At our international RogDesignDays festival, we will be looking for answers to the challenges of sustainable design for the needs of modern society through three strands: the Rog Creathon - a design sprint for creatives under 30, the Rog Forum - a two-day conference, and the Rog Expo - an exhibition of products created in our production labs or by designers in residence.
RogDesignDays will take place at Center Rog from 10 to 14 November 2025.
This year’s theme Boundaries & Friction explores the tensions, intersections, and creative possibilities that arise when constraints, limitations, and opposing forces meet. It invites creatives from all fields to examine how boundaries (physical, cultural, digital, or conceptual) shape creativity and how friction (conflicts, resistances, or challenges) can lead to innovation in a world of polarization, climate crises, and rapid technological change.
We would like to spark dialogue on how design can navigate, disrupt, or transform the lines that divide us—turning friction into forward motion. What happens when we push limits and challenge norms? Are boundaries obstacles or opportunities that lead to better solutions?
Come to Ljubljana and be part of a week filled with hands-on creativity, stimulating discussions, and enjoyable networking.
Rog Creathon
Get ready for a 48-hour design sprint where 25 young creators (aged 18–30) will tackle five challenges based on the theme Boundaries and Friction. Upon arrival, you’ll receive a box of materials and immediately dive into work under the guidance of top-notch mentors. With support from the team at Center Rog and its nine production labs, you’ll develop your solution in just two days. Connect with like-minded creators from around the world, have fun, compete for exciting prizes and take on the opportunity to exhibit at the RogExpo international exhibition!
Rog Creathon will take place from 10 to 12 November 2025 at Center Rog, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Applications are open until 6 October 2025!
Rog Forum
Meet the Speakers of RogForum 2025 (13-14 November) & Secure Your Early Bird Ticket!
We’re excited to announce some of the confirmed speakers for Rog Forum 2025, themed “Boundaries and Friction.” Once again, we’ll bring together some of the most inspiring voices from around the world for critical conversations on design, society, and change.
We’ll explore how design can empower communities with Annelys de Vet, Dutch designer and co-founder of Disarming Design from Palestine; Maja Lalić, creative director of the Mikser Festival, known for supporting civic activism and anti-government protests in Serbia; and Alenka Kreč-Bricelj, Slovenian and activist supporting causes ranging from local environmental protection to reproductive rights at the European level, and Santana Frederic Sino, programme coordinator of the Kibera Arts District in Nairobi - Africa’s largest informal settlement.
In collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs international panellists we will explore whether 'soft power' is enough when hard geopolitical interests clash, and how creative, cultural and scientific diplomacy can contribute to overcoming social and value divides.
The ever-relevant question—Is fashion art or craft?—will be explored with Andrea Reyes, co-founder of the American Fair Trade Coalition and professor at Parsons School of Design, alongside Daniel Harris, British designer and founder of the London Cloth Company, a weaving mill defying the digital age by reviving traditional textile craftsmanship.
We’ll learn how migrant community kitchens can redefine culinary borders with Hawa Hassan, Somali chef and author, as she shares personal stories of displacement and recipes that celebrate community and belonging. Kim Lim, co-founder of the award-winning Malaysian social enterprise PichaEats, will join to discuss food, inclusion, and the power of sharing a meal.
We’ll also dive into the opportunities and limitations of designer-in-residence programs with Suriawati Qiu, designer and co-founder of CushCush Gallery in Bali, and Becky Riches, a programme manager at Matera Hub in Italy. These programs challenge dominant narratives, offering alternative imaginaries of places often reduced to clichés: Bali as merely a tourist paradise, and Matera as merely a postcard town.
A special panel will explore how rural communities are reclaiming space and agency, featuring Josh Doble, Advocacy Manager at Community Land Scotland; Aleksandra Bašić, designer and co-author of Naš izvor, a safe house for women in Bosnia and Herzegovina; and Ege Yildirim, Turkish conservation specialist and co-founder of Tera Mudurnu, showcasing how to build with respect for heritage and community in contrast to exploitative development practices.
Finally, we’ll open the theme of regeneration as an active, creative approach to reimagining our relationship with the living world. Join Benito Juárez, founder of the Floating Fab Lab in the Amazon and a leading South American voice in regenerative design, Aljaž Plankl, co-founder of Naj Raste! (Let it Grow!) a Slovenian company that innovatively designs gardens and landscapes, combining natural beauty and ecological sustainability with minimal maintenance, and Virginia San Fratello, US-based designer and head of the design department at San José State University, as they explore how local materials and new technologies can help build more just and resilient communities.
The final Rog Forum program and the timetable of the panels will be published on October 6th!
Early Bird registration is open until November 10, 2025, or until all places are filled:
Rog Expo
Center Rog’s annual exhibition this year delves into creative responses to limitations, conflicts, and intersections that arise in the design process.
The exhibition presents a selection of products and prototypes developed in the production labs of Center Rog. These were created by independent lab users, project studio participants, members of the Young at Rog program, artists-in-residence, or emerged through workshops, clubs, and partner programs.
The theme Boundaries and Friction encourages reflection on how different types of boundaries — physical, social, digital, or conceptual — influence creativity, and how the friction that arise in these contexts can lead to innovative and more responsible solutions.
The open call for submissions is available HERE, and will remain open until September 21, 2025.
The exhibition opens on Wednesday, November 12, 2025, at 7 PM, and will be on view through February 7, 2026.