To refine this juxtaposition, our spotlight this year is on The Village—a celebration of urban life—grounding this year’s theme on a local level. Rooted in the Duwamish River Valley, The Village invites us to imagine new ways to live, work, and play—and to explore what a community-driven future could look like right here at home.

The Village invites participants to investigate the intersection of human ingenuity and technological transformation—not in abstract global terms, but right where life actually happens—in our neighborhoods, our workplaces, and our shared civic spaces.

The Local Challenge: How can Duwamish River Valley communities balance industry, ecology, and culture in ways that restore the land and empower the people who live here? The answer lies in our creative experiments, collaborative projects, and shared imagination.

Before machines, there was us—dreaming, making, remembering.