Glorious 42: MADres Launches Its Pan-European Expert Group to Advance Design

MADres announces the launch of the Glorious 42 Expert Group (G42), a pan-European network of leading specialists dedicated to advancing design as a strategic enabler in tackling Europe’s most challenging tasks, digital, green and social, to foster a truly European competitive edge.

The Expert Community for Europe’s Transformation

The G42 has been curated through a transparent selection process to ensure excellence, fairness, and broad European representation. This interdisciplinary group of academics and leading practitioners will guide MADres’ core outputs, including Playbooks, Train-the-Trainer workshops, Heart of Change for individual coaching, and Deep Talk events, delivering practical and future-proof resources for designers, institutions, and policymakers.

Inspired by Douglas Adams’ iconic “answer is 42,” the Glorious 42 are BEDA’s “Keepers of the Answer”—for questions we do not yet know.

Thematic Pillars

The G42 is structured around four strategic pillars:

  • Accessibility and Low-Barrier Design (11 Experts)
  • Artificial Intelligence and Digital Ethics (11 Experts)
  • Planetary and Eco-Sustainable Design (12 Experts)
  • Strategic Business Case Development (10 Experts)

Together, these experts bring depth and credibility to each domain, strengthening Europe’s design capacity for sustainable growth and economic value.

The G42 reflect diversity in region, gender and professional background—strengthening Europe’s pluralistic design ecosystem. They are the first step towards an expert pool that BEDA can activate for questions and actions we do not yet know, positioning design as a strategic driver of transformation.

Note: The Media Kit includes a press release, images, CC license, and text translation into German, French, Italian and Spanish.

Last updated: 17/12/25