We will be speaking at Reclaiming Hope, a two-day symposium on speculative design and related practices. in Novo Gorica. It will address themes around speculative design and related practices in the context of (local) future challenges.
Hope in all its forms is a vital part of our current streams of work. The call for the event noted that:
"Historically, design and architecture, as worldmaking agents, have had the agility to explore diverse versions of the world using speculation and imagination. The symposium, "RECLAIMING HOPE: Navigate (un)certainty, imagine better futures" aims to explore speculative, future-oriented, and critical practices in design and architecture. It brings together educators, design theorists and practitioners, city planners, social innovators, local communities, municipalities, and international and EU institutions. The focus will be on sharing approaches and practices to examine how potential futures can contribute to shaping the present. The event aims to foster discussions and collaboration among diverse stakeholders, starting from the bottom-up level. Its goal is to explore and propose fluid collaborative platforms needed to discuss what is a better, i.e. preferable future and for whom, and to create possible paths and actionable plans toward those futures."
We look forward to bringing in our experiences working with possible futures and preferred futures, with open eyed and active hope. With conscious unknowing, ambivalence and openness, we imagine that possible futures can be lived into without getting too caught up in control illusions. We know that hope is a verb, something that must be done, something that is a discipline, a practice, the result of and the basis for action in the world. It is not a guarantee, and it is neither necessary nor sufficient, but it can be useful.
This event is being organised by the Centre for Creativity/Museum of Architecture and Design Ljubljana in collaboration with international partners. It is also an official part of the European Capital of Culture GO! 2025 Nova Gorica.