The 2nd London Design Festival’s Global Design Forum, taking place September 16 and 17, is a platform for designers and industry professionals to explore and debate the issues facing design in the modern world.

Each year, the event brings together some of the most revered names in the worlds of design, business, branding and innovation to explore how design can make the world a better place. Comprising keynote speeches, panel discussions, fast-paced presentations and Q&A sessions, the forum creates a rich platform for open discussion and debate.

Some of the key speakers attending the event this year include Peter Saville, Brent Hoberman, Jamie Hayon, Ilse Crawford, Ross Lovegrove, Sir John Hegarty and Michael Young.

Panelists of the 2013 Global Design Forum

“In the year since our first Global Design Forum in London, we have taken key discussion points to other cities in the world to garner thoughts and feedback from other cultural perspectives,” said Max Fraser, deputy director of the London Design Festival. “We’re excited to bring the conversation full circle and wrap these international ideas into our main annual event.”

Over the past year Global Design Summit conversations have taken place throughout the year in Hong Kong, Taipei and Seoul. This rolling international conversation moves from city to city, culminating in the main Global Design Forum each September in London.

Daniel Charny in conversation with Thomas Heatherwick at the 2012 forum

The forum’s 2012 inaugural edition opened the debate on the future of design and the changes and challenges facing it. In 2013, the forum digs deep into four key areas where only design thinking can accommodate the impact of digital technologies, ‘big data’ and universal connectivity. This edition also rings the changes with new session formats which bring the “Big Issues” right in front of the everyday working designer.

On Monday, September 16, the forum kicks off with an evening head-to-head conversation at the V&A museum between leading critic and commentator Paul Morley, and legendary designer and thinker Peter Saville, whose graphic output has created a host of cultural markers over the last generation.

On Tuesday, September 17, at the Purcell Room in the Southbank Centre, the full day program offers an international exploration of the complex interaction between technology, demand and consumer behavior, an inquiry into how “creative cities” define and rank themselves via differing conditions and inputs, and a panel debate with senior industry figures pinning down the shifting definitions of “designer” and “brand.”

Also, the “Five Ideas to Shake the World” session of five 5-minute pitches in front of an array of distinguished judges, in which audience members themselves can vote, and regular video interventions of influential innovators from round the world, takes place at this year’s forum.

The Global Design Forum headline sponsor is BMW Group and Coutts is a major sponsor. The Forum is also supported by UK Trade & Investment. Dezeen and Wallpaper* are Media Partners.

Tickets are available on the website, as is the full list of programming. Stay tuned for a complete round up of London Design Week highlights.