CIDA’s 2019 Summit Report forecasts the future

In spring 2019, the Council for Interior Design Accreditation (CIDA) Board of Directors convened a summit of design leaders to consider implications of a 2018 CIDA-commissioned environmental scan. Topics included social and demographic trends; middle class trends and impacts; dependent populations; health, wellness and welfare; emerging technologies; cyber and physical security; neuroscience and the built environment; higher education and design education; interior design and human behavior; occupant-centered design; research trends; and built environment trends. Subject matter experts Sally Augustin, Ph.D., Principal, Design with Science, La Grange Park, IL, and Benjamin Waber, Ph.D., President and CEO, Humanyze, Visiting Scientist, MIT Media Labs, Boston, MA, respectively presented on the topics of cognition and human behavior and using human behavior and performance data to analyze built environment outcomes.

The resulting CIDA 2019 Summit Report summarizes the following 1) macro trends identified in CIDA’s 2018 environmental scan, 2) implications for the interior design profession resulting from the 2019 summit of leaders, and 3) related content and learning for interior design education. The CIDA 2019 Summit Report is available here.

CIDA’s annual future scan and summit brings to fruition the organization’s goal to both predict and respond to the myriad rapid changes impacting interior design. CIDA uses the results of the above activities to strategically inform future accreditation standards development. The content is also intended to help inform interior design continuing education content and areas for future research.

“Like the world around us, the interior design profession is rapidly changing and increasing in complexity. In order to respond with relevant quality standards for interior design education, we must continually assess and forecast the core professional attributes and skills that will position future graduates to be successful not only upon entering the work force, but well beyond,” states CIDA Board Chair Jan Johnson, FIIDA, Allsteel, Chicago, IL.

The Council for Interior Design Accreditation is an independent, non-profit, accrediting organization responsible for setting standards and evaluating degree-granting interior design programs. There are 170 CIDA-accredited programs in the U.S., Canada, Qatar, and the UAE.