Proceedings of the ATLAS International Design Conference 2025 (AIDC 2025)
Conference Name: ATLAS International Design Conference 2025 (AIDC 2025)
Date: 20 November 2025
Location: Mumbai, India (Offline)
Website: https://atlasuniversity.edu.in/aidc-25/ The present volume of proceedings comprises selected and peer-reviewed papers presented at the ATLAS International Design Conference, held on 20 November 2025 at ATLAS SkillTech University, Mumbai, India. The conference was organized by ATLAS SkillTech University as part of the academic initiatives of the Department of Applied Arts, Faculty of Visual Arts, Banaras Hindu University. With the overarching focus of "Design for Rural Entrepreneurship”, the conference was designed as a collaborative forum for researchers, academicians, practitioners, designers, and business professionals to exchange research findings, practice-based investigations, and creative solutions. Globalization, industrialization, and rapid urbanization have drastically changed socioeconomic environments, frequently making rural areas more precarious and unstable. Sustainable rural development is still hampered by issues like unstable economies, poor infrastructure, environmental deterioration, restricted access to healthcare and education, and changing demographic trends. These problems have also been made worse by environmental pressures and the quick advancement of technology. By establishing sustainable livelihoods based on local resources and cultural knowledge, rural entrepreneurship plays a critical role in bolstering local economies, encouraging innovation, and improving self-reliance. The intersection of design and rural entrepreneurship offers powerful opportunities to address these challenges through context-sensitive, inclusive, and sustainable solutions. By leveraging design-led innovation, community participation, and culturally grounded practices, rural regions can experience transformative development that enhances both economic resilience and quality of life. The conference theme thus sought to highlight how design can act as a catalyst for empowering rural communities, revitalizing traditional knowledge systems, and enabling equitable and sustainable growth. The conference brought together thought leaders, policymakers, educators, entrepreneurs, rural practitioners, and researchers to explore how design thinking, innovation, and interdisciplinary approaches can contribute to building resilient, thriving, and future-ready rural communities. The broad relevance of design in rural contexts was demonstrated by the emphasis on sustainability, equity, community-led initiatives, education, health, craft-based entrepreneurship, agriculture, financial literacy, and cultural preservation. The papers in this volume represent a wide range of viewpoints, approaches, and applications and were chosen after a thorough review process. Themes including rural education and skill development, craft sustainability, women-led entrepreneurship, agricultural innovation, healthcare design, financial literacy, visual communication, vernacular typography, branding of traditional crafts, and scalable rural business models are all covered by the accepted contributions. When taken as a whole, these papers provide case studies, empirical research, theoretical insights, and practice-led research that significantly advance the conversation about design for rural entrepreneurship. We believe that this compilation will serve as a valuable resource for researchers, educators, students, policymakers, and practitioners engaged in design, rural development, and entrepreneurship. It is our hope that the ideas and approaches presented in this volume will inspire further research, cross-sector collaboration, and impactful design interventions that support sustainable rural futures. We extend our sincere gratitude to all the authors for their scholarly contributions, the reviewers for their thoughtful evaluations, and the organizing and academic committees for their commitment to the success of the conference. We also thank all participants whose engagement and dialogue enriched the conference experience and strengthened the collective vision of design as an agent of rural transformation. Editors
Date: 20 November 2025
Location: Mumbai, India (Offline)
Website: https://atlasuniversity.edu.in/aidc-25/ The present volume of proceedings comprises selected and peer-reviewed papers presented at the ATLAS International Design Conference, held on 20 November 2025 at ATLAS SkillTech University, Mumbai, India. The conference was organized by ATLAS SkillTech University as part of the academic initiatives of the Department of Applied Arts, Faculty of Visual Arts, Banaras Hindu University. With the overarching focus of "Design for Rural Entrepreneurship”, the conference was designed as a collaborative forum for researchers, academicians, practitioners, designers, and business professionals to exchange research findings, practice-based investigations, and creative solutions. Globalization, industrialization, and rapid urbanization have drastically changed socioeconomic environments, frequently making rural areas more precarious and unstable. Sustainable rural development is still hampered by issues like unstable economies, poor infrastructure, environmental deterioration, restricted access to healthcare and education, and changing demographic trends. These problems have also been made worse by environmental pressures and the quick advancement of technology. By establishing sustainable livelihoods based on local resources and cultural knowledge, rural entrepreneurship plays a critical role in bolstering local economies, encouraging innovation, and improving self-reliance. The intersection of design and rural entrepreneurship offers powerful opportunities to address these challenges through context-sensitive, inclusive, and sustainable solutions. By leveraging design-led innovation, community participation, and culturally grounded practices, rural regions can experience transformative development that enhances both economic resilience and quality of life. The conference theme thus sought to highlight how design can act as a catalyst for empowering rural communities, revitalizing traditional knowledge systems, and enabling equitable and sustainable growth. The conference brought together thought leaders, policymakers, educators, entrepreneurs, rural practitioners, and researchers to explore how design thinking, innovation, and interdisciplinary approaches can contribute to building resilient, thriving, and future-ready rural communities. The broad relevance of design in rural contexts was demonstrated by the emphasis on sustainability, equity, community-led initiatives, education, health, craft-based entrepreneurship, agriculture, financial literacy, and cultural preservation. The papers in this volume represent a wide range of viewpoints, approaches, and applications and were chosen after a thorough review process. Themes including rural education and skill development, craft sustainability, women-led entrepreneurship, agricultural innovation, healthcare design, financial literacy, visual communication, vernacular typography, branding of traditional crafts, and scalable rural business models are all covered by the accepted contributions. When taken as a whole, these papers provide case studies, empirical research, theoretical insights, and practice-led research that significantly advance the conversation about design for rural entrepreneurship. We believe that this compilation will serve as a valuable resource for researchers, educators, students, policymakers, and practitioners engaged in design, rural development, and entrepreneurship. It is our hope that the ideas and approaches presented in this volume will inspire further research, cross-sector collaboration, and impactful design interventions that support sustainable rural futures. We extend our sincere gratitude to all the authors for their scholarly contributions, the reviewers for their thoughtful evaluations, and the organizing and academic committees for their commitment to the success of the conference. We also thank all participants whose engagement and dialogue enriched the conference experience and strengthened the collective vision of design as an agent of rural transformation. Editors