The American Society of Interior Designers and the Interior Designers of Canada will address topics of migration, culture and diversity in the built environment at the 2017 Impact Summit in Toronto this month.
The summit, held from May 8-9, features two keynote addresses, three expert panels and design-led walking tours of Toronto’s Regent Park neighborhood. The goal of the summit is to foster learning and new conversations about how to create culturally diverse and economically stable communities.
“Impact Summit 2017 takes a hands-on, solutions-oriented approach to the issues surrounding migration and diversity,” said ASID CEO Randy Fiser. “ASID is proud to partner with IDC to drive expansive conversations about immigration and inclusion. The built environment plays such a significant role in the cultivation of communities and we can create positive change by bringing our diverse backgrounds and expertise to this necessary dialogue.”
The first keynote speaker is Ontario Senator Ratna Omidvar, who is the founding executive director and Distinguished Visiting Professor at the Global Diversity Exchange, Ted Rogers School of Management at Ryerson University in Toronto. The lunchtime keynote will be given by Richard van der Laken, a Dutch designer and founder of What Design Can Do.
Tours through Regent Park will showcase the mixed-income neighborhood that embraced migration to build a successful and inclusive community.
“Impact Summit brings together some of the finest minds working in the fields of migration, culture, and diversity,” said Clinton Hummel, IDC’s President of the Board of Management. “Through interactive sessions, summit attendees will work alongside these experts to identify key challenges then generate practical solutions which can be taken forward, reflecting how important our built environment is to the future of communities in which we live and work.”
Visit www.asid.org for more details.
