Social design Days

Social Design is not just about solving problems - it's about solving the right problems, together. In a country facing complex challenges in education, regulations, protection of heritage, urban development, design has the power to create systemic, human-centered solutions which will reinforce & empower all participants & communities.

This conference of Social Design Days will be dedicated to urban spaces & heritage, we will discuss ongoing projects & researches with more than 30 speakers from Georgia & other countries, we will discuss problematic zones and explore how small, collaborative efforts can spark meaningful, human-centered innovation.

Our goal is to bring together people from different communities. We believe Georgia has all the ingredients - creative talent, civic energy, cultural depth - to become a regional hub for socially engaged design.

Please see the detailed program below. The agenda is still being developed, and new participants will be added soon.

The ticket price for the full three-day event is 50 GEL, which includes access to all workshops.

Day 1 - 25 September

10:00-11:00 Participant Registration

10:00-11:00 Coffee & Fresh Bar

11:00-13:00 Workshop by Manana Mikashavidze

11:00-13:00 Workshop by Polish Graphic Design

11:00-13:00 From Conflict to Co-Creation: Design Thinking Methods for Contested Heritage Projects Workshop by Zsolt Polgar & Zoltan Havasi

14:00-15:00 Coffee & Fresh Bar

14:00-17:00 Happy Hour at Networking Space hosted by GWS

17:30 - Official Opening remarks

18:00-19:00 Reading Room: Kona Books - Exploring Cities, Archives, and Social Design Through Books curated by Nina Akhvlediani

19:00-20:00 Displaced Paradigm - Architecture without Purpose by Elene Toidze & John Newbigin

20:00-21:00 Digital Cartography: Tbilisi features a unique urban layout that blends historical, vernacular, and modern grids - Project 'Ruka', an interactive form of archiving the city that secures its digital presence by Ubani

21:00 - Networking Party

Day 2 - 26 September

10:00-11:00 Participant Registration

10:00-11:00 Coffee & Fresh Bar

11:00-13:00 Adaptive Reuse Narrative of Decay workshop by Tata Gachechiladze & Natalia Nebieridze

11:00-13:00 [UN]common Threads - Workshop by Porous Body of Tbilisi (Day 1)

11:00-13:00 Ornamental Sculpture - Design and Modeling workshop by Gio Zhorzholiani & Khatia Iatashvili

14:00-18:00 Happy Hour at Networking Space hosted by GWS

18:00-19:00 Earth matters: research and practice of Georgian wild clays display by Irine Jubuti

18:00-19:00 Komli - Guruli Oda project

19:00-20:00 Napirze - How to reforest a floodplain - Research presentation Data Tsintsadze & Deme Gorgadze

19:00-20:00 Darbazi Dialogues - last expedition by Giorgi Margishvili & Ramaz Kiknadze

20:00-21:00 Project Showcase by Kera Architects - Beka Gujejiani, Kote Gunia & Sandro Bakhtadze

20:00-21:00 Savele: Pedagogy from the Field Jesse Voghler, VA[A]DS

21:00 - Networking Party hosted by GWS

Day 3 - 27 September

10:00-11:00 Participation Registration

10:00-11:00 Coffee & Fresh Bar

11:00-13:00 From Individual Interests to Shared Vision: Co-Designing Urban Futures through a Behavioral Lens - Workshop by Tina Stambolisvili & Ketevan Gomelauri

11:00-13:00 Workshop by Porous Body of Tbilisi (Day 2)

13:00-16:00 Happy Hour at Networking Space hosted by GWS

16:00-17:00 Future Heritage - Lecture by Vakhtang Zesashvili

17:00-18:00 Lecture by Davit Bostanashvili

17:00-18:00 Presentation/Session Bridging the Gap - Piloting Behavioral Urbanism in Georgia by Tina Stambolisvili & Ketevan Gomelauri

18:00-19:00 Lado Aleksi Meskhishvili Project & Book Presentation curated by Dimitri Eristavi - Presented by TBC

18:00-19:00 Social projects from regions hosted by Alliance of Creative Spaces, Elene Toidze

19:00-20:00 Industrial Heritage Lecture by Natalia Nebieridze & Tata Gachechiladze

19:00-20:00 Sponsorship & stakeholder management, relationship with donors hosted by Alliance of Creative Spaces, Elene Toidze

20:00-21:00 What is heritage we need to keep or value? Discussion Vakhtang Zesashvili & Tamar Amashukeli

21:00 Closing Party hosted by GD Alco