Trend forecaster Li Edelkoort spoke to Dezeen live from Cape Town in our first Screentime conversation of Virtual Design Festival. Watch the interview here or on our YouTube channel.

Edelkoort, a trend forecaster who runs New York-based forecasting agency Edelkoort Inc, spoke to Dezeen's founder and editor-in-chief Marcus Fairs from South Africa, where she is sitting out the coronavirus pandemic.

Edelkoort discussed her work, including her new "hope" manifesto, which was published exclusively on Dezeen earlier today.

The conversation is the first in Dezeen's Screentime series, in which we stream live and as-live video discussions with designers, architects and creatives around the world as part of Virtual Design Festival.

Edelkoort is one of the most influential figures in design and fashion. Originally from the Netherlands, she is now based between Paris and New York, and is an advisor to consumer brands around the world. She was chairwoman of the Design Academy Eindhoven between 1998 and 2008, and is currently dean of Hybrid Design Studies at Parsons School of Design in New York.

In an exclusive interview that became Dezeen's most-read ever article, Edelkoort argued that the disruption caused by the coronavirus outbreak could lead to positive changes for the environment and society.

She said she hopes that, as our travel, production and consumption patterns are upended, humanity would put a better system in place "with more respect for human labour and conditions".

Virtual Design Festival is the world's first online design festival, taking place from 15 April to 30 June. For more information, or to be added to the mailing list, contact us at [email protected].