CDW4 will have selective opportunities for sharing existing work, focusing on collaborative knowledge building within the Canadian engineering design community.
While CDW is rooted in engineering design, a grounding that is also reflected in its organizing and steering committees, we recognize that design is interdisciplinary, as is engineering practice itself, particularly in today’s world. We therefore welcome contributions from colleagues outside of engineering, whose perspectives can help us grow and improve engineering design education, research, and practice.
We are seeking a range of contributions related to current issues in design, design education, and design research - from completed works, to works-in-progress, to new ideas. Some potential foci for submissions are listed below, but proposals outside of these ideas are also welcome:
- Design pedagogy and learning in co-curricular and extra-curricular settings (e.g., work-integrated learning, hackathons, design competitions, etc.)
- (Gen)AI in design practice, teaching, and research
- Design research pathways in Canada
- Development of attitudes towards design
- Fostering inclusivity and diversity in design
- Interdisciplinary insights on design
- New tools and technologies for design and design education
- Design process for improved sustainability
Structure of CDW4
The event will be structured into workshop blocks, each around a common theme, purpose, or idea, with an emphasis on group discussion and activities. A typical session will include a small number of presentations where existing work can be shared, as well as extended dialogue among the attendees; however other proposed workshop formats will also be considered. The workshop blocks will be action-oriented, with outcomes that could include new collaborations in, and/or strategies for, design teaching, research or practice.
In addition, one block is envisioned as an Ideas Marketplace. Similar in concept to a poster session (however, a poster will not be required), this session will enable more one-on-one interactions between participants.
Participation at CDW4
Attendees are invited to propose one or more contributions. CDW remains a small conference with an emphasis on group discussion; therefore, priority for registration will be given to participants with accepted proposals. If you wish to participate in CDW4 without a submitted proposal, please contact the organizing committee with a short description of your interest in attending.
The CDW organizers and participants will co-create the event contents and structure. In their submission, participants will select one of three formats:
- (Co-)Chairing a workshop block. In your proposal include:
- A focus (from the list above, or your own) relevant to current design practice, design research, or design education
- proposed presenters from at least 2 institutions to help deliver the workshop. CDW organizing committee can also assist by identifying potential speakers from other participant submissions
- An action-oriented workshop activity to foster collaboration and 2-5 workshop outcomes
- Sharing a completed work or work-in-progress within a workshop block
- These presentations could describe design or design education research, design theory and/or methods, or an evidence-based practice of design or design education
- Program committee members will facilitate the grouping of these presentations into workshop sessions
- Participating in the Idea Marketplace
- Participants are invited to propose a new idea/topic (e.g., a new idea/topic for a research project, teaching philosophy, larger-scale design collaboration) to be discussed 1-on-1 with other workshop attendees. The goal would be to gather initial feedback on the idea, find potential collaborators, etc.
All submissions must indicate the site (Waterloo or Saskatoon) you plan to attend, so we can plan space at each location. Where possible, please plan to attend the site closest to your location. This helps save time and travel costs while reducing environmental impacts associated with transportation.
Full requirements for each submission type are available at: TBD
There will be no proceedings from CDW4. After the event, authors will retain the ability to complete a paper and submit to the publication of their choosing.
Dual-site offering
Following the successful in-person offering of CDW3 at the University of Waterloo, CDW4 will run concurrently at two sites: the University of Waterloo and the University of Saskatchewan.
Shared across both sites. The keynote will be livestreamed to both sides, as will participants’ pitches at the Ideas Marketplace. One-on-one conversations will then follow at each local site.
Cross-site workshops. While we expect some workshops to run locally at each site, we especially encourage proposals for workshops that run in parallel at both locations, with at least one facilitator at each site, and that connect the two groups (for example, through a shared activity, an exchange of outputs, or a joint debrief)
Key dates
- Proposals due: January 18, 2027
- Notification of acceptance: February 22, 2027.
- Registration opens: TBD