Reclaiming Hope: Navigate (Un)certainty, Imagine Better (Local) Futures
The international symposium, organized by the Center for Creativity / MAO in collaboration with numerous international partners and the organizers of the fifth edition of the Design+Science Summer School, will address the different ways in which design and architecture confront the uncertainty of today’s world and shape a fairer, more resilient, and more imaginative future – especially as a response to local and regional challenges.
The two-day international symposium program includes presentations with two keynote speakers, invited lectures, and panel discussions. In addition to lectures, the symposium offers morning coffee gatherings and workshops, creating a space for in-depth reflection and speculation on the role of design and architecture in developing shared urban networks, processes, and beliefs.
The full program is available here, and information about logistics is available here.
The symposium is curated by Dr. Ivica Mitriović, Associate Professor at the Department of Visual Communications Design at the Academy of Arts (University of Split), who wrote on the topic of the symposium: “We live in an age of polycrisis, when in the near future we can expect the realization of extreme and catastrophic scenarios. The future has clearly not turned out to be as bright as the Western world imagined in the second half of the 20th century. Such futures bring drastic changes not only to the natural environment but also to our social, cultural, economic, and political relations, reshaping power structures and increasing social inequalities. These global threats are present in the local community every day and on multiple levels, from the social, economic, technological, and environmental to the psychological. This complex context requires reflection on how communities can work together in addressing specific, local challenges. Historically, design and architecture, as forces shaping the world, have had the agility to explore, through speculation and imagination, different possibilities of the world. Today’s challenge is to reconsider how design and architectural thinking and practice can contribute to reawakening imagination and shaping potential new, brighter pathways for the future. This is particularly important in the educational context, where universities, research centers, and design and art institutions should be the most dynamic speculative spaces.”
The symposium, part of the European Capital of Culture 2025 Nova Gorica - Gorizia programme, will take place on 18 and 19 September at the EPICenter Nova Gorica.
Participation in the symposium is free of charge, but prior registration is required: https://czk.si/reclaiming-hope-symposium-registration-form/
More information about the symposium: https://www.rehope.czk.si/
The multidisciplinary Design + Science Summer School encourages research and experimentation in the fields of design and science. These two disciplines, rooted in imagination and world-making, have long provided tools to explore alternative realities. Today, their speculative power is more crucial than ever. What happens in a world that insists “there is no alternative,” if we dare to imagine one anyway? And what if utopia is not naive, but necessary?
The summer school, led by renowned experts, will bring together participants from a wide range of fields – design, architecture, art, computer science, social sciences, natural sciences, and more. The program, open to master’s and doctoral students as well as young professionals, focuses on teamwork. The school does not follow a fixed methodology but encourages open and flexible processes, enabling each group to define its own approach and direction throughout the course.
Participation in the summer school is limited to selected applicants, and all places are already filled!
https://www.designscience.school/