International Summer School in Zlín
A week full of thinking, creating, debating, and experimenting is behind us. The summer school was organized by the Arts Management and focused on audience engagement, speculative design, and creative placemaking. This event brought students, teachers, and experts from various corners of Europe to Zlín. During the week, participants explored how culture and design can contribute to better public spaces, how to listen to invisible audiences, and how to work together to create environments that are open, welcoming, and more inclusive for everyone. Inspirational lectures and interventions offered both theoretical frameworks and personal insights from Timea Szőke, Dorijan Šiška, Botas Kendall, and Eva Vázalová Gartnerová. Students transformed their ideas into specific interventions in the vicinity of the Kafo espresso bar, which passersby could see and experience. \"The Summer School was a great experience. I loved the warm welcome from the faculty team. I enjoyed seeing the student’s ideas coming to life on public spaces. I wish we all had more opportunities to shape the life or our cities. Looking forward to future opportunities to work together and maybe even expand our ideas and practices,\" comments urban planner and researcher Timea Szőke. Botas Kendal highlights the atmosphere and cooperation during the Summer School: \"In terms of organization, hospitality, and professionalism, our colleagues from Zlín are top experts with a strong sense of warth. The participants, in the name of merging different cultures and habits, further reinforced all of this. I am happy to be able to share this experience.\" Dorijan Šiška praised not only the organization but also the quality of the students: \"The students showed great promise in fields such as teamwork, critical thinking and realization of their projects; they were very good at creating new concepts and using a critical mindset. I’m looking forward to more successful collaborations and projects in this creative and welcoming environment.\" The summer school was established in cooperation with the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Ljubljana and the University of Catalonia. International and interdisciplinary dialogue became the core of the entire week. The summer school will be followed in September by a trip and plein air workshop for KODK students to the ReHope international symposium in Nova Gorica, where they will continue to explore topics related to public space, sustainability, and social renewal.
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