I do not intend to summarise the main points from the speakers' papers. I do want to establish the nature of the question, why it arises, and some reference points that might aid navigation through the day's proceedings.This year's theme is "what is knowledge?"We are not interested in the question in the context of traditional epistemology: it is not the philosopher's question, although may be a philosophical question.Rather we ask: "What is "knowledge" in art and design?"The question is not "what do we know in art and design", such as its history, but "what do we mean by the term knowledge in the context of research in art and design?"