The future is not something that simply happens. It is something we shape every day through the choices we make. But how can we imagine tomorrow if we continue to look at it from a single perspective?

From 14 to 17 October, Perugia will host the third edition of Seed – Design Actions for the Future, an international festival bringing together designers, researchers, businesses, institutions, students and citizens to explore the defining transformations of our time. More than a festival, Seed is an open cultural platform where architects, designers, engineers and urbanists engage in dialogue with artists, scientists, philosophers, economists, psychologists and entrepreneurs.

From the ethics of artificial intelligence and emerging models of living to the relationship between people and the environment, and from space exploration to the future of our cities, Seed connects disciplines, experiences and perspectives that rarely meet. Because the challenges we face cannot be solved by a single field of knowledge. The future is not something to be predicted—it is something we design together, through dialogue, critical thinking, a shared culture of design, and the contribution of every individual.

Seed Festival 2026

For its new edition, Seed explores the theme of Humanity, placing relationships at the centre of the conversation: between people, technology, the environment and emerging ecosystems. At a time shaped by artificial intelligence, climate change and new forms of coexistence, what does it mean to be human? And what kind of future are we designing?

The 2026 edition of Seed is dedicated to the concept of humanity and aims to explore the fragile balance between our social nature and the challenges of the contemporary world, marked by a growing loss of physical reality and a progressive removal of the Other.

Main contributors
Alessandro Aresu, Max Casacci, Luisa Damiano, Luca De Biase, Annalisa Dominoni, Vittorio Gallese, Gabriella Greison, Anupama Kundoo, Raffaela Laezza, Mauro Magatti, Raul Pantaleo, Søren Pihlmann, Belinda Tato

On going

Topic Seed

Five thematic areas of investigation with the intention of sowing a seed from which to germinate a vision of the world aimed at bringing together political, intellectual and social forces around the common goal of peace and environmental protection.