Design Futures Forum 2025:
FAQ

When and where is Design Futures 2025?

Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana will host the Forum on June 2nd-6th, 2025

What does the registration cost cover? Will it cover travel costs?

In addition to the five days of workshops and programming, the registration covers the cost of

housing for five students Monday night through Thursday night. Additionally, it includes breakfast

and lunch each day, along with a keynote reception, and a faculty dinner for the faculty representative.

Registration does NOT cover the cost of travel for students and faculty members. Universities typically

cover the cost of travel for students, so that costs and paying-out-of-pocket fees does not become a

barrier to participation.

Students who depart after Friday will need to arrange and pay for their own accommodations. We are

looking into providing housing Sunday night for early arrivals.

How are student participants chosen to participate in the University Cohort?

Each school goes about a slightly different way to select participants. Some programs have an

application process, other nominate participants. Either way, diversity tends to be an important

part of the selection process and universities are mindful to send a group of students that are from a

wide range of majors, programs, racial and cultural backgrounds, incomes, gender identities, sexual

orientations, disabilities, and beyond. Design Futures welcomes people from many lived experiences.

What are the benefits of University participation?

In addition to the educational investment in young leaders in the field of community-driven design and for

faculty members to expand their capacities around the work of equitable design, Design Futures offers

an incredible networking opportunity for students and faculty to meet peers from across the country,

explicitly focused on social justice and how that manifests in design practice.

Beyond capacity building, many universities have leveraged this convening as a social media and

marketing opportunity to showcase their students in community-minded and equity-centered spaces

and how their programs are leading the way in the field.

Other opportunities include learning from local organizations during local day and witnessing and

touring local best practices of community-engaged design.

There is a lot of interest in attending, can more students or faculty attend?

Unfortunately, we are unable to accommodate more than 5 students from one university. Two spots for

faculty members are available with the Faculty+ cohort registration.