Design is a relational act, not an isolated transaction. Land, water, animals, ancestors, and natural forces are all kin within the system you are creating. Every design decision must honor these relationships, recognizing that non-human entities also hold agency, wisdom, and the right to thrive alongside human communities.

Rather than pushing outcomes through control or efficiency models, Dreamforming encourages systems to emerge naturally. Designs should grow in rhythm with story, ceremony, observation, and listening. Emergent systems are more resilient, adaptable, and alive, reflecting how nature and communities evolve rather than being rigidly imposed or manufactured.

Dreams, visions, ceremony, and intuition are vital sources of insight. They are not secondary to research or data — they are knowledge forms in their own right. Dreamforming requires that spiritual, emotional, and intuitive knowledges shape design decisions alongside technical expertise, creating systems that are more holistic and alive.

Every act of design must consider its effects many generations into the future. Dreamforming asks us to design not only for immediate users or communities but also for future ancestors, ecosystems, and cultures. Sustainable, regenerative thinking must be built into every layer of the product or service.

Story is not just communication—it is law, history, connection, and future-making. Dreamforming requires designers to treat story with reverence, ensuring it remains living, relational, and protected. Systems must elevate Indigenous storytelling traditions, not flatten them into content or commodify them through extraction or decontextualization.

Living systems change and shift with seasons, community needs, and spiritual guidance. Products and services must be intentionally designed to allow for evolution and emergence over time. Rigidity suffocates; flexibility, community ownership, and responsiveness ensure that systems can breathe and remain relevant across generations.

Nature’s designs—fractals, flow networks, symbiotic relationships—offer resilient, intelligent templates for systems. Dreamforming draws lessons from natural law, favouring design approaches that mirror ecological patterns, seasonal cycles, and the adaptive intelligence found in living systems. Designing with, rather than against, natural rhythms creates systems that endure and heal.

Designers are spiritually accountable to land, ancestors, and future generations—not just to project metrics or stakeholders. Every decision should be taken with conscious reflection: "Am I honouring the spirit and community this work touches?" Accountability extends beyond deliverables into the moral, relational, and sacred dimensions of creation.

Not all knowledge is meant to be seen, explained, or revealed. Some truths belong only to Country, to spirit, or to specific custodians. Dreamforming accepts that mystery is essential, and designs must work around and respect these sacred unknowns, rather than demanding full access, visibility, or control.

Dreamforming requires that we move beyond merely "doing less harm" into actively regenerating what has been wounded—land, culture, spirit, and community. Efficiency must not be the final goal; healing, nurturing, and strengthening ecosystems must be embedded at every layer of the system’s design, from conception to delivery.

There is no single truth in Dreamforming. Systems must be designed to accommodate multiple stories, identities, realities, and ways of knowing. Simplifying Indigenous realities into one narrative or flattening complexity for convenience causes harm. Designs must honour the full, layered richness of cultural, spiritual, and ecological diversity.

True relational design means building reciprocity into the core system—not adding it later as charity or community benefit. Dreamforming calls for embedded cycles of giving back: returning knowledge, resources, care, and opportunities to communities, lands, and cultural custodians who have made the creation of the system possible.

Design must unfold at the rhythms of the natural world and ceremonial calendars, not at artificial project timelines. Seasons, cultural obligations, and community readiness must dictate project milestones. Moving at the pace of trust, ceremony, and season allows systems to be truly grounded, relational, and resilient.

Every act of interaction—whether a digital touchpoint, a service offering, or a learning exchange—should be treated as ceremony: an opportunity to honour connection, spirit, and story. Dreamforming designs experiences that are sacred acts of care, bringing together the seen and unseen to sustain life across generations.