Danish Art Foundation.

Conference Abstracts

We have 161 abstracts for this years conference! You can find them in the following pdfs which have been broken down into 6 volumes. Each abstract has a unique number that is referenced in the programme. Enjoy getting to know the speakers work here.

Delegate fees

The following delegate tickets will be available from 12 Feb 2024:

D4H2024	Full conference	Day rate
Early bird (until 17 May 2024)	£450	£200
Student	£300	£150
Standard (from 18 May 2024)	£550	£250
Loyalty	£400	£180

Delegates who have attended two or more previous Design4Health conferences (excluding Festival of Design4Health 2022 and UK Design4Health symposium 2017) are eligibly for the Loyalty rate. Contact Julie Roe for eligibility and a coupon before booking your place.

Accommodation portal

Contact

Julie Roe – Conference Co-ordinator, Lab4Living

About Design4Health conferences

About Design For Health Journal

Join the conversation: D4H mailing list @design4health #D4H2024.

For the full conference archive, including published proceedings from previous conferences, please visit the original Design4Health conference website.