YOUNG VOICES Exhibition, Ulm
YOUNG VOICES along the Danube Exhibition, in the frame of International Donaufest Ulm 2026.
- Project status
- Completed
- Time span
- 03. to 12. July 2026
- Institutions
- urbanes.land,
Stiftung Hochschule für Gestaltung HfG Ulm - Location
- Neu-Ulm, Deutschland
The second NEW EUROPEAN BAUHAUS on the DANUBE Conference is framed by the 2026 Danube Festival in Ulm. In a week-long exhibition in public space, eight young professionals from the Danube are introduced. They stand up for innovative city making, arts and civic engagement. On the special event of the Conference they will be joined by international experts on new governance models to work, discuss and share inspriring new approaches to urban commons. The event is public.
Follow the link below to visit the YOUNG VOICES exhibition website and learn more about its members and their work:
● meet the eight young voices
"Resilience is a language nature has always spoken."
Fruzsina Dézsi is a writer, sustainability advocate, cultural manager and social dreamer, leading the Green Pillar at Pro Progressione in Budapest. Her mission is to foster active citizenship through radical imagination, using culture to make new realities felt. Therefore, her projects foster interspecies, interdisciplinary and intergenerational co-creation, bringing together artists, scientists, communities and other-than-human voices to imagine, rehearse and enact possible futures together.
"Reimagining places means reimagining futures together."
Mateja Softić is the co-founder and co-creator at Iskriva, Institute for Development of Local Potentials which focuses on balanced regional development based on sustainable use of natural and cultural heritage for the benefit of local communities. Mateja specializes in developing and leading bottom-up multi-stakeholder regional development processes. She studied at University of Ljubljana and University of Bayreuth, is an alumna of the Robert Bosch Foundation and has over 20 years of experience in international cooperation.
"I hope our field grows more reflective, caring, and grounded in place."
Alexandra Mocioiu graduated from the Ion Mincu University of Architecture and Urbanism in Bucharest in 2024, following an internship in Belgium. With a strong interest in preserving cultural heritage, as well as in the collective memory and natural environment of the Danube, she co-founded the Front la Dunăre NGO in Drobeta-Turnu Severin during her final year of studies. Through collaborative initiatives, she fosters bottom-up interventions that reactivate latent heritage sites along the river, bringing together specialists, local communities, and public authorities. She currently practices architecture and restoration at Modul 28 in Sibiu, Romania.
"Greener cities start with children’s ideas."
Tijana Jovanović Petrović is a Program Manager at KidHub, the Serbian partner of the Designathon Works programme, and co-founder of the Platform for Innovations in Environmental Education. She develops co-creative educational initiatives that empower children to participate in society and design sustainable solutions. She is the conceptual creator and co-author of the Science Playground programme, which includes a seminar, handbook and activity collection for use in kindergartens, schools and at home — always through nature.
"To highlight the humor and absurdity of life in all seriousness."
Sophie Bösker is a director, screenwriter, and artist living and working in Vienna. Through her films, she explores hybrid spaces between documentary, fiction, and experimental cinema, always with a focus on a subtle and humorous engagement with socially relevant issues. She is a founding member of the association Weibsbild Filmproduktion and works at the University of Applied Arts Vienna in the department "Social Design– Arts as Urban Innovation".
"I like small moves that make forgotten places come alive."
Gergana Ilieva is an architect and a member of the Collective Foundation in Sofia. A focus of her projects is the preservation of cultural heritage – both architectural and social. Collective Foundation brings together experts, institutions and citizens through tactical interventions. Neglected spaces are carefully analysed, changes co-productively planned and implemented. Their temporary or permanent interventions re-interpret and improve the shared environment and have won numerous awards.
"Our regions need more stewards to care for them"
Verena works on just and resilient urban narratives and translating them into socio-spatial processes. With a Master’s in Urban Design from Columbia GSAPP and a Master of Architecture from the State Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart, she specializes in GIS-based counter-cartography, digital imaging and research design for inclusive and livable habitats. Her research interests focus care practices and equitable approaches to urban climate mitigation and governance models.
"What if it is possible? To play more, care more, plant more."
Mirjana Utvić is an architect and spatial practitioner based in Belgrade. Her work engages communities, with a focus on children and youth shaping spaces for play, learning, collective creation and action, rooted in critical pedagogy and the pedagogy of space. Her practice includes redesign and -naturalization of public spaces and temporary placemaking interventions. She has been a member of City Guerilla, School of Urban Practices, Škograd and the RE:play network. At the Center for the Promotion of Science she is leading the creative direction.
