The Mikser Festival in Belgrade launched an exciting journey with the Next Gen educational program, offering visitors a comprehensive exploration through various festival segments, including talks, workshops, and exhibitions. From the 23rd to the 25th of May, the festival delved into topics such as circular design, sustainability, crafts and traditions as design inspiration, the use of locally sourced materials, community engagement, and more.
Plamena Halaceva, Deputy Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia, inaugurated the Next Gen Edu Talks with an inspiring speech, emphasizing the importance of youth-focused projects in paving the way for a more sustainable future. She highlighted the dual empowerment of young designers through education and consumers through eco-conscious behavior and sustainable product choices.
Henriette Waal, an artist and designer, presented the concept of micro-designers and discussed how exploring local resources in bioregions can stimulate ecological, economic, and social transitions. She underscored the significance of interdisciplinary collaboration in achieving sustainable development goals.
Matej Fegus, CEO of Donar, showcased his innovative business model focused on creating sustainable furniture using PET-Felt technology. This approach not only produces eco-friendly products but also emphasizes the potential for repurposing waste materials into valuable industrial resources.
Orhan Niksić from the Bosnian and Herzegovinian company Zanat illustrated how tradition and innovation in contemporary design can coexist. He shared the evolution of Zanat from a family business started by his father, a woodcarver, to a company collaborating with renowned designers while preserving and nourishing traditional craftsmanship. Niksić also detailed how these skills are passed on to new generations, ensuring the continuation of this heritage, which is recognized and listed as UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage.
The Mikser Festival also hosted the first in a series of Next Gen Design Master Classes. The Mikser edition of the Master Class focused on Circular Design and was led by Jelena Matic, a professor from the Faculty of Forestry in Serbia specializing in furniture and sustainable design. The session brought together 16 young, passionate designers to explore sustainable practices through theory and practical challenges. Participants learned about the principles of circular design, tackled real-world problems, and presented their innovative design solutions. The master class concluded with the youth designers feeling inspired and optimistic about driving future advancements in circular design.
The Next Gen program at Mikser also engaged the youngest visitors, children aged 12 to 15, through the “Designathon workshop: How to improve spaces for free time using circular design?” The workshop empowered young participants to reimagine urban spaces through circular design, envisioning ideal areas for leisure. Led by the KidHub team, the event emphasized the importance of children’s perspectives in urban planning and showcased a movement toward a more inclusive and sustainable city landscape.
As we conclude the first part of the Next Gen journey in Belgrade at the Mikser Festival, we pass the baton to What Design Can Do in Amsterdam, where the Next Gen Design adventure