Zlin Design Week in the FORBES LIFE magazine
12. May 2025Our faculty is seen all over the country. One of our biggest projects – the Zlin Design Week festival – has been featured in the prestigious Forbes magazine. In an interview that focuses on this year’s 11th edition of the festival and its long-term impact, Dean Josef Kocourek spoke about the role of the university and students throughout the organization.
Zlin Design Week is proof that the university environment can generate projects with real social impact. Our festival is unique in its concept. It is not backed by a professional event agency, but is entirely student-directed and grows every year – both in content and reach. Every year students are involved in the organisation, production, marketing and curation of the exhibitions. It was this aspect that caught the attention of Forbes editors – as an example of a working collaboration between the academic world and practice.
“There are many design festivals. But we are different, and this is clearly due to the motivation and enthusiasm of the students who organise the event,” explains Josef Kocourek. The university environment does not have to be a closed academic world, but it can be an engine of innovation, a space for talent and a platform for discussing important social issues.
Making it onto the Forbes pages is proof that even student projects can resonate nationally and attract the attention of media that follow the cutting edge of the world of business, innovation and culture. Read the full article HERE.