Nomads Future Lab
Chiang Mai is building the world's first nomad-friendly district. Come help design what it becomes.
September 1-28, 2026
WHAT IS THE NOMADS FUTURE LAB?
A 4-week applied design lab in Chiang Mai
The Nomads Future Lab is a one-month applied design lab. For four weeks, the cohort works inside Chiang Mai's Wat Ket district to help shape the Nomad Friendly District (NFD) into a model the world can learn from: a place where remote workers become a real benefit to the local community, not an extractive force.
Through fieldwork, design sprints, and work with residents, students, and government partners, participants produce a public Blueprint, a bilingual newspaper, and an exhibition during Main Week. NFD is based in Wat Ket, Chiang Mai's old riverside quarter and the district at the centre of this work.
Who is this coliving experience for?
For builders and researchers who want to help design the future of nomad-local districts
It's for people who want to shape what a nomad-local district can be on the ground, not from a distance: urbanists, architects, designers, and placemakers; civic-tech and systems thinkers; academics and policy researchers in economics, sociology, urban planning, or public policy; popup-village and community builders; and local Thai researchers and students. You don't need to be a digital nomad. You need a question or a craft to contribute, and a commitment to producing something the local community can actually use.
Program Snapshot
1-28 Sept
Chiang Mai
10–15 Participants,
invitation-first
Final Project:
NFD Blueprint, CosmoLocal Exhibition and Flyway newspaper
4-week program
Our program runs as an arc: understand the district, map its systems, then design NFD, closing at Main Week.
Week 1: Reading the District
The first week is immersion, getting the cohort genuinely inside Wat Ket before any design begins. It includes a local-led tour and participatory mapping of Wat Ket, interviews with residents and shop owners, and focus groups with Chiang Mai's digital nomad community.
CMU students join as co-researchers and translators, and by the end of the week the cohort sets its research questions and builds a shared District Baseline.
Week 2: The Operating System of a District
Week 2 moves to the systems level: the economics, governance, immigration, and infrastructure that decide whether a nomad district benefits locals.
It includes a structured interview series with government partners (TAT, the deputy governor's office, DEPA, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs) and a workshop with Prof. Phuwa Kitika on his research into community development with Japan, framing NFD as economic and business development. The output is the NFD Systems Map.
Week 3: Designing NFD
Week 3 turns research into design, through design sprints developing the NFD Blueprint and a CMU architecture charrette with Prof. Fan on physical nomad spaces in Wat Ket.
The cohort prototypes one or two concrete nomad-local benefit systems and produces Flyway, the bilingual (EN/TH) newspaper imagining the future of nomads and NFD. The output is NFD Blueprint v1 and exhibition materials.
Week 4: Main Week Exhibition
The cohort presents at the CosmoLocal Exhibition during Main Week (Sept 23-28) and launches Flyway.
On show: NFD Blueprint v1, the cohort's research and prototypes, CMU students' nomad-space designs, and the 'Voices of the District' interview series of panels, booklet, and optional audio.
The week closes with the Flyway newspaper launch and distribution.
What Will You Get After 4 Weeks?
Coliving experience takeaways
- A direct hand in designing NFD, the world's first intentionally built nomad-local district, through real fieldwork with residents, students, businesses, and policymakers.
- A published contribution: the NFD Blueprint, the Flyway newspaper, and a piece in the CosmoLocal Exhibition.
- Direct engagement with the Nomad Friendly District initiative and Chiang Mai's government partners.
- Collaboration with CMU students and faculty, local Wat Ket communities, and the city's nomad community.
- A network of urbanists, designers, researchers, and builders working on the future of cities and mobility.
- The experience of presenting your work to a live public audience of policymakers, community members, and researchers during Main Week.
Cosmo Local CNX
Part of Something Bigger: Cosmo Local CNX
This coliving experience is one of four happening simultaneously under CosmoLocal CNX, a month-long popup village in Chiang Mai's Wat Ket district in September 2026. The other coliving experiences cover Solopreneur, Food That Nourishes Us, and AI for Chiang Mai. Each brings together global participants and local communities around a shared theme. The month closes with a Main Week (September 23–28), when all participants and hundreds of additional guests come together for open events and showcases. Learn more about CosmoLocal CNX here.
The Nomads Future Lab cohort produces three things: the NFD Blueprint, the Flyway newspaper, and the CosmoLocal Exhibition, a public-facing showcase held during Main Week presenting the research, design proposals, and policy recommendations produced over the month.
The Exhibition is designed for multiple audiences at once: the academic and research community, Chiang Mai's urban planners and policymakers, the local Wat Ket community, and the broader CosmoLocal CNX gathering. It is the moment when a month of serious fieldwork becomes a contribution to the ongoing conversation about what Chiang Mai (and cities like it) could become.
coworking hub
Where you'll learn and work
All coliving experience participants across all four tracks have 24/7 access to Alt_PingRiver as their shared coworking hub for the month. Beyond desk space and high-speed internet, it's the venue for smaller workshops, informal cross-track meetups, and day-to-day collaboration.
The space also includes a common kitchen available to all participants for daily cooking, meal prep, and small food events throughout the month.
accommodation
Where you'll stay
Participants in the Nomads Future Lab stay at Alt_PingRiver, which is also the shared coworking hub for all four tracks. It sits in Chiang Mai’s Wat Ket neighbourhood along the Ping River, walkable to Warorot Market and most of the programme’s field venues.
Packages & Pricing
Ensuite Twin......................$1,200
Shared bedroom
Ensuite Single......................$1,600
Single or Double occupancy. Room configuration is King or Twin — King is the default; Twin (two separate beds) is available on request for double occupancy bookings.
collaborators
Who you'll learn from
Daniel Schlagwein
Program Lead, Sasin
Sam Chua
Program Lead, Seapunk Studios
Madelynn Martiniere
Program Lead
Prof. Fan
CMU Faculty of Architecture
Prof. Phuwa Kitika
Assoc. Professor, CMU Architecture
Frequent Asked questions
Any queries?
How do I apply?
Fill out the application form via the Apply Now button above. Tell us about your research background and what you're hoping to investigate during the month. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis, spots are limited.
Do I need to be an academic to join?
No. The cohort is intentionally broad: urbanists, architects, designers, and placemakers; civic-tech and systems thinkers; academics and policy researchers; popup-village and community builders; and local Thai researchers and students. You don't need to be a digital nomad or an academic. What matters is that you bring a question or a craft to contribute, and a commitment to producing something the local community can actually use.
What disciplines are relevant?
The Lab is genuinely interdisciplinary. Economics, sociology, urban planning, architecture, public policy, geography, anthropology, information systems, and environmental design are all directly relevant. If your field has something to say about how mobile global workers and local communities share space and resources, you belong here.
Are scholarships available?
Yes. We are working with universities and government partners to make a limited number of scholarship places available for students and early-career researchers. See the Scholarship Programme section above for eligibility and how to apply.
What is the Nomad Friendly District, and why does it matter for this research?
The Nomad Friendly District (NFD) is Chiang Mai's provincial-level policy sandbox, Thailand's first programme designed to test and refine policies for integrating digital nomads into a city's economy and community. Endorsed by the Governor of Chiang Mai and backed by national government agencies, it is one of the only active policy experiments of its kind in the world. Nomads Future Lab participants have direct access to the people running it, a research opportunity that doesn't exist anywhere else.
What is CosmoLocal CNX and how does the Lab fit into it?
CosmoLocal CNX is a month-long popup village in Chiang Mai's Wat Ket district, running through all of September 2026. Four coliving experiences happen simultaneously: Nomads Future Lab, Solopreneur, Food That Nourishes Us, and AI for Chiang Mai, each with its own cohort and theme, all sharing the same neighbourhood and coworking hub. As a Lab participant, your primary community is the research cohort, but you'll be living and working alongside founders, food practitioners, and AI builders throughout the month. That cross-disciplinary mix is itself part of what you're studying.
What is the CosmoLocal Exhibition?
The CosmoLocal Exhibition is the Nomads Future Lab's final project, held during Main Week (September 23–28). It's a public-facing showcase of the research, design proposals, and policy recommendations produced by the cohort over the month, open to Chiang Mai's policymakers, community members, the broader CosmoLocal CNX gathering, and the international research community attending Main Week. It's designed to be both a rigorous research output and an accessible public contribution.
Do I need to be there for the full month?
Yes. The research builds progressively over four weeks, and the cohort's collective fieldwork depends on everyone being present throughout. We ask participants to commit to the full month, including Main Week and the Exhibition. If you have a specific scheduling conflict, reach out before applying.
What happens after the month?
The research doesn't stop when the month ends. Participants leave with fieldwork, data, and a completed output, and the relationships built during the month often continue as ongoing research collaborations. CosmoLocal CNX is designed to grow year on year, and the Nomads Future Lab cohort from year one will be part of how the research agenda develops. We hope people come back, build on what they started, and help shape what the Lab becomes.