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ICDHS is the acronym of the International Committee for Design History and Design Studies. It is formed by scholars from Spain, Cuba, Turkey, México, Finland, Estonia, Japan, Belgium, the Netherlands, Brazil, Portugal, the USA, Taiwan, Canada, Croatia, and the UK.

Since 1999, when the Design & Art History Departments of the University of Barcelona organized the first edition of the ICDHS, a conference has – with one exception – been organized every two years, moving to new venues across the world with two distinct aims: firstly, to discover original research activities, achievements and agendas in the fields of Design History and Design Studies; and, secondly, to include contributions coming from non-hegemonic countries active in these fields, thereby offering a speaking platform to many scientific communities that could be already active or in the process of being formed and maturing. For that reason, the ICDHS conferences are structured combining many parallel strands, including the presentation of posters, and keynote speakers are drawn from a range of relevant disciplines and related fields who will lecture in response to the Conference main theme. 

From Barcelona, the biennial conference has travelled across Latin America (Havana, Guadalajara, São Paulo), Asia (Osaka, Taipei) and Europe (Istanbul, Helsinki & Tallinn, Brussels, Aveiro, Barcelona again, and now Zagreb). By the time of the opening of the ICDHS 12th Conference, conference proceedings will be available . At every venue, Conference themes are as varied as the proposed strands and are always seen as important for the furthering of the discipline globally, whilst simultaneously embracing the underlying and specific thematic outlook adopted by the ICDHS, the pluralism of history.

This opportunity for review, reflection and revision involved consideration of the continuity of these conferences in the immediate future and was seen to represent a promise for the future with some thoughts about appropriate themes, issues and potential locations for the next venues. ICDHS 12 will be organized ONLINE from Zagreb, Croatia, marking the beginning of a new phase of ICDHS Conferences at the beginning of the third decade of the organization’s life.