Design Practice

This sub-track explores the intersections of design, cultural heritage, traditional craft, and sustainability. It emphasizes how artisanal knowledge, conservation practices, and branding strategies contribute to the preservation and renewal of cultural identities in contemporary contexts. By bridging historical materials and techniques with modern challenges, the track highlights interdisciplinary and community-driven approaches that address both cultural continuity and environmental responsibility. Drawing on the principles of the New European Bauhaus—sustainability, inclusion, and beauty—it invites contributions that reimagine the role of design in shaping ethically grounded and culturally embedded futures. Through diverse case studies and methodological perspectives, this sub-track fosters dialogue among designers, conservators, educators, and cultural practitioners.

The sub-track invites papers which explore, but which are not limited to, the following themes:

• Crafting Futures: From Tradition to Transformation
• Experimental Design for Conservation Projects
• Participatory Design for Conservation Planning

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Coordinators: CULTLAB | Vasiliki Argyropoulos; Charalampos Dermatis; Anna Karatzani; Vasiliki Kokla; Giorgos Panagiaris

For further inquiries please refer to the (sub)track coordinator:

Vasiliki Argyropoulos bessie@uniwa.gr

This sub-track explores the evolving role of Graphic Arts technologies as both cultural guardians and engines of innovation in the context of intelligent production ecosystems. It invites contributions that highlight how the Graphic Arts are advancing in tandem with developments in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and immersive media, while also serving as powerful tools for the digitization, reproduction, and long-term safeguarding of cultural heritage. Interdisciplinary approaches that bridge design, technology, and communication are encouraged, with a focus on practice-led research, experimental methodologies, and sustainable frameworks.

The sub-track invites papers which explore, but which are not limited to, the following themes:

• Preserving the Roots: Graphic Arts Technologies in the Digitization and Reproduction of Cultural Heritage
• Creative Machines: AI-Driven Production in the Graphic Arts
• Graphic Media Design: Visual Communication at the Intersection of Culture, Technology, and Ethics

Please find more here

For further inquiries please refer to the (sub)track coordinator:

GRAPHMEDLAB | Marios Tsigonias mtsigonias@uniwa.gr

This sub-track examines the Mediterranean as a unique design space shaped by centuries of cultural exchange, trade, and dialogue across its diverse shores. As a “liquid continent,” the region embodies overlapping traditions, languages, and practices that continue to inform contemporary design thinking. The track highlights how Mediterranean design values—rooted in craft traditions, material cultures, and shared aesthetics—can serve both as a source of inspiration and as a framework for addressing today’s global challenges. It invites reflections on how heritage, local practices, and modern theories intersect, shaping distinctive approaches to design education, production, and experimentation. Through historical perspectives, case studies, and contemporary practices, the sub-track aims to articulate a holistic understanding of Mediterranean design culture, acknowledging its tensions, complexities, and potential for innovation.

The sub-track invites papers which explore, but which are not limited to, the following themes:

• Craft traditions, and the way they cross over to mass production and industry
• New design theories and the way they understand / represent Mediterranean heritage
• The exchange of material use and techniques, between the North and South of the Mediterranean
• The exchange of experiences and expertise (research projects, workshops, cultural exchange programs) within the Mediterranean region
• Aesthetics, as a means of examination of a ‘Mediterranean’ identity
• Social responsibility of design through ethics
• Social and economic factors that determine the quality of design ideation and production
• Design philosophies and their validation through grounded research within a Mediterranean context
• Design education and pedagogical strategies from a ‘Mediterranean’ aspect
• Design weeks and design events promoting design within a Mediterranean framework: their reflection on society
• Narratives for regional stories: the value of design

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Coordinators: Angelos Psilopoulos; Andreas Sicklinger

For further inquiries please refer to the (sub)track coordinator:

Andreas Sicklinger andreas.sicklinger@unibo.it