PONT Festival | From programme to practice

For three years, PONT has been building a rich foundation for public design practices in the Netherlands: knowledge, tools, learning pathways, coalitions and a growing community of professionals who collaborate through design to tackle societal challenges. On 10 December, we will bring the programme to a close – not with a full stop, but with a comma.

Practical examples are already emerging where a design-led, more people-centred and learning-based approach leads to policies and services that enjoy broad support. Through Public Design Coalitions, we are learning how design helps us navigate system change. This does, however, require careful collaboration between designers, stakeholders and experts, across departmental and organisational boundaries.

Over the past three years, PONT has gained many valuable insights into how to organise this collaboration within a political and administrative context. During the festival, we will present the book in which all these insights and practical tools have been compiled. But perhaps even more importantly: we will experience it all together through a programme packed with substantive sessions, workshops and hands-on activities. We invite everyone committed to creating positive change to explore these insights, build on them and carry them forward.

Who is this festival for?

The festival is for anyone involved in or interested in public design practices:

• Civil servants, administrators and other public sector professionals who wish to embed a design-led approach within their organisation.
• Experienced and emerging designers who wish to work on societal challenges within or in collaboration with the public sector.
• Researchers, educators and others who contribute to the knowledge base of the field.
• Anyone who supports the public design movement.

Practical information

Date: 10 December 2026
Times: 09.00 – 09.30 Walk-in
09.30 – 15.30 Start of the programme packed with experiences, workshops and masterclasses
15.30 – 16.00 Festive closing ceremony, including the presentation of the PONT book
16.00 – 17.00 Drinks and exhibition
Location: TivoliVredenburg, Utrecht

Keep an eye on this page on the PONT website, as more information about the speakers and sessions will follow shortly.

Don’t want to miss the festival? Click here to register!