Psychedelics Design Conference 2026 Reveals "Creative Biome" Programme, Full Speaker Line-Up and Live Awards Ceremony

Written By Alexandra Plesner

The fifth edition of the world's leading gathering at the intersection of psychedelics, design, and creativity returns online on 6–7 November 2026 — with Rick Doblin, Robin Carhart-Harris, Marlena Robbins (Diné), Josh Rubin, David Coveney and Joyce Braverman among confirmed speakers, a programme exploring design as a living ecology, and the live reveal of the 2026 Psychedelics Design Awards winners.

London, 21 August 2026 — Psychedelics Design, a platform exploring the intersection of psychedelics and design, today announces the full programme for the Psychedelics Design Conference 2026 — the fifth edition of its annual online gathering, taking place 6–7 November 2026 under the theme "Creative Biome."

Across two days, designers, researchers, artists, entrepreneurs and advocates come together to explore what happens when psychedelic experience meets creative practice. "Creative Biome" frames design as a living ecology of people, ideas and more-than-human systems — asking what it means to design from a psychedelic perspective, what psychedelic-assisted design might look like, and how that changes the way we think, collaborate, and build things that matter.

The programme is built for creatives pushing at the edges of what their practice can do, for entrepreneurs building in one of the most complex and culturally loaded industries on the planet, and for researchers, practitioners and nature activists ready to have the difficult conversations about what access means beyond productivity. Expect talks, live interviews, panels and conversations that do not happen anywhere else.

"Psychedelics Design began as one designer looking for others in the field. Five years on, this conference is where that search has landed — a room, however virtual, where neuroscientists and brand designers and mycologists and activists are actually in the same conversation," said Alexandra Plesner, Founder & Creative Director of Psychedelics Design. "Creative Biome is our way of saying that none of this work happens in isolation. Culture, care and creativity grow in the same soil."

PROGRAMME HIGHLIGHTS

Confirmed sessions include:

The Long Arc of Transformation — Rick Doblin, PhD, Founder and President of MAPS, in conversation with Zoe Wilder. Holding a future that seemed implausible and slowly bringing it into reality: the soulful dimension of a long-term mission, what the psychedelic movement shares with the creative process, and what the next chapter asks of us.

How Psychedelics Work — Robin Carhart-Harris, PhD, Ralph Metzner Distinguished Professor of Neurology and Psychiatry at UCSF, delivers a concise, high-impact talk on the neuroscience of psychedelics, followed by a fireside conversation with David Coveney, Publisher and Executive Editor of Design Week, bringing a design-world lens to the science. Carhart-Harris speaks ahead of his forthcoming book of the same name, publishing January 2027.

Newest research on psychedelics and creativity — Manesh Girn, PhD, on the newest research into psychedelics and creativity: what actually changes in the brain when the usual constraints on thought loosen, how much of the creative effect survives contact with evidence, and what the findings do and don't support for people who make things for a living.

Psychedelic History — Jahan Khamsehzadeh, PhD, Author & Psychedelic Scholar, traces the full arc from ancient ritual and myth to the artists, designers and countercultural movements that shaped the modern world, and what that lineage means for the work we make today.

If Fungi Was Your Futurist — Jess Jorgensen, Founder of Sporesight, on what happens when nature's most adaptive intelligence is applied to strategic design and future thinking.

Further sessions, panels and the full running order will be announced in the coming weeks.

CONFIRMED SPEAKERS

  • Rick Doblin, PhD — Founder and President, MAPS

  • Robin Carhart-Harris, PhD — Ralph Metzner Distinguished Professor of Neurology and Psychiatry; Head of the Carhart-Harris Lab, University of California San Francisco

  • Josh Rubin — Founder, COOL HUNTING; Creative Director, Editor and Photographer

  • David Coveney — Publisher and Executive Editor, Design Week

  • Clare Farrell — Co-founder Extinction Rebellion

  • Jaime Derringer — Founder Design Milk

  • Zoe Wilder — Founder, Zoe Wilder Public Relations & Liquid Culture Records

  • Manesh Girn, PhD — Postdoctoral Neuroscientist, UCSF; Scientific Advisor and creator of The Psychedelic Scientist

  • Rayyan Zafar, PhD — Wellcome Postdoctoral Fellow, Centre for Psychedelic Research & Neuropsychopharmacology, Imperial College London

  • Jahan Khamsehzadeh, PhD — Author & Psychedelic Scholar

  • Jess Jorgensen — Founder, Sporesight

  • Cullen Clark — Researcher and Founder The Lost Muti

  • Joshua White — Founder & Executive Director, Fireside Project

  • Marissa Feinberg — Founder, Triple Bottom Why and PSYCA (Psychedelics for Climate Action)

  • Joyce Braverman, MD — Medical Doctor; Psychedelic Therapies and Research, CIIS

  • Marlena Robbins (Diné) — Doctor of Public Health candidate at the University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health and Program Coordinator at the Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics

  • Dennis Walker — Founder, Mycopreneur & Co-Founder, Mycoday

  • and more

The conference is hosted by Dennis Walker, Founder of Mycopreneur, co-produced with Floris Wolswijk, Founder of Blossom, and co-curated with Zoe Wilder, founder Zoe Wilder PR and co-founder Liquid Culture Records. Additional speakers are to be announced.

THE 2026 PSYCHEDELICS DESIGN AWARDS WINNERS REVEALED LIVE

The conference also hosts the live reveal of the second Psychedelics Design Awards — the world's first design competition dedicated to recognising creative excellence in the psychedelics space. Winners across nine categories will be announced during a dedicated ceremony segment on Saturday 7 November, hosted by Dennis Walker, with winning and finalist work showcased on the day.

Submissions for the 2026 Awards ran from 1 February to 1 July 2026 across categories including Architectural & Space, Art & Photography, Experimental, Educational & Community Impact, Music & Sound, Products & Services, Storytelling, Visual Design & Branding, and the publicly voted Mushroom of the Year.

KEY INFORMATION

MEDIA AND EVENT PARTNERS

The Psychedelics Design Conference 2026 is produced in partnership with Blossom, Mycopreneur and Zoe Wilder PR, with media partnerships across COOL HUNTING, Design Week, Psychedelics Today, DoubleBlind, The Other, Lucys, Fat Nugs and Tricycle Day — leading voices in design, culture, media and psychedelics. MAPS is an institutional supporter of Psychedelics Design.

A limited number of concession places are available for those facing financial barriers. Please reach out to info@psychedelics.design to request support.

For more information about the Psychedelics Design Conference 2026 and to book, please visit psychedelics.design/2026-conference.

Alexandra Plesner
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The 2026 Psychedelics Design Awards — Media Partner Announced