Reclaiming Hope – Design for (Un)certain Futures

In September 2025, Nova Gorica, Slovenia, will become the stage for Reclaiming Hope: Design for (Un)certain Futures—an ambitious international symposium and summer school. At its core lies a pressing challenge: how can design help us navigate uncertainty and shape fairer, more resilient, and more hopeful futures? 

The event is rooted in the acclaimed SpeculativeEdu project, an initiative that examined speculative and critical design practices. Nova Gorica, as the European Capital of Culture 2025, provides the perfect setting to expand on this legacy, drawing international experts, educators, and emerging designers into dialogue. 

We live in a time of polycrisis: environmental degradation, social upheaval, technological disruption, and political instability. These interconnected challenges affect local communities on multiple levels—socially, economically, culturally, and psychologically. Traditional models of problem-solving no longer suffice. A new approach is needed, one that uses imagination as a tool for resilience. 

As curator Ivica Mitrović frames it:
“It is today’s challenge to revisit how design and architectural thinking and can contribute to reclaiming imaginations of the future and shape new, bright, and viable paths.” 

Designed to experiment with speculative, critical, and future-oriented design practices, by focusing on three key factors; Knowledge Exchange: A unique opportunity for dialogue between established experts, educators, and the next generation of designers, Community Impact: Tackling regional and local challenges through collective imagination, New Collaborations: Building bridges between institutions, municipalities and communities, and Shifts in Perspective: Positioning design and architecture not just as problem-solvers but as worldmaking practices. 

Reclaiming Hope aims to plant seeds for ongoing collaboration. By reframing uncertainty as a design tool rather than an obstacle, the event positions Nova Gorica as a hub of forward-thinking creativity within Europe’s cultural landscape. The symposium and summer school will leave behind not only a curated publication but also a network of practitioners dedicated to co-creating more just and hopeful futures, demonstrating how international collaboration, critical imagination, and community engagement can turn today’s crises into opportunities for reinvention. It is more than an event—it is an open call to rethink how we live, collaborate, and design futures together. 

More info & registration: https://www.rehope.czk.si/