Exhibition: HOPE – 24 thesis projects in progress 

Ci-Boh?!

Sharing Food, Sharing Knowledge, Sharing Culture

#engagement #youth #foodculture 

Ci-Boh?! aims at building a community around food and invites youth in Don Bosco to explore their food routines and habits while creating a space to collectively explore a conscious food culture. Ci-Boh?! focuses on youth participation by designing interventions to let them share interests and concerns together. 
Students: Asena Bacaksız, Simon Wallis
Partners: Cooltour 

Da grigio a verde

Working towards a greener and more livable city

regreeningbolzano #biodiversity #communityengagement #human-nonhuman-connection

Da Grigio a Verde envisions the collaborative transformation of the Premstallerhof area in Bolzano from an asphalt-grey surface into a greener, more liveable space for all living-beings. In partnership with neighbours, Regreening Rentsch, and Climate Action South Tyrol, the project highlights the critical role of nature and biodiversity in cities amidst extreme climate events. How can neighbourhoods learn about climate resilience? How can groups of neighbours become involved?” 
Students: Michela de Paoli, Barbara Koniecka, Tania Leontyuk
Instagram: instagram.com/da_grigio_a_verde
Website: dagrigioaverde.framer.website
Partners: Regreening Rentsch, Climate Action South Tyrol
Contact: dagrigioaverde@gmail.com

Fresh Paths

Hospitality in the Dolomites: A Vision

#dolomites  #culturalpreservation #alternativetourismmodels #community #bottomuptourismstrategies  

Fresh Paths explores a critical approach to tourism development in the Dolomites, balancing the diverse interests of hoteliers, locals, tourists, and decision-makers while prioritising social and ecological balance. Is it possible to rethink a tourism industry that respects planetary boundaries? What kinds of collaborations are needed to create effective, solidarity-driven, bottom-up solutions that benefit all?  
Students: Miriam Pardeller

Terravaso 

Exploring Soil Life beneath our Feet 

#fertile soil #educational #environmentallearning #sensorylearning  #interrelatedness 

Terravaso invites children to explore the importance of fertile soil through sensory and interactive play. By creating bio-based educational materials, the project offers a hands-on and tactile approach to understanding soil health and bridging disciplines to make this complex topic accessible and engaging. 
Student: Anna Lienbacher
Partners: Montessori.coop Kohlern (IT), Volksschule Winklarn (AT)
Photo: Pietro Bulfoni

Material Matters! 

Establishing Reused Material Flows in Universities

#maximizingmateriallife #readymadedesign #communitybuilding  

Ever thrown away something still usable? Material Matters! (or Mama) tackled this by collecting materials from students and redistributing them to others who needed them. The goal? To reduce the environmental impact of prototyping at university while proving that reusing materials can save money and make crafting more accessible. Can we rethink waste and turn it into opportunity? Mama shows that with the right timing, anything can find a second life.
Links: MaMa, Showcase, IG: mama.unibz, LI: Material Matters bz, Mastodon: mamaunibz 
Student: Antonazzo Matteo
Partner: Material Matters! team
Contact: materialmattersbz@gmail.com

For the Living and the Dead 

Imagining the graveyard as a vibrant space for community connection and biodiverse benefits.   

#biodiversity #urbancementeries #community 

For the Living and the Dead reimagines urban cemeteries as hybrid spaces that support ecological biodiversity, offer tranquility, and deepen our connection to nature. Unlike parks, cemeteries intertwine natural environments with the cultural and spiritual layers of religion and reflection, creating sanctuaries for both people and wildlife. Through interactive exhibitions and participatory activities, the project invites visitors to experience the cemetery as a space full of life. 
Student: Antonia Krebs
Partners: Lara Schink / Neuer Annenfriedhof Dresden
Contact: IG: @friedhofderzukunft / @antonia.portfolio

NeuroSpicy 

Celebrating Diverse Ways of Thinking for Social Change 

#neurodiversity #liberating #celebration #flippingthenarrative #unmasking #queering 

Why do we label unconventional ways of thinking as ‘disabled,’ and how can we challenge narrow ideas of ‘normal’? By celebrating neurodiverse perspectives—such as the creativity of ADHD and the anti-hierarchical strengths of autism—this project amplifies neurodivergent voices and promotes diverse minds, identities, and alternative ways of thinking, being, and playing, while advancing a different understanding of productivity, time, and doing. 
Student: Lalehan Kahyaoglu

Storie di un bosco 

Urban forests and human-disturbed landscapes  

#urbanforests #territory #collectivenarratives #creativecartography  

What is the social and environmental role of spontaneous urban forests in human-disturbed territories? How do urban dwellers perceive these natural spaces, and how can they be engaged to shape their future? Storie di un Bosco explores these questions through activities such as collective walks and critical mapping in the flatlands of Modena, Italy, aiming to create new collective narratives for urban forests.
Student: Emma Cocco

The familiar foreign 

Belonging in an ever-moving world.  

#Belonging #Language #Moving 

What does belonging mean for those in constant movement? Rooted in my experience as an Iranian in Italy, this project uses language as a lens to connect with places and people. It combines personal insights and playful interventions to explore how objects and meanings create familiarity in foreignness. 
Student: Reyhane Khodaie

Fractals of Liberation 

Decolonising the school curriculum 

#awareness #liberation #decolonisation 

Fractals of Liberation explores alternatives to decolonizing the school curriculum in South Tyrol. Born from my collaboration with OEW on the Kolonialwarenladen project, the exhibition travels between schools, showcasing 15 colonial products to raise awareness of their colonial histories. This project serves as a research tool to assess its impact on students’ understanding of colonialism and the global extraction behind the products they consume.  
Students: Salma Remadi
Partners: OEW – Organisation für Eine solidarische Welt – L’Organizzazione per Un mondo solidale

Making a Living 

Enacting Commons through Convivial Technologies 

#commons #conviviality #peer2peer 

To live with the capitalist logics of production and consumption is to live at the expense of each other and the environment. We exploit others and the non-human world, and are exploited in return. This research explores how open convivial technology could connect individuals to collectively enact the commons, enabling them to produce, share, and care for what is needed, useful, and meaningful—for both people and the planet. 
Student: Jonas Vogt, IG @jonasvogtdotcom

Open Design for Resilience 

Making in Critical Times  

#makermovement #opensourcehardware #lowtech #crises #speculative 

Can anyone be a designer? What does it take to become one? This project explores the response of the global maker movement in developing community resilience during uncertain futures and the polycrisis. It questions the risks and limitations of open technologies, such as 3D printing, in meeting needs that are not addressed by our market-driven economy. 
Links: Open-Design-for-Resilience-Newsletter
Student: Maximilian Stahl, IG: maximilian.carl.stahl 

Hand in Hand 

Allgäu’s Eco-Social Network 

#rural #participation #co-creation #networking #goodfuture

What role can rural areas play in eco-social transformation? How can we build a community that cares for sustainability? This project highlights the potential of social and ecological transition in Allgäu, a rural region in southern Germany. The aim is to strengthen the regional communities through collaborative, transformative projects. With a participatory approach, residents actively engage in exploring and understanding the opportunities within their area, encouraging knowledge-sharing and collective creativity. 
Student: Iris Eberhardt 
Supporter: Allgäu Fairnetzt

Punto d’Incontro 

Transforming Disability Perception through Learning 

#disability #communication #education #smallkids 

How can we build learning environments that encourage understanding between disabled and non-disabled children? By bringing together children with disabilities and those without, Punto d’Incontro seeks to promote self-expression, mutual respect, empathy and inclusivity through the power of communication and representation. 
Student: Giorgia Baccichetti
Supporter: IAS Bolzano

Resilient Waters  

Building Lasting Community Networks for Flood Response 

#collectiveresilience #floods #solidaritydisaster #climateadaptation   

In the aftermath of floods, communities often come together in extraordinary ways, showing the strength of collective action. This project explores how we can harness the solidarity that emerges after a crisis and sustain it over time. It focuses on preparedness, reaction, and long-term community cohesion.  
Students: Michelle Muratori 

Re-learning Care

Counter-acting patriarchal notions of care through new pedagogies  

#genderroles #careparadigms #collectivecare

In a society where gender roles often shape perceptions of care, it’s essential to examine how children learn about care expectations in their daily lives. This project explores alternative pedagogical approaches to challenge outdated cultural norms to promote more equal and community-oriented models of giving and receiving care.
Student: Mónica Ramos Márquez 

Reconnection and Rebirth 

Sustainable cycling route between two villages in the Tuscan countryside  

#mobilitytransition  #localeconomies #rural 

The project empowers locals, tourists, and rural stakeholders by promoting slow, sustainable mobility, reducing car dependency, and encouraging eco-tourism. It supports local economies and environmental preservation, contributing to sustainable mobility transformation through partnerships with businesses, municipalities, and NGOs.
Student: Silvia Rafanelli
Partners: FIAB – Firenze Ciclabile 

The Glasswing effect 

Transformative Communication Strategies for Sex Work and Sexual Exploitation 

#transformativelanguage #sexwork #socialjustice #visualculture #intersectionality  

Inspired by the resilient wings of the Glasswing butterfly, this project challenges harmful stereotypes about sex work and human trafficking. It emphasises self-representation, ensuring those involved have spaces to be heard and valued. Through collaboration with advocacy organisations and historically marginalised communities, it aims to dismantle oppressive narratives and promote transformative communication. 
Student: Alessia Formica 

Beat the Tide 

Spaces of Other Logics in Venice 

#activism #inhabit #converge #rooting  

Beat the Tide explores spaces in Venice shaped by practices of commoning and care and the communities that sustain them. Often less visible and difficult to find in a city like Venice, these spaces represent long-standing efforts to resist systemic pressures from capital-driven city development. By creating a guide to these spaces and initiatives, the project offers resources for those interested in building connections and engaging with shared practices.  
Students: Angela Bonan, Filippo Maria Ciriani 
Partners: Comitato No Grandi Navi, ASC, Laboratorio Occupato Morion, Zenobia, LiSC, R3B, Sale Docks, OCIO, We are here Venice

ClassRooms 

Overcoming Social Barriers in Education through New Narratives 

––– image missing –––

#Classism #Storytelling #Comic #SocialClass 

The project aims at building a community around food, focusing on youth participation by designing different interventions to let them share their interests. Engaging young adults in research on food habits and issues concerning them with the goal of creating a space for food culture together. 
Student: Ann Bahrs 
Partner: OEW – Organisation für Eine solidarische Welt – L’Organizzazione per Un mondo solidale, Arbeiterkind.de, Sentitreff 

Social Fabric with Transversal ZigZag 

Transforming Patterns of Consumption in Turin 

#clothes #alternativeeconomies #swap

The global textile industry drives a destructive cycle: exploiting labour in former colonies, fuelling overconsumption with cheap prices, and dumping unwanted clothes perpetuating environmental and social harm. Social Fabric with Transversal ZigZag emerges as a response to these issues. Through collaborations with local initiatives, the project invites people to reflect on their consumption habits and build connections within their community. By making swapping an accessible practice, Social Fabric aims to inspire a planetary shift in how we value and use clothes. 
Links: instagram.com/swappartyto
Student: Carlotta Gambino 
Partners: swappartyto 
Event: Swap Party on Saturday 25^th from 14:30 to 17 

The Reflected City 

The Body in Urban Space

––– images missing –––

How do our bodies truly connect to the urban spaces we navigate daily? In a world of constant movement—whether for work, study, or love—this project invites individuals and groups to explore their relationship with the city through movement. By walking, observing, and engaging with our surroundings, we reclaim autonomy over how we experience urban environments. This practice transforms alienating spaces into sites of connection, empowerment, encouraging a deeper, shared sense of purpose within the city. 
Student: chiara belpassi 
Photo: Architectural Review, “Stepping out: The flâneuse claims the city for herself.”

Nature speaks through Benidorm 

Beyond mass tourism 

#costablanca #overtourism #naturalheritage #sustainabilityplans #community  

How can a city so deeply shaped by mass tourism reclaim its identity and chart a sustainable future? Once a small fishing village on Spain’s Costa Blanca, Benidorm underwent a dramatic transformation in the mid-20th century, becoming a global emblem of mass tourism. As Benidorm prepares to take on the role of European Capital of Culture 2025, this project seeks to uncover its pre-tourism history, engage with the lived realities of locals and visitors and to spark a collective reimagining of Benidorm’s future.  
Students: María Palacios Armesto 

Invisible Structures 

Practice Unlearning White-Supremacy Culture while Build Affordable Housing

#CommunityResilience #HolisticCarpentry #CulturalPatterns #Collaborative Building  

Construction is a high-stakes process where stress amplifies the invisible practices of culture. In our culture, efficiency and authority are often prioritised over collaboration and care, with material consequences to the building. This project uses co-building scenarios as a liminal space to reveal and transform how we behave under pressure, develop practical skills, and play with alternatives to existing norms. Invisible Structures examines how re-integrating immaterial awareness into material skills training can deepen resilience and interdependence. 
Website: invisiblestructur.es 
Student: Cedar Schimke 
Partners: Madeline Island Community