Billed as the ‘biggest meeting place for Nordic design’, building work on the fairground means that the Stockholm design fest will give exhibitors and visitors an extra 10,000 sq m of space to play with. A wide survey of furniture, textiles, lighting and other design for both public and private spaces, guest of honour in 2010 is British designer Paul Smith, with Jens Fager designing the Greenhouse hall for selected international design schools and newly-qualified designers.

Just one last date in the SVA MFA Design Criticism autumn/winter lecture series, which so far has included talks with Pentagram partner Abbott Miller, Museum of the City of New York curator Donald Albrecht, photographer Jason Fulford and design critic Peter Hall. The 15th of December is the turn of Antenna Design co-founders Masamichi Udagawa and Sigi Moeslinger, who are headlining under the banner 'Design for Activation'.

In the mid-1960s designers defied conventions in the field of interiors with formless furniture. Inspired by art they experimented with material in order to find alternatives to furniture existing at the time. This exhibition shows the validity of the maxim ‘form follows material’ that redefined the relationship between form and material. Seating objects by the likes of Gunnar A. Andersen, Gaetano Pesce and Ron Arad appear alongside the work of Jerszy Seymour and Big Game, with space also given to the computer-generated ‘Blobjects’ of Karim Rashid.

Under the curatorship of Konstantin Grcic, Design Real is the Serpentine Gallery’s first exhibition devoted to contemporary design. The renowned industrial designer will present a selection of ‘real’ items: mass-produced objects with a practical function in everyday life. From furniture and household products to technical and industrial innovations, featured works include those by Zaha Hadid, Ross Lovegrove, Jasper Morrisson, Yves Behar, Naoto Fukasawa and Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec; alongside a municipal recycling bin and a Volvo trail light. Grcic has designed a research space in the Gallery’s central space especially for the exhibition and its dedicated website is an integral part of the overall concept.

With the choice of Spring, the organisers of this annual showcase of Czech design have taken a promisingly upbeat response to the theme of crisis and focused their attentions on possibilities of renaissance. Participants include showrooms, galleries & stores for design, interior accessories and fashion, and the event will also incorporate presentations from individual designers & studios, design schools and other institutions. The accompanying programme takes place in different inspirational ‘Superstudios’, and alongside premieres from Czech manufacturers such as footwear producer Botas, lighting specialist Eco, and watchmaker Prim, international brands such as Artemide, Zumtobel and Vitra will also be taking part.

Later this month Danish designer Nina Tolstrup of Studiomama will be exhibiting a collection of furniture pieces made from reclaimed pallets. Aside from the obvious sustainable connection, the social aspects of the project are built in rather than added on.

You can buy pieces of the Pallet Collection pre-made, but with the assembly guidelines also sold online, the furniture can be recreated from your local pallet source. And giving further flesh to the project, Tolstrup allowed photographer and gallerist Cecilia Glik to teach unemployed workers in the Lugano district of Buenos Aires how to make the furniture, which is then sold through local networks or globally online.

The show in London takes place during the London Design Festival and will include a set of limited edition pallet chairs by British artists Gavin Turk and Cornelia Parker, which will be auctioned on the Studiomama website with proceeds going directly to the community project in Buenos Aires.

The 24th edition of this trade fair is strap-lined Quality Beyond the Crisis, From Design to Distribution and its organiser and curator, Carlo Amadori, aims to bring 18 different sectors, all linked to the décor sector, together in a ‘river of ideas’. From furniture, kitchens, bathrooms, textiles, lighting, tableware, floor & wall coverings and upholstery, a selection of ‘total living’ is offered for both classic and contemporary tastes. Running parallel to ArtVerona for the first time, special exhibitions include a 25-year celebration of Sawaya & Moroni and Beautiful by Day, Beautiful by Night, featuring 16 totemic ceramics by Linde Burkhardt.

A festival that brings together 50 events and puts furniture, objects, industrial products, graphic design and architecture all under the spotlight. With a packed programme of exhibitions, conferences, private showings, film screenings, debates, visits to designers’ studios and more, along with championing Belgian players in the creative industries, the international event also sees Tom Dixon, FRONT design, Karim Rashid, Mathieu Lehanneur and BarberOsgerby taking part. Special projects include Visual Voltage, expressions of art and design from a Swedish perspective organised by Design Vlaanderen, and the Design Forum, which this year focuses on new challenges in packaging and examines European design competitions as a tool for creative and economic development.

Directed by the Danish Design Centre, Copenhagen Design Week’s programme is a mix of tradeshows, exhibitions, experiences, discussions and networking. This year’s edition focuses on social and environmental design and innovation, with each element exploring in its own way the positive power of design. Highlights include CODE 09, a trade fair of Danish & international design with a special display of Nordic design; It’s a Small World, an exhibition that looks at the new craftmanship in Danish design, craft and architecture; the INDEX award, exhibition and talk Designing for Good – What do You Get Out It? and Next Vision Bright Green Fashion, a sustainable fashion show presenting 10 young designers from Berlin and Copenhagen.