New Delhi — March 11, 2025: For the first time ever, the 19th edition of What Design Can Do (WDCD) Live Delhi 2025 took place at the iconic India Habitat Centre on March 08, 2025, and featured an immersive program of talks, workshops and exhibitions on design and climate justice. A sold-out crowd of 450 designers, innovators, and changemakers gathered to explore how design can help reshape lives in the face of a planetary crisis. In partnership with Unbox Cultural Futures, Quicksand, and The Design Village, WDCD Live Delhi 2025 explored innovative and regenerative solutions for a fairer and more resilient future. The festival was supported by Global Methane Hub, The Rockefeller Foundation, The Netherlands Embassy, and Pro Helvetia – Swiss Arts Council.
Leading the conversation with a potent mix of urgency and optimism were over 30 of the world’s finest changemakers from The Netherlands, the UK, the USA, Mexico, and India. Richard van der Laken, Co-Founder and Creative Director of What Design Can Do (WDCD) captured it insightfully: “Though perspectives were diverse, one message rang clear: in turbulent times, creativity can offer a hopeful way forward. Design can be a powerful tool for disruption, as we learned from the innovators at WDCD Live Delhi 2025 — all of whom are paving the path ahead.”
As Ayush Chauhan, Co-Founder of Unbox Cultural Futures and Quicksand put it, “WDCD Live Delhi 2025 made it amply evident that change will come only when we challenge the dominant ways of working and thinking. Alongside designers and creative changemakers, who demonstrated how they are subverting unsustainable economic models, there were those from fields of policy, philanthropy, and technology, that threw down the gauntlet for how the design community needs to respond to the unique challenges of our population and region. There was a restless creative energy in the room that comes when a new vision is discovered and new alliances are formed and WDCD Live Delhi gave us both.”
Sourabh Gupta, Co-Founder of The Design Village said, “At The Design Village, we believe that community is everything, and at WDCD Live Delhi 2025, we truly saw that in action. It was an inspiring and motivating day filled with incredible sessions, speakers, and an incredible turnout.”