We are proud to hereby present Dutch Design Foundation’s (DDF) annual public report 2022.
The year 2022 was a tumultuous one, to say the least. It was the year of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Of many people forced to flee from various countries. The year of skyrocketing energy prices and prohibitively expensive groceries. The year of housing crisis and nitrogen crisis, dried-up rivers and crop failures.
But a turbulent year is no reason to throw in the towel. Certainly not for an organisation that for two decades has believed and shown that by harnessing the power of design, the world can become a better place for all of us: more beautiful, more sustainable, more inclusive and more social. Everything that is happening in the world is precisely a reason to roll up our sleeves above the elbows and get to work. After all, the only mistake we can make is to do nothing! The theme of Dutch Design Week 2022: Get Set was therefore a call to everything and everyone, designers, policymakers and citizens, to get involved and take action. Get Set… We’re on a mission!
That this call did not fall on deaf ears was abundantly clear during Dutch Design Week 2022 (DDW22).
The 2,500 participating designers from the Netherlands and abroad presented future scenarios in a wide variety of fields that give reason for optimism and hope. Especially in turbulent and uncertain times, the message of shaping a better future together proved to resonate.
The power of design and the way of thinking of designers is that they translate their vision not only into insights, but above all into concrete interventions, environments and products. Powerlessness is a feeling that paralyses; good design gets things moving.
The future perspective that DDW22 offered visitors, together with the serendipity of chance encounters, had a strong positive impact. DDW22 made it clear that a rapidly growing group of organisations, companies and citizens realise that old methods no longer suffice. They feel the urgency to actually act.
Read the full public annual report here! Please note that this report is in Dutch.