Innovation through creative and circular technologies
Authors
Gerald Leindecker

Mission of WG 4
This WG studies technological advancements that can contribute to sustainability through creative innovation technologies. The WG studies creative solutions for counteracting the heterogeneity of technology and its domination of the market towards a multiplicity of technologies. This pluralism can be obtained from drawing solutions in urban design and architecture developed in non-Western societies—what could be called 'slow technologies. The WG aims also to explore social practices and philosophies that are connected to these technologies and to defend their interconnectedness for a better implementation. Practices situated between visual art, craftsmanship, collaborative and circular design approaches, and technological innovation on the level of materials, construction, and urban landscape—with the objective of more
circular and green buildings and cities—fall in the scope of this WG that aims to explore them from a transversal, cross-cultural, and cross-temporal perspective and as bottom-up solutions. Finally, this WG maps the relevance of these practices for a societal transition towards more sustainable and circular thinking.

New Structure of WG 4
-SUBGROUP 1: Creative innovation-technologies (=> studies creative solutions of counteracting the heterogeneity of technology and its domination on the market)
-SUBGROUP 2: Application of the new technologies for urban design and architecture (=> circular technologies, bioart etc. + collection of case-studies)
-SUBGROUP 3: Slow technology (=> studies the interconnectedness and multiplicity of technologies
in communities, artistic practices, vernacular and historic practices)
-SUBGROUP 4: Social practices and philosophies connected to technologies, outside of the Euro- American market system (=> case-studies from non-European contexts, communities etc.)

WG 4: DESCRIPTION OF DELIVERABLES
Partly: D2 Edited volume focused on ‘un-learning’ (the old ways of ‘economics’) and ‘creatively and collectively re-learning’ (new collaborative, sustainable and circular ways) in view of linking better knowledge and action.
Partly: D5 Website creation as a collaborative platform that will develop into a useful database.
Partly: D6 Publishing Set of policy recommendations and recommendations for reforming Education for Sustainability.
Partly: D7 Practitioner handbook/toolkit. The working group for this strand will work with a group of practitioners to create a handbook for practitioners drawing out critical and creative pedagogies key themes from the research and presenting key ideas for effective practice. It will translate current cutting edge thinking about education for sustainability and social justice into a series of approaches that can be utilised by practitioners in a variety of contexts.

Abstracts of WG4 ( presented in Paris)
WG 4 Leaders presentations (Innovation through creative and circular technologies): Gerald Leindecker for Niina Karvinen
Renee Wansdronk: Emporium - Zero emission building concept - AR/VR/XR AI avatar tool Aleksandra Stupar :‘Belgrade urban oases: Shaping the integrative nodes for environmental and social sustainability’ + Eleni Meletiadou: “Reclaimed Spaces: Empowering Migrant Women and Youth through Temporary Public Installations”.
Songül Aral: "Integration of Sustainable Technical Basic Craft Knowledge: Weaving and Knitting Applications and Prototypes."

WG 4: Innovation through creative and circular technologies.
This WG studies technological advancement that can contribute to sustainability through creative innovation-technologies.
The WG studies creative solutions of counteracting the heterogeneity of technology and its domination on the market, towards a multiplicity of technologies. This pluralism can be obtained from drawing solutions in urban design and architecture developed in non-Western societies – what could be called 'slow technologies‘. The WG aims also to explore social practices and philosophies that are connected to these technologies and to defend their interconnectedness for a better implementation. Practices situated between visual art, craftsmanship, collaborative and circular design approaches,
technological innovation on the level of materials, construction and urban landscape – with the objective of more circular and green buildings and cities – fall in the scope of this WG that aims to explore them from a transversal, cross-cultural and cross-temporal perspective and as bottom-up solutions. Finally this WG maps the relevance of these practices for a societal transition towards a more sustainable and circular thinking.

Solar energy, low exergy, zero emission building concept
Renee Wansdronk
A solar energy, low exergy, and zero emission building concept, with an integrated seasonal solar heat storage system, without energy losses, supplies indoor heating and hot tap water. The building concept is suitable for free-standing, connected, or high-rise, residential and utility buildings, in all climate zones.

The building concept is characterized as a seasonal solar heat storage system, with the smallest exergy loss (low-exergy), and without any energy loss. In this case, exergy (applicability or quality of energy) stands for the temperatures which are used in the solar heating system, which are as close as possible to the demand temperatures (20 The building concept is characterized as a seasonal solar heat storage system, with the smallest ), and without any energy loss. In this case, exergy (applicability or quality of energy) stands for the temperatures which are used in the solar heating system, which are as close as possible to the demand temperatures (20 ˚C indoor and 45 ˚C shower).The building concept is characterized as a seasonal solar heat storage system, with the smallest ), and without any energy loss. In this case, exergy (applicability or quality of energy) stands for the temperatures which are used in the solar heating system, which are as).

The project conditions are a southern facade for the solar collector, a water column in the core of the building, and a team being able to deliver the local design, construction and installation, and n a local learn to deliver process. Solar collector and storage cylinder The project conditions are a southern facade for the solar collector, a water column in the core of the building, and a team being able to deliver the local design, construction and installation, and willing to participate in a local learn to deliver process. Solar collector and storage cylinder suppliers, to deliver the installation elements, are available. The project conditions are a southern facade for the solar collector, a water column in the core of the building, and a team being able to deliver the local design, construction and installation, and
n a local learn to deliver process. Solar collector and storage cylinder suppliers, to deliver the installation elements, are available.

BELGRADE URBAN OASIS: SHAPING THE INTEGRATIVE NODE(S) FOR ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL
SUSTAINABILITY
Professor Dr. Aleksandra Stupa

The presentation is focused on one of the sites targeted by the Belgrade Urban Oases project (2024/2025), launched by the EUNIC Cluster Fund Initiative (Serbia). Implemented in collaboration with the Belgrade International Architecture Week (BINA), the University of Belgrade - Faculties of Architecture and Forestry and several local organisations, the initiative was guided by the idea of transformation and upgrading of neglected urban areas into inclusive nodes of multileveled interaction, with increased environmental and social value. The project included three sites with a
potential of becoming hubs of creativity, community cohesion and ecological awareness, and the case of the Drop in Shelter for the Street Children is selected as an example of the conducted process.
Leading toward sustainable green transition, the project for this site was based on situated, participative and action-oriented design, combining artistic interventions, biophilic principles, the elements of circular economy/recycling and community engagement with student collaboration and professional support. Based on the ideas of co-creation, co-production and co-benefits, the implemented oasis demonstrates the power of smaller interventions in achieving societal and
environmental change while establishing a new hub for social inclusion of vulnerable/marginalised groups.
The presentation also highlights the main theoretical drivers of the project, as well as the phases of conceptualisation, design and implementation. Stimulating exploration, play and learning during the application of art, ecology, recycling and digitalisation, the popularity of this oasis has been raised and the different groups of users have become connected. Their personal experiences of space and its natural elements contribute to the overall environmental awareness, while the oasis becomes a potential role model for the activation of similar underused spaces.

Reclaimed Spaces: Empowering Migrant Women and Youth through Temporary Public Installations
Eleni Meletiadou

Urban public spaces, parks, squares, and pedestrian zonesare central to cultural life, yet access to shaping these spaces remains uneven. Migrant women and youth are often excluded from urban narratives and cultural participation, rendering their experiences invisible in mainstream design and policy. This presentation explores how temporary public installations, including street art, pop-up exhibitions, mobile cultural labs, and performative interventions, can function as circular, community-led tools of empowerment. These reclaimed spaces activate public territory by challenging dominant assumptions about who belongs in the city. Temporary interventions are low-resource, co-created, and adaptable, making them ideal platforms for amplifying marginalised voices. Through participatory artistic processes, migrant women and youth can express local knowledge, articulate experiences of displacement, and build new forms of solidarity across communities. Such installations also foster unexpected encounters, creating opportunities for dialogue between groups who rarely interact, and encouraging a more plural understanding of urban belonging. By foregrounding creativity as a method of social action, these practices highlight the potential of public art to address structural inequalities and reshape the social fabric of expanding cities. Ultimately, temporary installations offer more than aesthetic value: they are micro-strategies for inclusion, enabling migrant communities to reclaim visibility, participate in cultural production, and
contribute to more just and circular urban futures. Integrating these approaches into city planning and sustainability policy can ensure that migrant voices become central, not peripheral, to the co-creation of public space.