Ana GUBENŠEK (Slovenia) Researcher in Engineered Living Materials and Assistant at InnoRenew CoE Ana Gubenšek is a PhD student working in the field of engineered living materials. Her current research aims to contribute to the understanding of mechanisms behind fungal biodeterioration versus bioprotection of materials used in the built environment. She is particularly interested in developing living systems for material innovation. By exploring microbial interactions with construction materials, she seeks to enable the design of adaptive, bio-based solutions that enhance durability, support circularity and promote sustainable practices in architecture.

Benito JUAREZ (Peru) Co-Founder of Fab Lab Peru and Floating Fab Lab Amazon Benito Juarez is the co-founder and president of Fab Lab Peru and the Latin American Fab Lab Network, promoting tech democratisation. This includes inclusive projects like the Floating Fab Lab Amazon, an initiative building a series of floating manufacturing laboratories throughout the Amazon rainforest to increase biodiversity and print food on demand in areas where malnutrition is prevalent. He is also the founder of REGEN, an initiative merging biodiversity, ancestral knowledge and artificial intelligence. His work bridges science, culture and technology with Amazonian native communities.

Aljaž PLANKL (Slovenia) Educator and co-founder of Naj raste! Aljaž Plankl is a permaculture designer, educator and co-founder of Naj raste!, a Slovenian initiative focused on creating edible ecosystems and regenerative landscapes. With deep roots in ecological farming and a passion for rewilding everyday life, he helps communities design forest gardens and permanent food systems inspired by natural patterns. After years of hands-on experience across Slovenian farms, Aljaž now lives and works on a self-sufficient homestead, where he applies agroforestry and holistic land stewardship. His work promotes food sovereignty, biodiversity and a renewed connection between people and nature.

Virginia SAN FRATELLO (USA) Design Activist, Professor and Chair of the Department of Design at San José State University, Co-Founder of Rael San Fratello Virginia San Fratello is a design activist, author and thought leader within the fields of additive manufacturing, architecture and interior design. She is the Chair of the Department of Design at San José University in Silicon Valley. She is the 2025 winner of the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian National Design Award for Digital Design, an International Interior Design Association Educator of the Year recipient, and was the winner of the Beazley Design of the Year award in 2020. Her work drives innovation and transformation by leveraging disruptive technologies and alternative design ideologies to address social and environmental challenges.

Jerneja PENCA (Slovenia), facilitator Researcher in Sustainability Governance and Environmental Social Science, Head of Mediterranean Institute for Environmental Studies at the Science and Research Centre Koper Jerneja Penca is a researcher in sustainability governance and environmental social science. She is committed to translating knowledge about the systems we live in into real-world transformations for sustainability and inclusiveness, particularly by bridging scientific and policy communities, and by weaving together local and expert knowledge with artistic practices and embodied experience. She is the head of Mediterranean Institute for Environmental Studies at the Science and Research Centre Koper, a transdisciplinary research department focusing on the Northern Adriatic.

Laure CHOQUER (France) Head of Design, Fashion & Crafts, French Insitutute Trained as a designer, Laure Choquer wishes to hand over the importance of design in our everyday lives. From 2019, she has been self-producing and curating the very first French-speaking podcast about design called dessin dessein. She has been working as a research officer at la Cité du design in Saint Etienne, and also as a design manager for different public organisations in the North of France. At the end of 2022, she joined the Artistic Creation & Creative Industries Department of the Institut français in Paris as a design, artistic crafts and fashion manager.

Anna RESEI (Austria, Germany) Designer, Designer in Residency 2025 at Center Rog Anna Resei is a designer known for her conceptual approach to interior objects, often working at the intersection of speculative fiction and narrative design. With a background in product and textile design, she holds an MA from Design Academy Eindhoven in the Netherlands. Leading her own design studio, Anna collaborates with various companies to create innovative and forward-thinking projects. Alongside her practice, she lectures at universities, sharing her insights on design and storytelling.

Becky RICHES (Italy, UK) Project Manager, Materahub, Italy Becky Riches is an experienced project manager driving cultural projects with a focus on skills, sustainability, social inclusion and craft. She has specific experience in skills empowerment for creative professionals, inclusive cultural experiences and implementation of European Capitals of Culture programmes (Matera 2019). Representing Materahub, she also coordinates initiatives driving the use of micro-credentials in support of the creative and cultural industries and leads a working group on this topic under the European Commission’s flagship initiative, Creative Pact for Skills.

Suriawati QIU (Indonesia) Co-Founder of CushCush & CushCush Gallery (CCG) Designer trained Suriawati Qiu is the co-founder of CushCush & CushCush Gallery (CCG) and an avid believer in creative education for a better future. Based in Bali with more than twenty years of experience, CushCush works with the island’s artists, artisans and craftsmen using local natural materials to produce contemporary design pieces. Conceived as a multi-functional space, CCG organises exhibitions, residencies, workshops and collaborations throughout the year and facilitates exchanges between international and local artists as well as creative communities.

Eva KRALJIČ (Slovenia), facilitator Project Manager of EU projects, Studios and Residencies, Center Rog Eva Kraljič is a cultural producer and project manager with a background in the arts and the NGO sector. She holds an MA in Fine Arts from Slade School of Fine Art (2021). Since April 2025, she has been working at Center Rog as a project manager, where she coordinates European projects and oversees residency and studio programmes.

Aleksandra BAŠIĆ (Serbia) Architect and member of TEN Studio Aleksandra Bašić is a practicing architect based in Belgrade. She holds MA degrees from the University of Belgrade’s Faculty of Architecture and the Oslo School of Architecture and Design. She is a member of TEN Studio, a collective working between Zürich and Belgrade, that aims to develop innovative and sustainable design solutions, focusing on collaborative processes, reuse and the social and environmental impact of buildings. Within TEN Studio, she has contributed to a range of projects across the globe, often engaging with themes of sustainable, affordable and adaptive building. She maintains a strong interest in architectural drawing as both a tool for investigation and design, and as a form of expression. She is also involved in academia through collaborative teaching initiatives.

Josh DOBLE (Scotland) Dr Josh Doble’s role is to lead on policy advocacy and development to ensure that the benefits of community ownership and further land reform are understood at a national and regional level. Part of this role is to promote the connections between land reform and various key national policies in Scotland, such as the Just Transition to Net Zero, the response to the climate crisis, Community Wealth Building, Human Rights and the Wellbeing Economy. Josh has experience in research and policy within government and academia. His research background as a historian of decolonisation, with an interest in the politics of land and race in postcolonial societies, means he is particularly interested in the opportunities for progressive land reform within Scotland.

Martina MALEŠIČ (Slovenia) Art Historian and Curator at the Museum of Architecture and Design Martina Malešič, PhD, is an art historian employed as a curator for architecture at Ljubljana’s Museum of Architecture and Design (MAO). Her research focuses on Slovenian architecture, design and urbanism in the 20th century, with a special emphasis on residential culture. She has curated a number of exhibitions. Among other projects, in 2021, she was a member of the curatorial team that prepared the exhibition in the Slovenian pavilion at the 17th International Architecture Exhibition in Venice, entitled Together in Community. Seventy Years of Cooperative Housing as Social Infrastructure. The project received the Brumen Award for exhibition and spatial infographics in 2022 and the Plečnik Medal for enriching spatial culture in 2023.

Ege YILDIRIM (Turkey) Dr. Ege Yıldırım is an urban planner with 25 years of experience in heritage conservation and management, both in Turkey and internationally. Her expertise spans cultural heritage policy, advocacy and governance, UNESCO World Heritage and sustainable development. She is the founder of Terra Mudurnu, a social venture focused on cultural and natural heritage-based development. Ege has served as the ICOMOS Focal Point for the Sustainable Development Goals (2016–2020) and was the key expert in the EU-Turkey Anatolian Archaeology and Cultural Heritage Institute project (2019). She was also a Fulbright Scholar at Pratt Institute in New York (2006–2007).

Meta ŠTULAR (Slovenia), facilitator Director of Strategic Development and Programmes, Center Rog With over 20 years’ experiences in the cultural and creative sectors, Meta Štular focuses on social innovation, public space regeneration and sustainable creative ecosystems. She led the development of Ljubljana’s Center Rog from concept to implementation, earning her team the Eurocities Innovation Award 2018 for inclusive planning involving over 7,000 stakeholders. She has shaped cultural policies and strategies and collaborated with institutions including the European Commission, UNDP, UNESCO, the Slovene Center for Creativity, the European Cultural Foundation, the French Ministry of Territorial Cohesion and the European Institute of Innovation and Technology. Her work bridges cultural development, strategic planning and community engagement at both local and international levels.