TISDC 2025: Where Diversity Meets Design and Sparks Global Dialogue

Reflections by Piotr Swiatek, BEDA Treasurer, on his experience as a juror in the TISDC Jury Panel.

Earlier this month, I had the pleasure of travelling to Taipei to serve as a juror in the Final Selection of the 2025 Taiwan International Student Design Competition (TISDC). I represented BEDA in a panel of 35 international experts, reviewing student work across five categories – including Architecture and Fashion, both added to the competition for the first time this year.

This edition of TISDC was also symbolic: after 18 years of leadership, Professor Apex Lin passed the Director role to Associate Professor Yen-Ting Chen. During the opening, the organisers reminded us that “diversity is not only a concept but a practice to ensure prosperity. The world cannot be monotonous.” With this year’s theme, DIVERSITY, the message was clear: design must reflect a world of plural voices and perspectives.

As a juror, I was impressed to see students explore diversity not only in human terms, but also through nature, ecosystems and the lives of animals. Many projects addressed health conditions, ageing societies, and natural disasters, topics that require both empathy and imagination. What stood out most to me was the sense of hope and optimism with which this generation approaches the future. They use design to bring people together, to solve problems collaboratively and to re-imagine systems with creativity and care.

Personally, I was looking for a strong design process, user involvement, testing, prototyping, and real potential for impact. While diversity as a theme can be challenging to interpret and evaluate, it was inspiring to see how many young designers are trying to make the world fairer, more resilient and more inclusive.

The Final Selection concluded on 3 October, and the winners will be announced during the awards ceremony in December, where BEDA will be represented by our President, Christina Melander.

A Message to European Design Students

TISDC is free to enter, offers one of the largest prize pools worldwide, and provides an exceptional international platform for emerging talent. I would strongly encourage more European students to participate in future editions. Competitions like this are not just about awards, they are about exposure, exchange and building a global design community that shares common values.

If we want European design, with its focus on responsibility, sustainability, democracy and human-centred innovation, to shape global conversations, we must be present in them.

Last updated: 27/10/25