Every year, Business of Design Week (BODW) teams up with a different country to bring the best and brightest creative minds to Hong Kong with the aim of promoting a culture of dialogue and knowledge sharing.

And this year, to mark the 10th anniversary of its partnership with Sweden back in 2004, organisers Hong Kong Design Centre have invited the country to collaborate for the second time.

FÄRG & BLANCHE, Sweden

“Sweden is internationally renowned for its nation’s policy, which embraces a culture of innovation,” explains Elaine Chow, Director of Programme at Hong Kong Design Centre. “She is one of the top three most innovative countries in Europe. The Swedes are born solution providers and innovation is their tool to tackle challenges and invent new possibilities. Culture, in a broader sense, is the DNA of their everyday life.”

FÄRG & BLANCHE, Sweden

“That said, I think learning is a two-way concept,” Chow continues. “Hong Kong has a unique position in Asia as the hub connecting East and West… We believe the Hong Kong design community can take something home from the Swedish culture of innovation and apply it to their work, and ultimately influence its peers in the Asia region.”

Björn Kusoffsky, CEO & Founder, Stockholm Design Lab, Sweden

BODW will be marking its second partnership with Sweden with a significant increase in Swedish speakers – around 20 designers, architects, innovators, creators, leading entrepreneurs, and representatives from worldwide brands – who will be making their presentations under the theme “Living Design: Live It, Work It, Wear It, Do It”, which expresses the way in which design infiltrates all aspects of life in the country. The speakers include Björn Kusoffsky, CEO and Founder of Stockholm Design Lab; Marcus Engman, Head of Design of Ikea; Fredrik Färg, Co-founder of FÄRG & BLANCHE; Thomas Eriksson, CEO and Founder of Thomas Eriksson Arkitekter; and Lars Falk, Vice President of Design for Volvo Cars, China, to name just a few.

Shigeru Ban, Japan

Aside from Sweden, well-known industry names from around the world will once again be participating, including Japanese architect Shigeru Ban, and Chiaki Murata, Founder of Japanese studio Metaphys. Other industry experts include Ho Kwon Ping, Founder & Executive Chairman of Banyan Tree Holdings, and Prof Don Norman, Director of Design Lab at University of California, San Diego and Co-founder & Principal of Nielsen Norman Group.

Chiaki Murata, Founder, Metaphys, Japan

Metaphys, Japan

Beyond the speaking sessions, several prominent speakers will also be taking part in the D-Student X-change Programme during BODW, including Per Kristiansen from Denmark, who will be holding a “Lego Serious Play Methodology Workshop”, and Fredrik Färg and Emma Marga Blanche from Sweden, both of whom will be sharing insights into Swedish furniture design.

For more information and to sign up for BODW, visit bodw.com