This September, Detroit’s Month of Design marks its 15th anniversary with a reinvigorated focus on sustainability, innovation, and community engagement. The city, recognized by UNESCO as the United States’ only official City of Design, is using the occasion to showcase how creativity can drive positive change.

Nearly 100 exhibitions, studio tours, product launches, workshops, and public events will take place throughout the month, uniting artists, architects, designers, and the public in a celebration of design’s power to address real-world challenges.

A Global Recognition Rooted in Local Identity

Detroit earned its UNESCO City of Design status nearly a decade ago, becoming part of a prestigious global network of cities committed to using creativity and culture as tools for inclusive urban development. That designation reflects both the city’s historic role in shaping industrial design and its ongoing evolution as a hub for contemporary innovation.

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Design Core Detroit, the organization behind the festival, sees the City of Design status not only as a badge of honor but also as a call to action. It’s an invitation to link Detroit’s creative ecosystem with a global movement of cities using design to build more sustainable, equitable futures.

Aligning with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

This year’s theme builds directly on the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which provide a blueprint for addressing global issues such as climate change, poverty, education, and justice. Each event in the festival has been curated or encouraged to explore how design intersects with one or more of these goals.

Whether it’s showcasing sustainable furniture design, exploring the circular economy through manufacturing innovation, or addressing social equity in urban planning, the festival aims to ground abstract global targets in local creativity and tangible solutions.

According to Kiana Wenzell, co-executive director of Design Core, connecting the festival to the SDGs helps Detroiters see how global priorities can shape their everyday lives. It also offers a framework for understanding how design can go beyond aesthetics to become a tool for systemic change.

Creativity as Civic Infrastructure

The events span a wide range of disciplines, from industrial design and architecture to music, fashion, and digital technology. But what unites them is a shared belief that design is not just about making things it is about solving problems and building community.

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In a city with a deep history of reinvention, from automotive innovation to cultural resilience, the Month of Design has become more than a creative showcase. It’s a platform for civic imagination, where local makers, students, entrepreneurs, and global thought leaders come together to explore how design can improve quality of life.

This year’s edition also underscores the role of design in shaping not just objects or spaces, but also values and behaviors. As sustainability becomes a guiding principle across industries, the Detroit festival positions itself as a laboratory for testing what that looks like in practice.

Designing a Shared Future

The 15th anniversary of Detroit’s Month of Design is not just a retrospective on the city’s design legacy it is a forward-looking statement about where creativity can take us. By integrating the Sustainable Development Goals into the festival's DNA, organizers are challenging both creators and audiences to think bigger about the role design can play in shaping a more just, sustainable, and inspiring future.

Detroit’s celebration serves as a reminder that good design doesn’t just solve problems it asks better questions. And in a world facing overlapping environmental, social, and economic crises, those questions have never been more important.

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