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The programme has been designed in line with the larger IIT Hyderabad plan to expand international design education and industry-linked innovation, according to an official statement. The partnership has been developed with support from the Project Minerva – The Italian Education and Training Hub by IICCI.

IITH announced its new International Certificate Programme in Integrated Product–Service System (IPSS) Design, crafted by its Department of Design, DoD, in collaboration with POLI.design, Milan. In India, the programme will be supported by the Indo-Italian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, IICCI. This shall improve cross-border learning while facilitating advanced design frameworks to Indian learners, states an official release.

The IPSS Design Certificate is an online, 54-hour training program beginning on 15 January 2026. The said program includes 30 hours of live online modules along with 24 hours of hands-on workshop sessions. The sessions will be jointly conducted by the faculty members from POLI.design and IIT Hyderabad’s Department of Design.

The program structure would be in rotation between Italian and Indian experts. This would include exposure to worldwide design practices, collaboration, and project work. It also aims to develop some competencies in the participant, which are product-service system thinking, sustainable design methods, strategic innovation, enablement to real business-design challenges.

It has been developed under an official statement as part of IIT Hyderabad's bigger plan to scale up global design education and build up industry-linked innovation. The collaboration has been shaped with support from IICCI's Project Minerva – The Italian Education and Training Hub.

Prof BS Murty, Director of IIT Hyderabad, said the collaboration with POLI.design and IICCI would help strengthen knowledge exchange between India and Italy. He added that it is expected to build skilled human resources in tune with fast-emerging product and service design landscape in India.

Prof Cabirio Cautela, the former CEO and faculty member of the project at POLI.design, said the institution wanted, through this program, to contribute and support the need for upskilling and reskilling in India, sharing strategic design expertise.

Mr. Claudio Maffioletti, CEO and Secretary General of IICCI said, "Such collaborations contribute to forming stronger Indo-Italian business linkages besides supporting the transfer of design capabilities increasingly required by the industries."

Role of IICCI and international industry link This collaboration has been facilitated by Indo-Italian Chamber of Commerce and Industry under its Minerva Eduhub initiative. The Chamber sees such partnerships as a way of deepening the bilateral economic engagement and strengthening design-driven enterprise capabilities, the IIT Hyderabad statement said. POLI.design is a part of the Politecnico di Milano Design System and was ranked first in Italy, first in the European Union and sixth globally in the category of Arts and Design in QS Rankings 2025, an official statement said. The institution, founded in the year 1999, has been a provider of postgraduate education and creates cross-industry programs by adopting the project-based learning and research-led learning approach. Thus, the tri-partite collaboration places the programme in a strategic position to support professional readiness across sectors dependent on integrated product and service offerings. It further resonates with the wider initiatives of global network development in design, innovation, and industry-oriented education.

Fueled by a spate of large-scale, design-led initiatives, Telangana plans to emerge as India's Design Capital by 2030 by entwining creativity and innovation into governance, industry, infrastructure, and education. One such important proposal to achieve this goal is the creation of a Centre of Design Excellence in Hyderabad that will support design innovation, research, communication design, and skill development in all sectors.

The plan was highlighted in view of the Telangana Global Summit 2025, scheduled to take place from December 8–9 at Hyderabad Future City near Meekhanpet. Another significant summit, Design Democracy 2025, promises over 120 luxury brands and 80 speakers, placing the state as a platform for global design dialogue. Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy’s Mega Master Plan 2050 places design at the centre of Telangana’s growth story, with a strong focus on AI-based innovations, smart infrastructure and sustainable urban development.

It proposes a 30,000-acre Bharat Future City, India's first net-zero greenfield smart city, over an area of 765 sq km. Among others, the amenities that were proposed in the township include industrial clusters, Artificial Intelligence City, Young India Skills University, sports hubs, and innovation corridors aimed at decongesting Hyderabad while it fosters a strong design ecosystem.

Further firming up the vision is a proposed design competition for an iconic ‘Gateway of Hyderabad’ at Himayath Sagar under the Musi Riverfront Project, along with the development of 1,174 km of national highways and the Regional Ring Road to boost connectivity. The state’s 2025–26 budget has also earmarked ₹24,439 crore for agriculture, signaling a design-based approach towards bettering rural productivity and sustainability.

Industry bodies like CII and FICCI have hailed Telangana's blueprint that merges modern design thinking with the traditional sectors. A new Telangana Bhavan in Delhi, designed by Creative Group LLP at a cost of ₹482.25 crore, further reflects the state's commitment to design-led identity. With these strategic developments, Telangana is creating a new benchmark in creative and innovative design solutions while redefining urban and economic planning for sustainable development.

The International School of Design, Bhopal, brought together creativity, culture, and futuristic design at one platform by hosting a very vibrant fashion show along with the Freshers' Event. The event was an attraction in the city's design circuit, where students from the Fashion Design Department presented three spectacular themes: Space Walk, Cultural Fusion, and Elements.

The space walk sequence took the audience into the world of galaxies, cosmic colors, and futuristic silhouettes. The unconventional technological fabrics, reflection textures, and bold structures designed by the students allowed the audience to experience the taste of space travel. This theme stood out because it was so imaginative with respect to storytelling and innovations, therefore becoming the talking point as a highlight of the evening.

The three basic forces of nature that came to the fore with the elements were fire, air, and earth. Each had striking colors, dramatic patterns, and a streak of modern styling. The presentation shifted dramatically from fiery tones with fluid drapes to earthy textures, reflecting the strong understanding of design principles and artistic expression present in the students. 

The fresh batch 2025 was welcomed by INSD Bhopal along with the fashion show. The college announced freshers' titles wherein Priyanka Uikey was crowned as Miss Fresher INSD and Tushar Sharma earned the title of Mr. Fresher INSD, marking the beginning of their design journey. The guest of honor at the event was Radhika Vasant Jetha, a recipient of Sarva Shakti Women's Club's award-the Shining Star of Bhopal and crowned Bhopal 2016. Her inspiring feats in the field further motivated budding designers and made the celebration all the more memorable. Once again, the grand showcase reminded one that INSD Bhopal is amongst the leading design institutes that give a platform to the students to innovate, experiment, and shine in the competitive world of fashion.

Masters students at Mumbai’s JJ School of Art, Design and Architecture, particularly those in the design wing, say they are still struggling with inadequate facilities on campus, despite classes beginning in September 2025.

In a letter to the administration, first- and second-year students flagged delays in the start of their third semester — originally scheduled for July–August 2025 — along with last-minute timetables and a shortage of faculty. The second batch, they said, has also faced repeated miscommunication regarding lecture schedules and coordination.

Students said the campus lacks basic and specialised infrastructure. “Design students need labs, sound studios and AR/VR facilities. We barely have a functional computer lab. Even the fans and elevators don’t work. JJ School of Design is prestigious, but the facilities are not what we expected,” a master’s student told mid-day.

Unclear processes have also added to their problems. Timetables are often released at short notice, inconveniencing outstation students. 

A student said they had to courier a physical form from North India to Mumbai just to enrol, despite the availability of online processes. “We were promised multiple provisions and technical subjects. We hope the college builds a proper online system to keep students updated,” added another student.

Responding to mid-day, an institute official said visiting faculty are being appointed for pending lectures and infrastructure concerns have been raised with the administration, with work currently underway.

UNESCO recently emphasized through the web article the importance of lifelong learning while taking an interdisciplinary approach in the preparation of the students for the complexity that lies ahead. This has therefore made it urgent to revisit higher education with regard to disciplines as the world navigates rapid technological, environmental, and social changes.

Within such a rapidly changing context, by 2030, the role of design schools around the world would be completely different from what it is today. Most design programs focus on theoretical notions and outdated cases, further pushing the student to master tools and techniques like typography and sketching.

On the other hand, the demand for designers who can create systems to solve complex challenges is growing. Indeed, the whole industry of design is changing-from one centered on sketching, ergonomics, and prototyping toward one which must make room for new subjects such as artificial intelligence, bio-design, extended reality, robotics, and sustainability technologies, now part of the new must-haves in a creative curriculum.

The top design schools of the world, like MIT Media Lab (USA), L'École de design Nantes Atlantique (France), Parsons School of Design (USA), Royal College of Art (UK), Stanford d.school (USA), and The Design Village (India), are already taking long strides to adapt themselves to these changes, and the transition needs to be emulated by other design schools around the world. In the future, the curriculum at d-school will have to adopt a different framework with a focus on: Transdisciplinary knowledge in the preparation of designers for the increasingly complex, interconnected problems of today's world requires a way of knowing and practicing inclusive of methods and perspectives on technology, social sciences, environmental studies, and the arts.

Big Data: inform design decisions through big data analysis and testing of its impact. Robotics: understand technology, create interactions for adaptive systems, wearables, and responsive environments. Ethics and Policy: The rapid transformation of the creative industry, together with recognition of the design process in non-creative industries, will require design schools to institutionalize courses related to IP rights, legal implications of creative work, policy-sensitive design, and ethical literacy, among others. New Material & Fabrication Practices: By 2030, design schools will have to turn the focus of regular material and prototyping courses toward such themes as circular materials, computational fabrication, net-zero prototyping, and embedding of sustainability metrics. Future courses will have to stress both 'creative' and 'critical' lenses whereby students test ideas and explore material behavior but also understand ecological, ethical, and technological implications of production. Not until global d-schools rise to this extended role of designers will the world be able to harness the power of design.

In a path-breaking move to break barriers in cultural participation, for the first time, 24 Durga Puja pandals were made accessible for persons with disabilities in Kolkata this year. For a city that reverberates with and lives on Durga Pujo, this effort redefined celebration-entwining art, empathy, and accessibility into one seamless experience. It was born as a pilot project led by massArt in collaboration with UNESCO, IIT Kharagpur, and the United Nations, with this simple yet profound vision: making the world's largest public art festival universally accessible. 

Ramps and lifts came up on temporary structures, Braille signage guided visitors, QR codes gave access to sign language interpretation, and calm zones came into being for those wanting relief from the festive crowd. Each thoughtful addition spoke volumes, turning inclusion into life. During the recording of Make Calcutta Relevant Again, educationist and planner Dr. Haimanti Banerji spoke about how the movement took shape, along with sign language educator Priyanka Ghosh and United Nations Resident Coordinator Shombi Sharp. Priyanka Ghosh pointed to another critical dimension: that of emotional accessibility. 

According to her, from the training of volunteers to the availability of interpreters, inclusivity has ceased to be merely about physical access and grown into domains of communication and belonging. From the perspective of global policy, Shombi Sharp framed the initiative within the guiding promise of the UN- "to leave no one behind". But his most striking reflection came from the story of a father who, for the first time, took his 17-year-old daughter, a wheelchair user, to a Durga Puja pandal. For them, it was not just a visit-it was participation, a shared moment which made accessibility a matter of joy. 

At this crossroad of design and humanity, Kolkata offers a new vocabulary for relevance. In truth, the city's experiment in accessible celebration shows us how art, education, and urban design combine in teaching society empathy-not as charity but as culture. Because when inclusion becomes integral in how a community celebrates, then festivals evolve into powerful civic classrooms-teaching us not only how to build better spaces but, more important still, how to become better people.