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Rick Doblin, Robin Carhart-Harris and a Live Awards Winner Announcement: Psychedelics Design Conference 2026 Announces Full Programme

August 31, 2026
By Fat Nugs Magazine

Fat Nugs Magazine joins as an official media partner of the fifth edition of the world’s leading gathering at the intersection of psychedelics, design and creativity — online, 6–7 November 2026. Fat Nugs readers get 25% off any ticket with code FATNUGS26.

London, 2 September 2026 – Psychedelics Design, the platform exploring the intersection of psychedelics and design, has announced 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.” Fat Nugs Magazine joins the conference as an official media partner, and Fat Nugs readers can claim 25% off any ticket using the code FATNUGS26 at checkout.

Across two days, designers, researchers, artists, growers, 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.”

Fat Nugs Reader Offer

Use code FATNUGS26 at checkout for 25% off any ticket. The code applies to whichever rate is live when you book. At the September rate of £35, that brings a ticket to roughly £26 (approx. $34 / €32). Prices step up to £50 on 1 October and £65 on 1 November, so booking early is your cheapest way in. Book directly via https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/2026-psychedelics-design-conference-2-days-tickets-1988688043472

Programme Highlights

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, speaks on 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 February 2027.

Newest Research on Psychedelics and Creativity – Manesh Girn, PhD, on 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
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
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, UC Berkeley School of Public Health; Program Coordinator, Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics
Dennis Walker – Founder, Mycopreneur & Co-Founder, Mycoday

The conference is MCd by Dennis Walker, Founder of Mycopreneur, co-produced with Floris Wolswijk, Founder of Blossom, and co-curated with Zoe Wilder, Founder of Zoe Wilder PR and Co-Founder of Liquid Culture Records. Additional speakers and artists are to be announced. For updates please keep an eye out on https://www.psychedelics.design/2026-conference

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 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. You can view all details and judges here: https://www.psychedelics.design/2026-conference

Key information

Dates: Friday 6 and Saturday 7 November 2026
Format: Online; two days of talks, panels and live interviews
Theme: “Creative Biome”, design as a living ecology of people, ideas and systems
Tickets: £35 in September (approx. $45 / €42); £50 from 1 October; £65 from 1 November
Fat Nugs reader discount: 25% off any ticket with code FATNUGS26
Access: Studio passes and concession places are available
Awards ceremony: Saturday 7 November 2026
Booking: eventbrite.co.uk/e/2026-psychedelics-design-conference-2-days-tickets-1988688043472
Details: psychedelics.design/2026-conference

A limited number of concession places are available for those facing financial barriers. Please reach out to info@psychedelics.design to request support. Currency conversions are approximate; tickets are processed in GBP at checkout.

Media and Event Partners

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

About Psychedelics Design

Psychedelics Design is a globally recognised digital platform and growing collective exploring the intersection of psychedelics, design, and culture. Now in its fifth year, it fosters collaboration, partnerships, education and creative solutions at the intersection of consciousness and creation. Its community numbers approximately 10,000 across the creative industries and the psychedelic research and wellness fields, with an even split between Europe and the United States.

About the Conference

The Psychedelics Design Conference is an annual online gathering bringing together designers, researchers, artists, entrepreneurs and advocates working at the intersection of psychedelics and creative practice. Now in its fifth edition, it runs alongside the Psychedelics Design Awards and features talks, panels, live interviews and a live awards ceremony. The 2026 edition takes place 6–7 November under the theme “Creative Biome”.

About the Founder

Alexandra Plesner is the founder of Psychedelics Design and a designer and researcher exploring the intersection of psychedelics, creativity, and culture. She launched Psychedelics Design as a research and newsletter project in 2021 and has since built it into a globally recognised platform spanning awards, education, events, and community. She holds an MA in Design from Central Saint Martins and an MSc in Psychology from London Metropolitan University. She is based in London.