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JULY 10, 2026 | India Edition
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Over the summer, this newsletter will highlight design communities by RSD15's top countries by submission count, using data from EasyChair. But we'd love to hear from you, too! Please be in touch to share systemic design work connected to your group, organisation, region, or other form of representation. cheryl@systemic-design.org
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RSD15 this week
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India is tied with Italy for the highest number of country-linked submissions to RSD15. This newsletter celebrates the work of colleagues in India, as well as their associated organisations and design communities. India is one of the strongest contributors to the RSD mapping collection, both in the RSDsymposium.org maps and exhibits repository and in the current RSD15 programme.
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For RSD15, this contribution is once again especially visible in maps and exhibits, where India accounts for 54% of the track. Contributions from India also appear throughout the broader RSD repository, with distinctive work on farming, textiles, and artisanal communities, as well as papers and sessions on futuring, well-being, technology, and teaching systemic design.
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Affiliations represented in the RSD15 submissions from India include CEPT University, Design Science Lab, Embodied Intelligence Labs LLP, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Jain University, Kaagazi Labs, National Institute of Design, National Institute of Design Ahmedabad, National Institute of Design Haryana, National Institute of Fashion Technology, National Institute of Fashion Technology Bengaluru, and independent designers and researchers.
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This year, systemic design work is visible from India, Italy, the Netherlands, the United States, Norway, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, China, Finland, Denmark, Japan, Brazil, Mexico, and Germany, listed here in order of current contribution activity. Last week, Italy, one of the most active centres of systemic design activity, was featured. In case you missed it, here's the Italy edition.
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Meet RSD-India Organisers
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Praveen Nahar, Professor, Design, Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar. Former Director, National Institute of Design Ahmedabad, 2019–2024, and Senior Faculty Member, NID, 2002–2026. Research on systems thinking and systemic design, sustainability, circular economy, responsible innovation, public-domain design, craft, Indigenous practices, and social innovation.
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Sahil Thappa, Visiting Faculty, CEPT University, Product Design Faculty, National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, and contributor to Design Science Lab. Industrial designer, maker, and engineer, working on systemic design, mapping, product-scale systems, craft, resources, making, and design education.
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Neha Mandlik, Discipline Faculty, Furniture & Interior Design, National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad. Co-Head, Skill Development Lab. Architect, furniture and interior designer, researcher, and educator. Work on design research, system thinking and design, ergonomics, speculative design, sustainable spaces, and future home and work environments.
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Vivek Kant, Associate Professor, Department of Design, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur. Leads the Human Factors and Sociotechnical Systems Studio. Research on human factors, ecological interface design, sociotechnical systems, complex environments, sustainable agricultural practices, healthcare systems, and systemic design education.
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Here are just a few of the contributions featuring colleagues working in India. Please be in touch if you have work to share. cheryl@systemic-design.org
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M.P. Ranjan + the NID way
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Praveen Nahar's RSD6 plenary talk credits Professor M.P. Ranjan with helping to establish systems oriented design within design education in India. Through his teaching, writing, and models, Ranjan positioned design as a way of engaging with context, relationships, meaning, and social purpose. His work made complex ideas accessible and expanded design beyond products and services toward vision-led systems thinking, field inquiry, stakeholder engagement, and reflective practice. His influence continues in the evolution of systemic design in India.
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Metaphor maps + NID
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Mapping at the National Institute of Design reflects M.P. Ranjan's use of metaphor to make complex relationships memorable and contextually grounded.
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Thanks to the NID faculty, students have been consistent and primary contributors to the RSD mapping repository, demonstrating remarkable depth in visual reasoning, systems representation, and technical skill.
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IIT Kanpur + human factors mapping
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RSD14 was happy to see maps from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, for the first time. Taught by Vivek Kant in the Department of Design, the Human Factors and Sociotechnical Systems Studio addresses the challenges of integrating humanity into the understanding of sociotechnical systems.
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Kant views maps as one of the studio's founding principles: to incorporate human factors into complex sociotechnical systems from a holistic viewpoint, sustaining the lived experience of the human as well as the system's designed dimension.
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Abhay + Embodied Intelligence Labs
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Abhay Vohra, a design researcher, educator, and SDA member since 2021, challenges dominant paradigms in urban planning and advances embodied, relational, and decolonial approaches to design. As the founder of Embodied Intelligence Labs, Abhay develops research methodologies to gather contextual, real-world data for next-generation intelligent systems, with an emphasis on ethical data collection and privacy. He has also been teaching at the National Institute of Design Haryana, where recent visits have offered renewed engagement with students, faculty, and the rhythms of academic life at NIDH.
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Designing within a plural world
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The RSD15 Symposium theme is pluralism, foregrounding questions of epistemic justice, intercultural dialogue, and the ethics of collaboration across disciplinary, institutional, and geographical boundaries. RSD15—Shades of Systemic Design invites us to engage methodological diversity not as fragmentation, but as a condition for collective learning, situated inquiry, and creative adaptation.
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RSD15 brings together systemic designers from around the world to expand the global dialogue and deepen understanding of pluralism in systemic design. The main event takes place in Turin, Italy, at Politecnico di Torino, followed by a retreat hosted by the MonViso Institute in Ostana, Valle Po, Italy. The Paper Talks are online and fully accessible to all.
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