Politecnico di Milano Design Department and School of Design is pleased to share with all the Cumulus community the DFA (Design Futures Art-driven) method – a practical and engaging approach that empowers students and educators to anticipate and design for future challenges through an interdisciplinary, creative, and future-driven approach.

As a result of the Horizon Europe MUSAE project, developed through years of educational experimentation, the DFA Method has been successfully tested in both academic and extra-educational contexts. It is also a core component of the Factory Model (https://musae.starts.eu/factory-model-pack/), the main outcome of MUSAE (https://musae.starts.eu/).

The DFA Method combines Design Futures (Design + Futures Thinking) with the Art Thinking approach to foster collaboration, anticipate emerging trends in technologies and domains, and transform current challenges into future opportunities. It supports sustainable and responsible innovation through an educational framework that integrates methods, tools, and case studies.

The DFA method can:

Be directly applied and adapted to various educational and research contexts
Support interdisciplinary projects across art, design, technology, and innovation
Equip students with future-relevant skills and anticipatory thinking
Enhance the employability of students by strengthening foresight and innovation capabilities

To explore the DFA method further and get more information and tips about how it can be used in the classroom with students:

Watch the video lesson, Explore the DFA method in the Introductory course.
Visit the dedicated page website for additional resources.
Review the attached Orientation Guide.
If you are interested in organising an informative session to explore the method in depth, we would be happy to provide a dedicated presentation or workshop. Please contact us at musae-design@polimi.it to arrange this.

The team is also grateful if you could share this innovative learning method with your network:

The DFA platform offers a practical, accessible guide for fostering creative, future-oriented, and inclusive learning. Case studies already demonstrate its transformative impact both educationally and innovatively.

Please join the MUSAE Integrated Stakeholder Network – an open database community of educators, designers, creatives, SMEs and other experts looking for interdisciplinary collaborations.

[Aniwow!2025] White Poplar Awards Call for Entries
The 20th China (Beijing) International Student Animation Festival, 2025

Learn more about the competition PDF
Competition website http://aniwow.cuc.edu.cn/ and in English https://aniwow.cuc.edu.cn/en_aniwow/.

The Golden Pin Design Award is now open for entries! The Golden Pin Concept Design Award is also accepting submissions for innovative proposals. 

The Golden Pin Design Award, is one of Asia’s most influential design competitions. It is open to global teams and companies, targeting commercialized works on the market. Each year, the award certifies the quality of outstanding designs and highlights their role in driving R&D, innovation, and brand value.

The Golden Pin Concept Design Award is open to unrealized design concepts or proposals, welcoming submissions from students, designers, and companies, either individually or in teams. The top three Best Design Award winners will each receive a cash prize of NT$300,000, supporting the transformation of concepts into reality.

Winning entries will gain significant international exposure, opportunities for industry collaborations, and potential market expansion. We invite designers and businesses worldwide to participate and showcase their best work. 

Submit your entry today and be recognized for your excellence in design!

Key Dates (GMT+8 Taipei Time)

• Early Bird Deadline: 17:00, May 20 (Tue.), 2025
• Regular Registration Deadline: 17:00, June 24th (Tue.), 2025 
• Award Ceremony: December 2025, at the Taipei Performing Arts Center, Taiwan

Categories:

Product Design, Communication Design, Spatial Design, Integration Design

Registration Fee – Golden Pin Design Award:

• Early Bird : NT$7,000 per entry
• Regular : NT$9,000 per entry

Registration Fee – Golden Pin Concept Design Award:

• Early Bird : NT$1,000 per entry
• Regular : NT$1,500 per entry

Official Website: https://goldenpin.org.tw/goldenpin/en

Join the 10th Design Intelligence Award – call for entries!

Established in 2015 and hosted by Cumulus partner China Academy of Art, the Design
Intelligence Award (DIA) is the first international academy award in China’s design field. It
serves as a platform for the evaluation, promotion, exchange and cooperation of contemporary
innovative design, as well as an innovation accelerator that transforms creative ideas into
industry and the future. With “Intelligence of Humanity, Living Wisdom, Fusion of Tech & Art,
Brain of Industry, Empathetic Life Intelligence, and New-Quality Intelligent Form” as its core
values, DIA champions the return to the fundamental essence of design “Intelligent
Manufacturing”.

We warmly invite designers, entrepreneurs, institutions, and students worldwide to participate
in the 10th edition of DIA!

This year’s DIA Features two main groups: the Product Group and the Innovation Incubation
Group.

Product Group：
– Application Deadline: 20.06.2025
– Eligibility: Open to all enterprises, universities & colleges, institutions, and individuals.
– Entry Requirements:
Entries must either (1) be products launched within 2 years prior to the submission date,
or (2) be unreleased prototypes with industrial feasibility
– Categories: Cultural Innovation, Life Wisdom, Industrial Equipment, and Digital
Economy.

Innovation Incubation Group:
– Application Deadline: 20.09.2025
– Eligibility: Exclusively open to university-affiliated teams. Participants must submit
either a valid student ID or a graduation certificate issued within the past 5 years.
– Entry Requirements: Entries must be unreleased products capable of delivering
functional and aesthetic prototypes by November 1, 2025.
– Categories: Life Health, Smart Cultural Tourism, Smart Mobility, Intelligent Hardware.,
and an open-ended category (“X”), encourages exploration of unknown fields.

Participation in the DIA is free, and the award offers a total prize fund of 5 million RMB
(approximately €625,000).

Ready to showcase your innovation to the world?
Learn more about DIA: https://en.di-award.org/
Register now: https://en.di-award.org/?invite=FL2025-AHWX5L5

See the call for entries here DIA call for entry- Cumulus

This is your chance to be a part of history. Together we can make the future reusable.

Introducing Rebrand Reuse (https://rebrandreuse.org/), a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to design the symbol for reuse: the icon of the future. Presented by the PR3 Global Standards Panel, Rebrand Reuse is a global design initiative open to all, 18 years of age or older. We’re calling on designers, creatives, sustainability advocates, and changemakers everywhere to submit their symbol designs by June 15, 2025(extended deadline).

Learn more and submit your design at https://rebrandreuse.org/.

Proudly presented by the PR3 Global Standards Panel, a RESOLVE project.

With support from partners Accenture Song, Cumulus Association, Droga5, Hello Tomorrow Comms, The One Club for Creativity.

#RebrandReuse

2025 Submission is NOW OPEN!
’Designs for a Sustainable Life’

Are you creating projects that shape a more sustainable world and a better future?
Join the Seoul Design Award 2025 and be part of a global movement where design drives positive change.

Since its inception in 2019, this non-profit international award has celebrated transformative design solutions that improve lives and communities. With participants from over 80 countries, the award continues to recognize projects that redefine sustainability through creativity, collaboration, and impact.

Be part of this dynamic global network of sustainable design innovators!

For more details on the Call for Entries, visit our website.