The Cumulus held its 2023 annual meeting with the theme Interpretation of Love: Towards Healing, Transformation, and Transcendence from November 22 to November 24, 2023. During the event, Zhang Linghao, the President of Nanjing University of the Arts, was invited to attend and deliver a keynote speech titled Designing the Future: Design Thinking, Methods, and Teaching as Sustainable Transformation. Faced with the multiple design challenges posed by sustainable transformation, he explained the role and significance of future-oriented design in sustainable transformation by analyzing the concepts, development, essence, and characteristics of designing the future. He further explored how to incorporate future-oriented design thinking into comprehensive design courses for senior undergraduate and graduate students, fostering their ability to envision and shape the future through systems thinking, interpretation and critique, social collaborative innovation, and multidimensional contextual expression. This aims to cultivate students to become comprehensive thinkers who can pay attention to social development and transformation, shaping our world in a more forward-looking and meaningful way in their design practices.

Parallel conferences were held simultaneously from November 26 to November 28 at Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, Xi'an Academy of Fine Arts, Nanjing University of the Arts, Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute, and Xiamen University.

With the theme of Systems in Design, the parallel conference,hosted by Nanjing University of the Arts, argues that Contemporary design is not a single research and practice field but emphasizes systematic thinking through interdisciplinary approaches. It focuses on holistic considerations of design thinking within the current interdisciplinary perspectives and complex social backgrounds. It places importance on experimental explorations of new technologies and paradigms in the field of design innovation, exploring the development trends of design in broader aspects such as artificial intelligence and parametric design, spatial prototypes, urban renewal, and product trends. The parallel conference includes five activities: Cumulus keynote speeches, presentation and evaluation of selected papers for the Cumulus annual meeting, round-table discussions, international workshops, and cultural visits.

Prof. Kun-Pyo LEE, Dean of the School of Design of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University; Prof. Zhang Linghao, President of Nanjing University of the Arts; Prof. Birgit Mager, Chair of the Global Service Design Network and Professor of Köln International School of Design in Germany; John Thackara, Visiting Professor of Politecnico di Milano and Senior Fellow of the Royal College of Art in the UK, Sustainable Design Researcher for the British Design Council; Prof. Liu Xihui, Associate Dean of the School of Design of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University; Prof. Zhao Quanquan, Director of the Design Research and International Exchange Center of Nanjing University of the Arts; Assoc. Prof. Hu Youpei, Head of the Research Office of the School of Architecture and Urban Planning at Nanjing University; David Strang, Director of Education, Research, and Innovation of Xi'an Jiaotong - Liverpool University's School of Film and TV Arts; Jack Addis, Technical Director of the LUMEN prize for digital art; and media artist Max Colson delivered keynote speeches both online and offline. The keynote speakers for the young scholars' session and graduate students' session include faculty and students from five universities: Sichuan University of Media and Communications, Nanjing University of the Arts, Tongji University, Jilin Animation Institute, Shanghai Institute of Technology, as well as independent scholars.

The opening ceremony took place at the fine arts museum auditorium of Nanjing University of the Arts, with speeches by Lorenzo Imbessi, Chairman of Cumulus and Professor of Sapienza University of Rome; Nicola Morelli, member of the Cumulus Executive Board and Professor of Aalborg University; and Zhang Linghao, President of Nanjing University of the Arts. The opening ceremony was chaired by Prof. Zhang Jie, Vice President of Nanjing University of the Arts, and attended by heads of various functional departments and secondary colleges.

Lorenzo Imbessi, Chairman of Cumulus and Professor of Sapienza University of Rome, delivered a speech online, hoping that more people can understand the spirit of Cumulus through keynote speeches and paper discussions and pass on the design concept with love and unity as its theme.

Nicola Morelli, member of the Cumulus Executive Board and Professor of Aalborg University, pointed out in his video speech that Cumulus is a dynamic ecosystem composed of universities and educational institutions. In this dynamic environment, it is essential to explore opportunities and directions for design and to contribute thus to society. He valued cultural exchange activities carried out in China and hoped to achieve fruitful results through collisions between different cultures and exchanges of design ideas.

Zhang Linghao greeted the attendees on behalf of the university. He emphasized that design should fulfill its original intention and role, focusing on comprehensive sustainable development of economy, ecology, and society. The Cumulus conference hosted by Nanjing University of the Arts had the theme Interpretation of Love, exploring the role and significance of design in complex challenges.

On November 26, the keynote forum was divided into two sessions - morning and afternoon. Eight experts and scholars from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Nanjing University of the Arts, Köln International School of Design in Germany, the Royal College of Art in the UK, Politecnico di Milano, Nanjing University School of Architecture and Urban Planning, and Xi'an Jiaotong - Liverpool University gave keynote speeches, along with two media artists. Yu Rui, Associate Researcher and Director of the Office of International Exchange at Nanjing University of the Arts, served as the academic host for the morning session, while Prof. Chen Jiajia, Associate Dean of the School of Industrial Design, served as the academic host for the afternoon session.

After the conference on that day, experts and scholars visited Xiangtang Village in Pukou District, Nanjing, for cultural exploration and held themed round-table discussions.

On November 27, paper authors presented their research findings. The research areas covered design policies, service design, digital design, rural construction, mass media, and other hot topics and directions. The morning session focused on young scholars, with Prof. Zhang Yang, Deputy Dean of the School of Industrial Design, serving as the host, and Prof. Zhao Quanquan from the School of Design as the reviewer. In the afternoon, graduate students presented their papers, with Mr. Wang Ziqiao from the School of Media serving as the host and Prof. Ma Xiaoxiang and Assoc. Prof. Pan Suyuan as reviewers.

As one of the parallel conference venues, our university co-present a Cumulus Service Design Workshop titled Airplane Interior Design Based on Passenger Comfort: Accessible Lavatories with China Bridge, COMAC, and Prof. Birgit Mager, Chair of the Global Service Design Network during the Cumulus event on 27 November. The workshop was jointly conducted by mentors from China Bridge and COMAC, Prof. Birgit Mager, and teachers from domestic universities in a collaborative project involving faculty and students.

On November 28, some experts and scholars visited Nanjing Museum for the second cultural exploration session.