Each year during London Design Festival (LDF) we invite key design industry figures from around the world to join us for our Design Connections programme. The delegation will take a unique curated tour of the festival, meeting leading UK designers, curators, design organisations as well as discovering new work and gaining new relationships.

This year we look forward to welcoming delegates from Argentina, Australia, Colombia, Denmark, Hong Kong, Israel, Mexico, Peru, Romania, Spain and UAE.

The programme is  an opportunity for international delegates and their UK counterparts to share knowledge, debate key issues in contemporary design and design curation globally and explore possible collaborations.

The group will be visiting leading institutions, including the V&A, the Crafts Council, Central Saint Martins and a tour of the new Design Museum building. Studio visits will include Barber&Osgerby, Allies and Morrison and Bethan Laura Wood. We’ve also picked some of the most exciting exhibitions and events from the festival including Raw Colour at The Aram Gallery and the first London Design Biennale at Somerset House.

Also part of the programme this year is our annual 10x10 event, where 10 emerging UK designers present their work, which will be held at the Ace Hotel in Shoreditch.

A new addition to the programme this year is Design Connections: Around the World in 30 Objects, a public talk as part of the London Design Biennale talks programme, featuring presentations by 10 of our delegates focusing on 3 objects that represent their local design scene in an interesting way. The result is a whistle stop tour of design cultures across the globe. Tickets can be purchased here.

LDF was conceived by Sir John Sorrell and Ben Evans in 2003. Building on London's existing design activity, their concept was to create an annual event that would promote the city's creativity, drawing in the country's greatest thinkers, practitioners, retailers and educators to deliver an unmissable celebration of design.

Podcast: Design Connections delegates share their LDF highlights

In this podcast, we hear from three experts from the design world who joined this year's international delegation: Joy Alison Wang, Curator at the Hong Kong Design Institute; Richars Meza Ruiz, Director at Latin American Design in Peru; and Janson Hews, Head of Programmes at The Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences, Australia.

The panel reflects on the highlights of this year's London Design Festival and share some insights on the design sector in their own countries and regions.

Listen to the podcast