Open Call

Open Call

The Next Gen Design Competition invites young creatives across Europe to tackle social and environmental global challenges with bold, regenerative and inclusive design solutions to “Redesign Tomorrow, Today.”

NEXT GEN DESIGN 2025: „REDESIGN TOMORROW, TODAY“

Calling all creative change-makers! The premiere edition of the Next Gen Design Competition invites young creatives across Europe to explore bold, regenerative, and inclusive design solutions. Under the theme “Redesign Tomorrow, Today,” this competition empowers the next generation to tackle the pressing challenges of our time with ingenuity and imagination.

WHY WE NEED YOU

Design can push bold visions of a regenerative future. We’ve asked young Europeans their concerns and what, according to them, should be prioritized. They shared and highlighted critical areas of focus for designing this future, including improving air quality, implementing effective waste treatment, reducing single-use plastics, expanding green spaces, and enabling eco-conscious education. Over 60% of young people we have surveyed also emphasized the need for support in transitioning to sustainable lifestyles, from reducing food waste to embracing sustainable fashion and eco-friendly alternatives.


This competition is your chance to push boundaries, experiment with traditional and futuristic approaches—from circular materials and AI to biomimicry and local crafts—and craft designs that build a more resilient tomorrow. We seek youth-focused solutions tailored to address this generations’ needs, aspirations, and challenges, fostering their engagement, empowerment, and active participation in sustainable living and community building.

WHO CAN APPLY

If you are a creative aged 18 to 35, born, studying, or living in Europe, this is your moment. Whether you’re an individual innovator or part of a collaborative team, you’re welcome to submit up to five entries showcasing your vision for a sustainable future.

COMPETITIONS THEMES

Your design should address the question: How can we redesign tomorrow, today? Your design can include (but is not limited to):

Circular products and systems: think about sustainable furniture, modular lighting, adaptable interior elements, multifunctional home accessories, and zero-waste stationery;

Everyday objects reimagined: think about multifunctional tools, reusable packaging solutions, or modular components; 

Educational and aid-focused innovations: think about didactic toys and tools for skill-building, inclusive design for assistive devices, and products for disaster relief or emergency use;

Sustainable textiles and wearable solutions: think about eco-friendly materials for fashion garments, multifunctional clothing, biodegradable footwear, or innovative textile applications that prioritize repairability and circular use;

Next-gen construction solutions: think about prefabricated shelters, small housing units, energy-efficient and carbon-negative building techniques, biomaterials, and smart, adaptable construction components;

Urban farming and methods to deal with food waste: think about tools, devices, and services that support indoor or outdoor urban agriculture, vertical farming, composting innovations, and food-sharing platforms;

Digital solutions for sustainability: Platforms and tools advancing the sharing economy, waste reduction, repair networks, or community engagement in sustainability practices;

Nature-integrated designs: Biophilic design concepts for urban and rural environments, such as green roofs, living walls, or habitats supporting biodiversity;

Localized production and resource management: Innovations in small-scale manufacturing, distributed production models, and resource-sharing systems tailored to local challenges; 

Awareness and educational initiatives: Campaigns, movements, and educational tools or programs aimed at raising awareness about sustainability, fostering community engagement, integrating sustainability into the school curriculum, or inspiring behavioural change through impactful storytelling and outreach.

INTERNATIONAL JURY

Projects will be reviewed by an international jury consisting of design experts.
 
Birgit Lohman, architect and design curator, founder of Designboom, Germany / Italy
Laura Clèries, Design Research Director | CEO THE HUT AGENCY, Spain
Zoran Jedrejcic, designer and art director from Split, Croatia
David Jablonski, Activist, designer and co-founder of the climate visualisation collective Klimadashboard.org., Austria
Amanda Pinatih, Design Curator Stedelijk Museum of Modern Art, NL

ABOUT NEXT GEN DESIGN

Next Gen Design is a three-year program of co-learning, research, design competitions, workshops and exhibitions connecting 5 prominent European design festivals – Mikser Festival in Belgrade, What Design Can Do in Amsterdam and 3 Design Weeks, in Vienna, Barcelona and Skopje – aiming to encourage young creatives living in Europe to create, adopt and disseminate green and sustainable design that contributes to European Green Deal.

WHAT YOU COULD WIN

Become a part of the Next Gen Design Cohort 2025!

As a winner you will be part of:
 
The Next Gen Design Traveling Exhibition
Winning works selected by the International Jury will be included in the Next Gen Design Traveling Exhibition touring Europe from May to November 2025 at 5 partner festivals:
Mikser Festival, Belgrade Serbia: 29 May – 1 June
What Design Can Do, Amsterdam, The Netherlands: 2 – 6 June
Vienna Design Week, Vienna, Austria: 26 September – 5 October
Barcelona Design Week, Barcelona, Spain: 7 – 17 October
Skopje Design Week, Skopje, North Macedonia: November
 
The Next Gen Design Residency Program
Single authors of the selected entries or team leaders of the winning teams will participate in the 4-6-day Next Gen Design Residency Program with covered expensesat one of the 5 above-mentioned festivals. The programme will consist of: Next Gen Design upskilling programs, collaborative practical assignments in local problem-solving, and the Next Gen Design Exhibition Opening Ceremony.
 
The organizers will provide reimbursement for the following expenses: Travel – up to 400 EUR;  accommodation: affordable local lodging (hostels or rental apartments) – up to 50 EUR per night; Boarding costs, daily meals – up to 50 EUR per day.
 
Five Monetary Awards
“The Next Gen Design Best Residency”
The best residency project at each festival will receive the Next Gen Design Residency Award and a monetary prize of 2000 euros per each winning residency team. The Next Gen Design Award Ceremony will take place at the end of the Next Gen Design exhibition/residency cycle, in November 2025 at Skopje Design Week.
 
The Next Gen Design Residency Award funds are to be equally distributed among the winning team members and used for further personal education, exploration, and development of ideas in the field of circular design. The Next Gen Design Residency Award Ceremony in Skopje will be broadcast online live. Designers who are not participating in the Skopje residency are welcome to attend the ceremony in person at their own arrangements and expense.

CRITERIA FOR SELECTION

We seek submissions that demonstrate forward-thinking, creativity, sustainability, and inclusivity. The main emphasis is on youth-focused solutions. Criteria valued by the Jury include:
 
Environmental impact and relevance to climate change, resource scarcity, and biodiversity loss;

Social engagement and participatory approach;

Promotion of share economy and circularity through reparability, reusability, upcyclability, or biodegradability;

Intuitive ergonomics and user experience;

Resource-efficient logistics reducing pollution and waste innovative use of local crafts, knowledge, and materials;

Community impact with scalable solutions that drive positive social and economic change.

HOW TO ENTER

Submit your entry by filling out the form at nextgendesign.eu/open-call/ by midnight, 30 March 2025. The Next Gen Design Exhibition will feature print materials, digital audio, and video content.

Applicants are required to submit the following:

1. PERSONAL INFORMATION

Biography of the author(s) (120 words)

Personal quote about you and your design perspective (35 words)

One portrait JPEG, A4 image, up to 12 MB   

2. PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Project title 

Highlight sentence capturing the essence of the project (35 words)

Project description divided into four questions: 1. 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? 2. Please describe your project, reflecting on the concept, inspiration, materials, technical aspects, methods and process(es). 3. What do you think makes your project innovative compared to the existing efforts and ideas in the field it addresses? 4. Does it impact or reflect young people need(s) and how? (each question with a limit of 150 words)

3. VISUAL MATERIALS

A4 size, JPEG, vertical and/or horizontal, 300 DPI, CMYK. Include photographs, 3D renderings, illustrations, drawings, sketches, diagrams, or similar visual materials that present your project. Up to 5 files for upload, with a total size limit of 12 MB per JPEG.

Video, full HD mp4 file, 16:9, with the downloadable link. Previously uploaded to one of the popular cloud services (WeTransfer, Google Drive, Dropbox etc.). Video material can illustrate the need, process, demonstration, background stories, or 3D simulations related to your project.

KEY DATES

30 January – 30 March 2025 Competition open for entries

31 March  –  7 April 2025– Pre-selection and jurying process

8 April 2025  –  Public announcement of the Next Gen Design competition winners

10 April 2025 – Online orientation meeting with all the winners

17 April 2025 – Online preparation meeting for residencies at Mikser Festival in Belgrade 

29 May – 1 June 2025 Next Gen Design Traveling Exhibition kick-off at Mikser Festival, Belgrade

*The dates for the online preparation meetings for the residencies in Amsterdam, Vienna, Barcelona, and Skopje will be determined and announced at a later time.

IMPORTANT NOTES

The decisions of the jury are final. Any claims arising concerning the authorship of the design or of possible plagiarism thereof will be the responsibility of the designer. In the event of non-fulfilment of any of the rules herein, the curatorial team maintains the right to exclude the submitted entry from the exhibition and/or its author(s) from the residency program.

By submitting this application, designers selected for the Next Gen Design 2025 exhibition commit to attending a residency and accompanying programs at one of the five participating festivals (except the one in their country). The host festivals will be assigned to competition winners based on their list of 3 top preferences. While we strive to accommodate everyone’s first choice, we cannot guarantee it due to limited availability. However, we will make every effort to meet the expectations of all selected designers.

Upon announcing the competition results, the Organizers will contact the laureates and organize a collective online orientation meeting before finalizing residency lists per location. Once the residency posts are confirmed, each festival will organize a separate online meeting to prepare designers for their residencies in one of 5 partner cities. 

By request, the organizers can provide residency participants with the official letter of invitation to attend the Next Gen Design residency and the exhibition opening. 

USEFUL LINKS

Next Gen Design Knowledge Hub

Design Perspectives: Design for Health and Wellbeing – Design Council UK

Circular Design Resources – Ellen MacArthur Foundation

Circular Design Guide

Re-Thinking Progress: Circular Economy Video

Circular Design Learning Journey

Design for Circular Economy

Jan Boelen on recycled plastic

NEXT GEN DESIGN TEAM

Barcelona Design Center / Barcelona Design Week

Isabel Roig

Eugenia Marti

designaustria

Severin Filek

Tamara König 

Mikser / Mikser Festival

Maja Lalic  

Jelena Matic 

Jelena Krivokapic

Anita Dakic

Ksenija Pantelic

Public Room / Skopje Design Week

Aleksandar Velinovski 

What Design Can Do

Lara Snatager 

Daphne Schmidt

Rosa Kieft

INFO & INQUIRIES

competition@nextgendesign.eu
www.nextgendesign.eu
nxtgen.design

COMPETITION LINKS

Competition text: https://nextgendesign.eu/open-call/
Application form: https://nextgendesign.eu/application-form/

Next Gen Design has evolved from the Young Balkan Designers initiative and is supported by the European Commission through the Creative Europe Programme.