What if the skills we need most for the future aren’t taught by memorising the right answers, but by designing, testing, sharing and improving ideas together?
This October, Festival of Design Aotearoa welcomes Dr Bo Stjerne Thomsen, Head of Educational Impact at LEGO® Education, for an inspiring keynote exploring how design can transform the way we learn.
Drawing on examples from LEGO®, schools, research and communities around the world, Bo will demonstrate why creativity, curiosity and collaboration are becoming essential skills for navigating an increasingly complex future.
Learning Through Design
Design is often associated with creating products or services, but Bo argues it is much more than that. Design is one of humanity’s most powerful ways of exploring the world: helping us learn through making, reflecting and improving.
His keynote, Preparing for a Better Future: Learning by Design, explores how designing and making can move learning beyond simply transmitting knowledge, encouraging discovery, innovation and deeper understanding.
As workplaces and communities increasingly value creativity, collaboration and sound judgement, Bo asks an important question:
How should we redesign learning itself?
A Global Leader in Creativity and Education
Based in Billund, Denmark, Bo Stjerne Thomsen is Head of Educational Impact at LEGO® Education and an Honorary Professor of Entrepreneurship Education.
Previously, he served as Vice President and Chair of Learning through Play at the LEGO Foundation, leading global research and partnerships with organisations including UNESCO, the OECD, the World Economic Forum, universities and education systems worldwide.
A former architect and designer, Bo’s work sits at the intersection of design, creativity, learning and innovation, helping shape international conversations about how design can build stronger communities and prepare people for an uncertain future.
Don’t Miss This International Keynote
Whether you’re an educator, designer, architect, student, policymaker or simply curious about the future of learning, this session offers fresh thinking on how creativity and design can unlock better outcomes for people and communities.
Preparing for a Better Future: Learning by Design LEGO® Talk
18 October 2026
Whanganui War Memorial Centre
11:00am–1:00pm
Tickets are available now as part of the growing festival programme.