#DesignInAction #CiD #Conference
#DesignInAction #CiD #Conference
Conference in Genoa 22-23 May 2025
The Circular Design in Action: Practices and Research conference - organized by Department of Architecture and Design of University of Genova - invites scholars, researchers, designers, and practitioners to share their insights and innovative approaches in circular design. This event is part of the CiD Project – Circular Design for Bio-based Innovation towards Climate-Neutral Cities, an initiative fostering sustainable solutions in architecture, product design, and urban transformation.
In an era of pressing environmental challenges, design plays a fundamental role in shaping a sustainable future. The conference will explore circular economy principles, bio-based materials, and innovative design methodologies that drive the transition toward carbon-neutral cities. Participants will have the opportunity to showcase research, methodologies, and practical applications that redefine how materials, products, and built environments are designed, produced, and regenerated, within two tracks:
+ Track 1: Design for change
+ Track 2: Circular Cities
"Circular Design in Action: practices, networks, education and research"
Exploring the role of community and education in driving action-oriented research and practical innovation
Keynote Speakers
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Dubravko Bačić is a registered architect and Associate Professor at the University of Zagreb Faculty of Architecture, where he teaches project management, building technology, and built heritage conservation across undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate levels. His academic work focuses on the intersection of architectural education, professional practice, and heritage preservation.
Since 2008, he has worked as an independent practitioner, specializing in small-scale residential projects, conservation of heritage-listed buildings, adaptive reuse, and heritage consultancy. He has participated in numerous international design workshops, research projects, exhibitions, and conferences, contributing to discussions on architectural education, professional standards, and heritage protection. He has also served on steering and evaluation committees and as a jury member for architectural competitions in Croatia.
Bačić has been actively involved in professional organizations, including the Croatian Chamber of Architects, the Croatian Architects’ Association, and ICOMOS Croatia. Since 2011, he has contributed to the Architects’ Council of Europe (ACE), focusing on education, accreditation, and professional mobility. Elected to the ACE Executive Board for four consecutive terms (2014–2022), he led initiatives related to architectural education, access to the profession, and continuing professional development. As of 2025, he remains engaged in ACE initiatives, particularly in strengthening architectural education and professional exchange across Europe.
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Emma van der Leest (1991) is an award-winning biodesigner, researcher, educator, and author based in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. With over 10 years of experience in biodesign, she collaborates across disciplines with scientists, artists, and designers to create sustainable, bio-based materials. Her work focuses on biofabrication, integrating living organisms like bacteria and fungi into design processes to develop compostable materials that reduce environmental harm.
A product design graduate (cum laude) from the Willem de Kooning Academy, Emma blends design, scientific research, and new production techniques to foster interdisciplinary innovation. She has interned at Biocouture London and is a product associate for the Biofabricate conference in New York. Emma also teaches and leads the Ecology Futures Master program at St. Joost Academy and has lectured at institutions including Central Saint Martins and Design Academy Eindhoven.
Emma also curates exhibitions, including projects for the Dutch Innovation Pavilion and Boijmans van Beuningen Depot. She is the founder and ambassador of BlueCity Lab in Rotterdam, a biocircular playground for bioneers in Rotterdam. They support the transition towards a biocircular economy by facilitating a platform & labspace for a growing community of bioneers that establish examples for a regenerative economy within the planetary boundaries by doing and experimenting.
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Davide Crippa is an architect by training and a designer by choice. He founded Ghigos Studio in 2004, graduated in 2005, and earned a PhD in exhibition design in 2007. Throughout his career, he has had the opportunity to engage directly with prominent figures in Italian design, further enriching his education with diverse design disciplines. In 2019, he established the university spin-off Social Factory srl, the first fablab dedicated to the circular economy.
He has taught at several prestigious Italian universities and, since 2007, has been a permanent lecturer at the Polytechnic University of Milan and the New Academy of Fine Arts in Milan. Since 2021, he has been an Associate Professor at IUAV University of Venice, where, starting in 2022, he also serves as the Director of the Master's program in Innovation Design and Management. In 2023, he joined the CTRL-Junk research group, which focuses on the circular economy, and in 2024, he founded the National Cluster 'NSBNV - Sustainable Exhibit,' aimed at promoting the ecological transition in the exhibition sector.
A member of ADI and the head of the Designers Commission until 2012, Crippa has authored several articles and published books on design theory and history
