This session will bring together colleagues from the 10 EUTOPIA Alliance partners and the four Global Partners – Stellenbosch University (South Africa), the International University of Rabat (Morocco), Kyungpook National University (South Korea), and Monash University (Australia) – to reflect on the importance of Global Partnerships. The discussion will focus on two major themes.

Firstly, all 14 universities will share their reflections on fostering international partnerships, with the emphasis on European institutions and ways in which they connect with the rest of the world. Key insights and case-studies from these reflections (soon to be published in a series of online articles) will be presented. The discussion about the present state of this project and its implications for the future will be led by representatives from the EUTOPIA Alliance and Global Partners. Secondly, in a co-joint effort from all 14 universities, the EUTOPIA International Partnerships Charter was born. The Charter lays the groundwork for an approach to partnerships that promotes inclusion, geographical balance, and Responsible Internationalisation. Join us for an engaging discussion about the content of this Charter and exploring its potential impact on the next phase of EUTOPIA Alliance. 

This walking tour will offer a peek into the artistic and alternative side of Ljubljana. The tour guide will take you to streets dominated by street graffiti and other street art. Reflecting these alternative points of view, expressed through graffiti, are Ljubljana’s residents’ lifestyles, forward-thinking politics and overall culture. Among other places you will visit Metelkova, one of the most significant areas where open-minded people of all backgrounds and cultures come together and create music, art and other culture-shifting and defining projects. While discovering Ljubljana's street culture and historic monuments, you will uncover many avant-garde places hidden behind the enchanting facades of the Old Town. Tour guides will provide recommendations for concerts, pop-up exhibitions in the city and other alternative events.

The tour guide will meet you at Čevljarski bridge (also called Šuštarski bridge), and after about an hour and a half you will end the tour at Metelkova.

This two part panel discussion stems from ongoing experiences in learning interventions focusing on urban mobility, developed and tested in Erasmus+ projects (Urban Goodcamp, Active8-Planet). Universities carry crucial roles as driving forces of good practices, oftentimes serving as bridges between urban mobility stakeholders, engaging local communities of practice in the process. Furthermore, ways of integrating urban mobility challenges, problem-based learning approaches, interdisciplinary and cross-sector collaboration in higher-edcuation programmes will be discussed. Finally, current and future practices of bringing together researchers and practitioners will be highlighted, in the name of strengthening research and development activities in the field of sustainable (urban) mobility.

Join us for this guided tour of the work made by students of Academy of Fine Arts and Design (University of Ljubljana). The exhibition will take place in Mala Galerija. The guided tours will last for approximately 30 minutes, starting at 14:30 and ending at 17:30 (you can join the last guided tour at 17:00).

The exhibition is a place through which we can enter the creative process. As wrong as it may sound, in the wrong order, exhibiting a work in reverse exposes conditions as conditions, procedures as procedures, form and content as form and content.

The terms of the creative process are unstable until they are organised into an inner and an outer field by the act of exhibiting; creation is defined through the difference between, for example, studio conception and public presentation. More precisely, the difference is already made with a second glance, with the notion that there is an external point of view to which the work will be subjected. The view from the outside, that of the alien subject, is of a subversive nature, it operates through a double phantasm: it takes away the authenticity of the work and gives it meaning.

The creative process is thus articulated through a dialectic driven backwards and forwards by the external field. The performance, the exposure, the separation from the creator, the public exposure demystifies the process and rewrites it in a readable linear order. Creation can be followed from point to point, landmarks of meaning are established, directions of urgency are set. At the same time, the linear transcription inevitably becomes entangled, knotted and cyclically twisted back to the starting point. Which fascinates us. In relation to the addressee, the exhibition does not change function; it cuts equally into the meat of creation for lay viewers, the profession and the creators. It imposes itself on all as a manifest thought, a present absence.

Reflection is the result of an exploration of ways of establishing a dialogue through and with the exhibition, a dialogue between them, us, you and everything that has accumulated in between.

The EUTOPIA consortium connects universities, organisational models, cultures, and countries, where people’s lives, careers, priorities, and expectations are very diverse. This round table explores EUTOPIA’s diversity as an opportunity for reflection, comparison, and mutual inspiration. What does it mean to strive for research excellence in the South-East-European and post-Yugoslav space, marked by significant political, economic, and sociocultural transformations over the past two centuries? How do local collective memories feed into imaginations of the future, and are these reflections on the past, present, and future of any broader, transnational significance? To discuss these and related questions, this round table, moderated by Asst. Prof. dr. Natalija Majsova, brings together four internationally distinguished scholars in the humanities and social sciences, all of whom have experience with different academic and cultural contexts.

Drawing on their personal and professional experience, dr. Katja Kobolt, assoc. prof. dr. Tamara Pavasović Trošt, assoc. prof. dr. Aljoša Pužar, all based in Slovenia, and dr. Colin Rittberg, currently based in the Netherlands, will reflect on academic buzzwords such as international mobility, interdisciplinarity, and sustainability, together sketching out their specificities in the South-East-European context. They will not only provide insights into the logic of research project calls, but also unpack the significance of post-Yugoslav collective memory and post-socialist infrastructures, outlining major research challenges, opportunities, and bottlenecks.

This two part panel discussion stems from ongoing experiences in learning interventions focusing on urban mobility, developed and tested in Erasmus+ projects (Urban Goodcamp, Active8-Planet). Universities carry crucial roles as driving forces of good practices, oftentimes serving as bridges between urban mobility stakeholders, engaging local communities of practice in the process. Furthermore, ways of integrating urban mobility challenges, problem-based learning approaches, interdisciplinary and cross-sector collaboration in higher-edcuation programmes will be discussed. Finally, current and future practices of bringing together researchers and practitioners will be highlighted, in the name of strengthening research and development activities in the field of sustainable (urban) mobility. 

This 1,5-hour walking tour offers a commonly overlooked part of Ljubljana's essence – the ways in which Ljubljana and Slovenia were and still are shaped by important women figures throughout history and modern era. This walking tour focuses on monuments, statues and buildings, built in the name of important women, or more often than not, the lack of their acknowledgement. The tour guide will shed light onto the lesser-known facts about these prominent roles women have had and offer queer and non-binary interpretations for various historical events and monuments throughout pre-socialist and socialist struggles, as well as gender issues still present in Slovenian society. Learn more about extraordinary women politicians, artists, architects, natural scientists, social activists, musicians, poets and many more that formed today's life and society in Ljubljana and Slovenia as a whole.

EUTOPIA Alliance is home of 30 Connected Learning Communities, representing a unique transnational educational model. In this session the perspectives and potentials of this ambitous EUTOPIA educational model will be presented. Prof. dr. Boštjan Markoli, Vice Rector of the University of Ljubljana will open this session with a welcome speech, followed by a walk through of the journey from creating the idea all the way to its implementation, given by prof. dr. Jan Danckaert, the lead of the EUTOPIA working group on Education (WP2). Afterwards, the WP2 coordinator, prof. dr. Rosette S’Jegers, will brief the present company on EUTOPIA Education Policy, followed by the WP2 curriculum developer prof. dr. Jo Angouri’s reflection on the 1st pilot of the project. Lastly, University of Ljubljana’s institutional lead of WP2, prof. dr. Tomaž Deželan will shed some light on the Connected Learning Communities at University of Ljubljana.

The practical work in the learning communities will be further demonstrated by the participating academics and students in a discussion. Everyone in the EUTOPIA Alliance can benefit from this interactive event: students, professors and other academic staff, key partners and leaders of EUTOPIA learning communities. The implications of this project can be of interest to a wider reach of professionals as well, such as representatives of ministries, institutes and agencies implementing transnational higher education, European decision makers in the field of higher education, and researchers in education in general. 

The City Municipality of Ljubljana is a political, scientific and cultural hub of Slovenia, home of some 288.000 residents, amounting to the status of the biggest city in Slovenia. This presentation will be led by Ljubljana’s City Council, highlighting many ways and practices of Ljubljana’s sustainability. This session will occur in the historic building of Cukrarna. Cukrarna’s origins date back to 1828, and since then it has undergone many cultural shifts, obtaining a status as a cultural monument. Its pro-social and humanistic principles reflect those of EUTOPIA Alliance. 

Part of the presentation will be led by the director general of centre Rog, Renata Zamida. In her presentation she will share more on Ljubljana's latest and biggest investment adding to the creative sphere of the city: the CENTRE ROG. Aimed to become a widely accessible creative hub, it will open its doors sometime in 2023 on the premises of the former Rog factory (which served to produce the cult-like Rog bicycles for more than 50 years). The Centre Rog will serve as a public space for the creative sector, with an emphasis on fabrication, applied arts, urban handicraft and design.

Building on the EUTOPIA Alliance's commitment to openness and inclusion, the EUTOPIA Knowledge Bazaar aims to foster a community of curiosity and active involvement by presenting research outcomes through innovative means. The Knowledge Bazaar is thus a virtual space where ideas take shape. An evocative meeting point for art and science. A marketplace of knowledge open to society and devoted to exhibiting the results of research carried out by the six original member universities of EUTOPIA. During EUTOPIA Week in Ljubljana, you will have an opportunity to check out the exhibition of video-presentations made by students from last year’s Knowledge Bazaar.

As part of the Open Innovation Challenge, students from the University of Ljubljana worked on a project called "Designing solutions for patients with multiple sclerosis", for which they developed practical devices to make life easier for MS patients. Easier preparation of meals, carrying of loads, intimate care and personalized jewellery are just a few of the ideas developed by students of industrial design, medicine, mechanical engineering, cognitive science, sociology and architecture. An important part of this project was interdisciplinary and trans-sectoral cooperation as shown by the students. Their ideas and devices will be presented at this exhibition.
 
The project was coordinated by the Vice-Dean of the Academy of Fine Arts and Design of the University of Ljubljana (UL ALUO), Assoc. Prof. Barbara Predan, and supervised by Assoc. Prof. Lidija Pritržnik and Prof. Jure Miklavc (both also from UL ALUO). The project also involved the 'Get to Know Multiple Sclerosis' association and the pharmaceutical company Roche.
 
While the presented products and services are still at the concept stage and not yet ready for sale on the market, all the participants wish for the project to continue and that these solutions will one day contribute to inclusive designs that can benefit everyone, not only people affected by multiple sclerosis.

A central exhibition of the Plečnik Year 2022 sheds light on Plečnik’s architectural oeuvre and unveils numerous innovative ideas and techniques, which this multifaceted artist used in his diverse fields of creative work. The exhibition offers an opportunity for a reflection on Plečnik’s ideas and an artistic view of them in the 21st century.

The exhibition, with which we are commemorating the 150th anniversary of the architect’s birth, presents Plečnik’s realised and unrealised projects, notes, sketches, plans, models, and sculptures. With selection of materials, it wants to map out Plečnik’s conceived space, created during a time of radical political changes, within the frame of three metaphors – metropolis, place, garden. 

Concepts that are, to a degree, connected with Vienna, Prague, and Ljubljana, but not fully. If we were to limit Plečnik’s work to the physical space of cities, we would miss his thought, which constantly interlaced all three experiences within his superlative architecture.