Author: 9ve8c

INTERLOOM turns discarded inner bike tubes into adaptable wearables built for people who move through the world on their own terms.

Define the problem/need you are solving or addressing with your project. How does it address the Open Call criteria, such as environmental impact, social engagement, circularity, user experience, resource efficiency, and community-driven solutions?

Most products are designed to be replaced, not repaired. INTERLOOM challenges that by working with a material that is already at the end of its life, discarded inner bike tubes, and turning it into something durable and adaptable. The modular system means components can be swapped, repaired, or resized rather than discarded, keeping the product in use longer. Materials are sourced locally in Eindhoven, keeping the supply chain short and energy use low. Beyond the material, the project is connected to a real community, free party and sound system culture, where function and adaptability matter because conditions are unpredictable. The pieces respond to that. INTERLOOM is not about sustainability as a trend. It is about making well-crafted objects from discarded materials. Craftsmanship is also part of the equation. Through an internship in Haute Couture, Josquin developed a precise understanding of garment construction, a standard he carries into every piece.

Please describe your project, reflecting on the concept, inspiration, materials, technical aspects, methods and process(es).

INTERLOOM started from a personal need. Coming from free party and sound system culture meant long journeys, walking through forests, and sometimes having to move fast. That reality drove the need for wearables that are functional, adaptable, and built for unpredictable situations. The material came from that same world of overlooked things, inner bike tubes collected from local shops in Eindhoven. They are durable, water resistant, and widely discarded. The core technique is hand weaving, structuring the tubes into a rigid yet flexible surface. The weave used as an adaptable system allows components to be attached, detached, resized, and replaced. There are products designed for similar situations, but INTERLOOM also speaks to the people who use them those who exist outside the mainstream, much like the material itself. Each piece is made by hand with a level of craft informed by Josquin’s experience in Haute Couture garment construction.

What do you think makes your project innovative compared to the existing efforts and ideas in the field it addresses?

Most products made from recycled materials use sustainability as a selling point while the object itself remains conventional. INTERLOOM doesn’t lead with that. The recycled material is a starting point, not a marketing angle.
What makes it different is the combination of things it brings together, a modular system that genuinely extends the life of the product, a material that is locally sourced and otherwise discarded, and a level of craft that makes it hard to believe where it comes from. The pieces are also connected to a real community and a real set of needs, not a trend.
It is not the first product made from bike tubes, and it doesn’t claim to be. But the intersection of function, craft, cultural context, and a system designed to last rather than be replaced is what sets it apart.

Does it impact or reflect young people need(s) and how?

I work with materials that are thrown away for a culture that doesn’t fit in. The goal is to make something so well-crafted you forget where it came from because both deserve a second look.

Just Bones is a material research project that transforms discarded animal bones into a biodegradable material, rooted in Iceland’s tradition of utilising bones as part of everyday life.

Define the problem/need you are solving or addressing with your project. How does it address the Open Call criteria, such as environmental impact, social engagement, circularity, user experience, resource efficiency, and community-driven solutions?

Modern meat production generates large quantities of waste, while society simultaneously struggles with the environmental cost of non-biodegradable materials. Just Bones addresses both challenges by transforming discarded animal bones into a durable, biodegradable material, similar in strength to MDF, capable of being moulded, drilled, sawn, and laser-cut.
The project is rooted in Icelandic heritage. Historically, survival in Iceland demanded extreme resourcefulness. For example, bones were used in everyday life, carved into buttons, used as toys, and as tools because nothing was wasted. Just Bones is a modern expression of this tradition.
Living on an island creates an awareness of materials, or perhaps the very lack of materials available. It’s important to explore discarded matter from different perspectives and find new opportunities for utilization.
Rather than creating new demand for animal products, the project works with what already exists. Just Bones strives to transform cultural memory into a modern material future.

Please describe your project, reflecting on the concept, inspiration, materials, technical aspects, methods and process(es).

Just Bones is a material research project developing a strong, natural biomaterial made entirely from animal bones. The process involves two methods: bones are heated and ground into a fine powder, and are separately processed into bone glue, which acts as a binder. Mixed together, the result is a material comparable in strength to MDF. It is liquid when mixed, allowing it to be moulded like ceramics, and once hardened, it can be drilled, sawed, and laser cut. Different heating methods produce colour variations in the material.
Objects made so far include urns and miniature toy horses, each referencing Icelandic cultural history.
The material is prepared entirely by hand. This deliberate slowness is central to the work, ensuring each bone, often dismissed as waste, is handled with intention and care throughout the entire process.

What do you think makes your project innovative compared to the existing efforts and ideas in the field it addresses?

If we make the choice to consume meat, it is our responsibility to utilize the whole animal and do it with as little pollution to our planet as possible. Just Bones reflects on society’s meat consumption and the question of waste that follows it. The project is an example of how various opportunities are hidden in our immediate environment. By exploring familiar materials from different perspectives, new opportunities for utilisation can be found. The material is strong for as long as you need it to be, and is designed to disappear when it is no longer needed. It can be dissolved in water and returned to nature. The project draws on the Icelandic heritage of utilising bones and translates this into a contemporary material practice. The project suggests that innovation for the future can come by looking back, finding answers in the resourcefulness of those who came before us.

Does it impact or reflect young people need(s) and how?

Just Bones invites people to reconsider where materials come from and what happens to them after use, a question that feels increasingly relevant in a world of mass production and disposable culture. Just Bones hopefully inspires people to seek material alternatives in unsuspected places, in what is already around us, waste that, with care and curiosity, can become something to treat as precious treasures.

KomshiLOOK is a community-based model that turns residential spaces into collective places of culture, connection and pride, shaped by local residents and shared experiences that strengthen relationships, neighbourhood belonging and everyday forms of citizenship.

Define the problem/need you are solving or addressing with your project. How does it address the Open Call criteria, such as environmental impact, social engagement, circularity, user experience, resource efficiency, and community-driven solutions?

Komsiluk is a Balkan value based on care, responsibility, proximity and the everyday practice of living with others. Yet in many contemporary residential areas, these bonds are weakening. Shared spaces still exist, but they are often underused and rarely seen as places for participation, exchange or collective life. KomshiLOOK starts from look as an invitation to pay closer attention to our surroundings. Through multidisciplinary art formats, it reuses existing residential architecture, local knowledge and everyday routines, transforming these environments into low-resource, community-driven cultural spaces. This method connects social engagement with resource-conscious practice, using adaptation instead of new construction. By activating places where people already live, it nurtures relationships, reinforces neighbourhood identity and encourages participation as a form of citizenship. Through this process, residents become co-curators and co-authors, shaping a cultural experience that reflects local identity while reinforcing responsibility, recognition, and collective ownership of shared space.

Please describe your project, reflecting on the concept, inspiration, materials, technical aspects, methods and process(es).

KomshiLOOK is a one-day neighbourhood format created through a three-month collaborative curatorial process. It is designed for residential areas of different social and cultural backgrounds, in both urban and rural settings, usually involving communities of up to 300 residents or about 150 households. Each edition includes over 100 participants and reaches around 2,000 visitors. The project places multidisciplinary art formats inside private and semi-private spaces, from balconies and windows to yards and domestic interiors. Residents take on small but meaningful hosting roles, while artists and creatives develop the programme through spatial dramaturgy and close collaboration with the community. In this way, neighbours also encounter new artistic formats and ways of participating in culture. The result is a collective process shaped from within the neighbourhood itself, making KomshiLOOK a one-day rehearsal of an ideal neighbourhood, where everyone contributes to a shared experience.

What do you think makes your project innovative compared to the existing efforts and ideas in the field it addresses?

KomshiLOOK connects social practice, spatial design and multidisciplinary art in one community-based model. It places culture inside the neighbourhood itself, using existing architecture as a living platform for collaboration. Through different artistic-formats and a process of spatial dramaturgy, it creates new ways of meeting and working together in places where culture is often absent or inaccessible. Its value lies not only in artistic output, but in building trust, collaboration and resilience. The artistic programme becomes one layer of a wider process in which people begin relating differently to one another and to the spaces they share. In this sense, KomshiLOOK functions both as a cultural format and as a model for active neighbourhood citizenship. It is a low-resource, adaptable approach that offers a strong alternative to institution-based programming and top-down community engagement. It also brings together multigenerational residents from different backgrounds, connected not by profession or status, but simply neighbours.

Does it impact or reflect young people need(s) and how?

KomshiLOOK reflects young people’s needs by responding to the lack of accessible, meaningful and participatory cultural spaces in everyday life. Many young people experience culture as distant, expensive, institutional, or disconnected from their own environment. KomshiLOOK brings art directly into neighbourhoods, streets, villages and shared spaces, making participation easier, more open and more relevant.

It also responds to the need for visibility, belonging, expressio and connection. Through the project, young people gain space to experiment, meet others and see their surroundings differently.

KomshiLOOK supports social imagination, local pride and a sense of agency. It shows young people that culture can happen where they are, and that they can actively shape public life, community relations and the identity of their own environment. It also offers a strong example for future generations and a reminder of what it means to be a good neighbour.

La Galeta is a self-sufficient cooperative housing project that integrates interior design with urban agriculture to promote well-being, social interaction, and spatial flexibility within a sustainable community environment.

Define the problem/need you are solving or addressing with your project. How does it address the Open Call criteria, such as environmental impact, social engagement, circularity, user experience, resource efficiency, and community-driven solutions?

La Galeta addresses the urban disconnect from food sources and the lack of community-driven housing in Barcelona by transforming the historic Viñas & Co. factory in Poblenou into a self-sufficient cooperative. The project responds to city-specific challenges like gentrification and the loss of industrial heritage by integrating interior design with urban agriculture.

It meets Open Call criteria through significant environmental impact and resource efficiency, using bioclimatic strategies and advanced cultivation to produce local food. Circularity is central, repurposing a traditional industrial site to minimize waste. The user experience is enhanced by flexible, modular housing that evolves with residents’ needs, promoting long-term well-being. By fostering social engagement through shared management and interactive cultivation spaces, La Galeta provides a community-driven solution that strengthens neighborly bonds and creates a resilient urban ecosystem where living and local food production are inextricably linked.

Please describe your project, reflecting on the concept, inspiration, materials, technical aspects, methods and process(es).

La Galeta is a cooperative housing project in Barcelona’s Poblenou district that transforms the historic Viñas & Co. factory into a self-sufficient community. The concept, “Habitar Cultivando” (Living by Cultivating), integrates interior design with urban agriculture to foster well-being and social interaction. Inspired by the area’s industrial architecture, the project features two central towers with a structure similar to a gasometer, conceptually representing the factory’s original chimneys.

The technical approach focuses on bioclimatic efficiency and spatial flexibility, utilizing modular housing units that adapt to residents’ changing needs. Methods include various indoor cultivation techniques supported by dedicated hydraulic and electrical infrastructures. The process involved an extensive study of Barcelona’s industrial heritage and Mediterranean climate to ensure resource efficiency. By repurposing industrial materials and structures, La Galeta emphasizes circularity while creating a resilient, community-driven urban ecosystem where history and sustainability coexist.

What do you think makes your project innovative compared to the existing efforts and ideas in the field it addresses?

La Galeta stands out for its radical integration of domestic space with professional-grade urban agriculture within an industrial heritage context. Unlike traditional community gardens or green housing, this project internalizes production through two central “gasometer-inspired” towers that act as the building’s lungs and larder. This structural choice innovatively reinterprets Barcelona’s industrial chimneys, turning symbols of pollution into beacons of sustainability.

The project moves beyond static architecture by implementing modular, adaptable housing units that respond to the evolving lifecycle of a cooperative. Technically, it bridges the gap between interior design and complex agricultural engineering, incorporating specific hydraulic and electrical infrastructures for indoor farming. By prioritizing “Habitar Cultivando” (Living by Cultivating), La Galeta transforms the act of food production from a peripheral hobby into a core communal activity, offering a scalable model for urban food sovereignty and social resilience in densifying Mediterranean cities.

Does it impact or reflect young people need(s) and how?

La Galeta directly addresses the needs of young people in Barcelona by providing an affordable, community-led alternative to a restrictive housing market. It offers a space where younger generations can regain agency through collective ownership and flexible living arrangements that adapt to their evolving professional and personal lives.

A key impact is the preservation and transmission of knowledge; by integrating urban agriculture into daily life, the project revives “dying trades” and traditional ecological knowledge, such as seasonal crop rotation and artisanal food preservation, that are often lost in digitized urban environments. This “learning by doing” approach provides young residents with tangible, self-sufficiency skills and a sense of purpose. Furthermore, the project addresses the “loneliness epidemic” by creating a built environment that mandates social interaction and intergenerational mentorship, fostering a resilient community where young people can grow both their food and their social networks.

meelo is a multisensory activation system for people with dementia that connects personal photo tokens with recorded stories, music and sounds, making memories easy to access and helping caregivers create moments of connection and engagement.

Define the problem/need you are solving or addressing with your project. How does it address the Open Call criteria, such as environmental impact, social engagement, circularity, user experience, resource efficiency, and community-driven solutions?

People living with dementia often face social isolation, stigma and limited opportunities for meaningful engagement. Caregivers frequently lack biographical knowledge and simple tools to support conversation and emotional connection, while many digital solutions are too complex for people with cognitive decline.
meelo addresses this need through an intuitive activation system that links personal memories like photos, stories, music and sounds to tangible tokens that trigger audio and multisensory experiences. The system was co-designed in close cooperation with people living with dementia and caregivers, ensuring accessibility, dignity and a positive user experience.
The project strengthens social engagement and community-driven care by enabling families and caregivers to collaboratively create meaningful content. In addition, meelo follows a circular product approach: it is designed for durability, repair and recycling, and integrates a digital product passport to support transparency, responsible material use and long-term resource efficiency.

Please describe your project, reflecting on the concept, inspiration, materials, technical aspects, methods and process(es).

Caregivers use an AI-supported app to link short, personal audio stories, music and sounds to tangible photo tokens. When a token is placed on the audio box, the corresponding memory plays automatically. Optional multisensory modules such as light, video or scent can further enhance the experience.
The audiobox of meelo is inspired by early radios, because they were present throughout most of the lives of the target group. This familiar form reduces technological barriers and supports intuitive use.
The system was developed through a user-centered design process in close collaboration with people living with dementia and caregivers. Materials are selected for resource efficiency and durability, and the product is designed so components can be separated by material type for repair and recycling. This approach supports a circular product lifecycle while enabling meaningful shared moments that foster conversation, emotional connection and activation.

What do you think makes your project innovative compared to the existing efforts and ideas in the field it addresses?

meelo is innovative because it combines tangible interaction, personalized storytelling and multisensory activation in a system specifically designed for people with dementia. Instead of relying on complex screens or menus, familiar photo tokens trigger memories through a simple physical action, making the system accessible even as cognitive abilities decline.
Another key innovation is the combination of physical and digital elements: an AI-supported app enables caregivers and families to easily create and personalize content, while the audio box translates this into an intuitive, shared experience.
The project also integrates sustainability and circular design. The device is developed for durability, repair and recycling, and includes a digital product passport to improve transparency and resource efficiency throughout the product lifecycle.
Finally, meelo was co-designed with people living with dementia and caregivers, ensuring that the solution directly reflects the real needs, abilities and everyday contexts of its users.

Does it impact or reflect young people need(s) and how?

Although dementia mainly affects older adults, it strongly impacts younger generations as family members, informal caregivers and future care professionals. As dementia cases are expected to increase significantly in the coming decades, younger people will increasingly face the challenge of supporting relatives with cognitive decline.
meelo helps younger generations stay connected with affected family members by providing an intuitive way to share memories, stories and music. Through the app, children and grandchildren can easily contribute personal content, strengthening intergenerational interaction and emotional bonds.
The project also raises awareness about dementia, empathy and inclusive design, encouraging younger people to engage with the topic and participate in meaningful care practices. By combining digital tools with simple tangible interaction, meelo demonstrates how future care solutions can be accessible, human-centered and socially connected, addressing a growing societal challenge that will affect younger generations both personally and professionally.

Minisponge rethinks the single-use bathing ritual in hospitality by merging packaging and product into one biodegradable system that reduces plastic, volume, and waste at the source.

Define the problem/need you are solving or addressing with your project. How does it address the Open Call criteria, such as environmental impact, social engagement, circularity, user experience, resource efficiency, and community-driven solutions?

Daily hygiene products are still designed within a linear consumption model based on synthetic materials, plastic packaging, and immediate disposal. This issue becomes more critical in the hospitality sector, where single-use amenities generate large volumes of waste, unnecessary packaging, and inefficient logistics. Minisponge addresses this problem by rethinking the structure of the product itself. Instead of separating packaging and product, it integrates both into a single biodegradable system. The soap-based wrapper dissolves during use, activating the sponge while eliminating packaging waste at the source.

This approach reduces material use, transport volume, and final waste, while improving user experience through simplicity and functionality. By redesigning an everyday ritual, the project contributes to circular thinking and promotes more responsible consumption patterns in both hospitality and travel contexts.

Please describe your project, reflecting on the concept, inspiration, materials, technical aspects, methods and process(es).

Minisponge is based on a simple idea: merging packaging and product into a single functional unit. The project rethinks the conventional bathing sponge by turning its wrapper into an active part of the experience. The system consists of a compressed vegetal sponge enclosed within a solid soap-based wrapper. When in contact with water, the soap dissolves, creating foam that is absorbed by the sponge, making it ready for use while the packaging disappears. The design process focused on reducing material layers and eliminating unnecessary structures, prioritising clarity and functionality. Materials were selected for their biodegradability and compatibility, allowing both elements to work as a single system. By integrating use and disposal into one gesture, Minisponge transforms a common object into a more efficient and intentional solution.

What do you think makes your project innovative compared to the existing efforts and ideas in the field it addresses?

What makes Minisponge innovative is not the material itself, but the way the system is structured. Instead of improving packaging or replacing it with alternative materials, the project removes the need for it by integrating packaging and product into a single element. The soap-based wrapper becomes part of the use, dissolving with water and disappearing during the process. This eliminates waste at the source, rather than managing it afterwards. By removing packaging as a separate layer, Minisponge proposes a structural shift in how single-use products are designed, moving from material substitution to a more integrated and efficient system.

Does it impact or reflect young people need(s) and how?

Minisponge responds to the needs of younger generations, who often travel frequently and look for practical, lightweight, and efficient solutions. Hygiene products can be bulky, restricted by liquid limits, and inconvenient to carry. The project offers a compact, solid alternative that simplifies this experience. Its format reduces volume and weight, making it easier to pack, transport, and use on the go, without compromising functionality. At the same time, it aligns with a growing awareness around waste and overconsumption. By eliminating unnecessary packaging and integrating it into the product itself, Minisponge provides a more convenient and responsible way to approach everyday hygiene while travelling.

The project activates regenerative rural economies by reorienting ancestral Mediterranean crafts into a circular, socially responsible design system that empowers local communities and new generations through material knowledge, collective agency, and symbolic narration.

Define the problem/need you are solving or addressing with your project. How does it address the Open Call criteria, such as environmental impact, social engagement, circularity, user experience, resource efficiency, and community-driven solutions?

Maratea, like many other rural Mediterranean areas, is experiencing a progressive erosion of economic autonomy and intergenerational continuity, due to intensive seasonal tourism and a lack of job opportunities for the young generations. Traditional craft knowledge — once embedded in everyday survival economies — is abandoned, leaving communities structurally dependent on external systems of production. This condition produces both economic fragility and symbolic disorientation: younger generations inherit territories deprived of viable models for dignified, locally grounded work. Nuova Libbaneria Mediterranea responds to this structural gap by constructing an alternative micro-economy rooted in craft knowledge, collective production, and locally sourced innovative materials. Through collaboration with young designers, the project addresses the urgent need to reactivate dormant competencies as infrastructure for future-oriented and resilient systems.

Please describe your project, reflecting on the concept, inspiration, materials, technical aspects, methods and process(es).

Tenacissimae is both a collection and a system, reinterpreting Maratea’s traditional “libbani” (vegetable ropes historically woven by women in a barter-based survival economy) into contemporary functional and poetic objects. Recovered through archival research and interviews by Nuova Libbaneria Mediterranea, the ropes are handwoven from an abundant indigenous grass called “tagliamani” (hand-cutting). Production is community-based, small-scale, and technology-independent, with a group of newly trained artisans preserving and cultivating this ancestral knowledge. The Tenacissimae collection includes different outdoor furniture pieces with variable headrests, ideally elevating the posture of the women who wove the history of the city with their hands, symbolically crowning them with haloes. The title references the tenacity of both the grass and the makers – from the past as well as from the present. Besides the furniture pieces, Sara Bologna and Libbaneria are currently developing a new collection of small objects and jewellery intended to address new markets.

What do you think makes your project innovative compared to the existing efforts and ideas in the field it addresses?

The innovation of Tenacissimae lies in its situated and material-based systemic integration. The project addresses:

Economic sustainability, through the generation of alternative rural income streams.
In addition to these recognized dimensions of sustainability, its explicit leverage of symbolism and narrative distinguishes it from other heritage revival initiatives. Tenacissimae reframes artisanal traditions as active systems of knowledge and as a resource for constructing, both materially and imaginatively, futures worth inhabiting, re-orienting value systems from extractive to relational economies.
By placing young generations at the center of knowledge transmission and economic activation, through both residency and training programs, but also through the creation of new territorial narratives, the project contributes to regenerative, decentralized, and culturally rooted models of production. Environmental sustainability, through new uses of natural, locally abundant and low-impact materials and processes; Social sustainability, through skill transmission, community empowerment and collective production;

Does it impact or reflect young people need(s) and how?

The project addresses key needs of young people in rural contexts: access to professional development, hands-on skill acquisition, and cultural belonging.
Through residency programs, young designers and professionals gain exposure to a living craft ecosystem, exchanging knowledge while confronting real-world challenges often absent from formal education. Simultaneously, by generating new imaginaries rooted in ancestral techniques and material culture, the project responds to the need for cultural identity, inspiration, and connection to local heritage.
In addition to that, Nuova Libbaneria Mediterranea also activates training programs directed to youth seeking to acquire manual craft skills and searching for a meaningful life experience, fostering confidence and agency in territories where such opportunities are scarce.
Across these three dimensions, the project creates tools, understanding, and imaginative capacity to envision futures that are both personally empowering and socially regenerative.

Enabling immigrants to build a shared sound-layer of experiences, placed on top of our physical world.

Define the problem/need you are solving or addressing with your project. How does it address the Open Call criteria, such as environmental impact, social engagement, circularity, user experience, resource efficiency, and community-driven solutions?

OpenTrace addresses the lack of bottom-up, community-driven support systems for migrants navigating new environments. Many migration services are designed top-down, focusing on formal information and institutional guidance, while everyday emotional, cultural, and practical knowledge often remains invisible and fragmented. OpenTrace responds by enabling migrants to leave and access location-based audio traces, turning lived experience into a shared, decentralized layer of support. The project promotes social engagement by connecting people through peer-generated stories and collective memory. It is community-driven in that knowledge is built by migrants themselves, not prescribed for them. In terms of user experience, it explores a lightweight, place-based interaction model that makes access to support more situated and meaningful. The project also reflects resource-conscious thinking by building on simple audio-based interactions and existing everyday behaviors, rather than proposing a heavy or centralized digital infrastructure.

Please describe your project, reflecting on the concept, inspiration, materials, technical aspects, methods and process(es).

OpenTrace is a location-based audio archive that enables migrants to leave, access, and build shared traces of lived experience in the places they move through. The project was inspired by the emotional, practical, and often invisible challenges of migration, and by the lack of bottom-up systems through which newcomers can learn from one another rather than only from institutional guidance. Through speculative design, narrative development, and interaction prototyping, we explored how personal stories, emotions, and everyday knowledge could accumulate into a decentralized layer of support. The project combines spatial interaction, audio storytelling, and a wearable/listening device concept to connect memory with place. Its process involved research into migration, belonging, and memory, followed by concept framing, interaction design, and prototyping. OpenTrace proposes a more situated and collective way of navigating a new world through shared lived experience.

What do you think makes your project innovative compared to the existing efforts and ideas in the field it addresses?

What makes OpenTrace innovative is that it does not approach migration through a top-down service model or a promise of a complete solution. Instead, it proposes a decentralized, emergent support infrastructure built from the lived experiences of migrants themselves. Many existing efforts focus on systems, information, or integration from an institutional perspective, often overlooking emotion, agency, and the small realities of everyday life. OpenTrace shifts the focus to peer-generated traces, allowing people to encounter one another across time through place-based audio. It is designed as a response rather than a perfect solution: lightweight, low-cost, and grounded in practical but emotional interventions. Rather than replacing human connection with technology, it uses technology to make connection, memory, and mutual orientation more possible. Its innovation lies in treating support as something shared, accumulated, and co-existing, not delivered from above.

Does it impact or reflect young people need(s) and how?

Yes. OpenTrace reflects young people’s need for belonging, self-expression, and peer-generated ways of navigating unfamiliar worlds. Many young migrants live between places, languages, and identities, while existing support systems often speak to them in formal, top-down ways that leave emotional and everyday experiences unaddressed. OpenTrace responds by creating a space where young people can leave traces of their own stories, encounter those of others, and build knowledge through shared lived experience rather than instruction alone. It supports agency by allowing users not only to access support, but to contribute to it. It also reflects how many young people already relate to the world: through audio, mobility, informal networks, and emotional connection to place. In this sense, the project is not only about migration, but about how younger generations seek more participatory, decentralized, and human ways of making sense of the world.