Non Tox Talk – Rural Matters 09.06.2026
Abandoned farms, empty barns, forgotten courtyards and places left in time carry stories, knowledge and traces. Perhaps only waiting to become alive again.
Tuesday, 09.06. 2026 at 16:00
In person
Online stream, 09.06. 2026 – 13.06.2026 – Link will be available here.
Event location: Healthy public living room, Trbovlje
Organised by: Non Tox Uni Kum / Non Tox Hub and hosting by Library Trbovlje
• Event language: English
• Participation: No Fee
You are warmly invited to our next Non Tox Talk “Rural Matters”, an official satellite event of the New European Bauhaus Festival.
Rural landscapes often carry visible traces of change. Abandoned farms, empty buildings, places that slowly lost their primary role and are standing still in time. Often forgotten, often abandonded, because better options emerged elswhere. Young people leaving in search of opportunities. Beneath these layers remain stories, knowledge, relationships, ways of living, food traditions and a strong connection with place. Rural areas are more than agriculture. They are landscapes of memory, identity, sharing and community. Perhaps the question is not how to preserve them Perhaps the question is how to give them new life. How to open abandoned spaces to new meanings. How former farms can become places of gathering, learning, creation and community. How to create environments where younger generations can imagine a future. Where staying becomes a choice. Where returning becomes possible. This conversation opens a reflection on rural territories through health, community, culture, participation and regeneration. Not through what rural places have lost. But through what they still hold. And what they may become.
New meanings. New futures.
Beneath visible change remain a field possibilities. A former farm finding new purpose. An empty barn opening space for people and new stories. Food reconnecting with health Landscape becoming part of learning. Young people finding reasons to stay. Communities gathering. Again. Perhaps rural futures do not begin with large interventions. Sometimes they begin with care. With relationships. With giving new meaning to places that quietly waited. For new perspectives and new living.
Special Guest:
Anja Fortuna
Policy analyst AEIDL. Expert on rural development, tourism and youth policy.
About Anja Fortuna
Anja Fortuna has over a decade of experience in youth policy, agriculture, tourism and rural development, working across local, national and European levels. She is Policy Analyst for Rural Pact Support Office and has extensive expertise in EU programmes and project management, particularly in the fields of youth participation, rural development, education and health.
She has been Programme Manager at Rural Youth Europe in Brussels, overseeing EU-funded initiatives on agriculture, rural development and youth empowerment, and representing the organisation in the European Board on Agriculture and Food. She also works independently as a consultant and trainer, supporting organisations in project design, facilitation and stakeholder engagement. Previously, Anja served as President and Vice-President of the National Youth Council of Slovenia and as Vice-President of the European Youth Forum, leading advocacy and policy-shaping processes at national and European levels. She was External Expert during the Slovenian Presidency of the EU Council in 2021, co-organising the European Youth Conference and contributing to the Council Working Party on Youth. She has also managed international projects at the International Youth Health Organisation.
Non Tox Talk is an official satellite event of the New European Bauhaus Festival.
In person
Online stream, 09.06. 2026 – 13.06.2026 – Link will be available here.
Event location: Healthy public living room, Trbovlje
Organised by: Non Tox Uni Kum / Non Tox Hub and hosting by Library Trbovlje
• Event language: English
• Participation: No Fee
You are warmly invited to our next Non Tox Talk “Rural Matters”, an official satellite event of the New European Bauhaus Festival.
Rural landscapes often carry visible traces of change. Abandoned farms, empty buildings, places that slowly lost their primary role and are standing still in time. Often forgotten, often abandonded, because better options emerged elswhere. Young people leaving in search of opportunities. Beneath these layers remain stories, knowledge, relationships, ways of living, food traditions and a strong connection with place. Rural areas are more than agriculture. They are landscapes of memory, identity, sharing and community. Perhaps the question is not how to preserve them Perhaps the question is how to give them new life. How to open abandoned spaces to new meanings. How former farms can become places of gathering, learning, creation and community. How to create environments where younger generations can imagine a future. Where staying becomes a choice. Where returning becomes possible. This conversation opens a reflection on rural territories through health, community, culture, participation and regeneration. Not through what rural places have lost. But through what they still hold. And what they may become.
New meanings. New futures.
Beneath visible change remain a field possibilities. A former farm finding new purpose. An empty barn opening space for people and new stories. Food reconnecting with health Landscape becoming part of learning. Young people finding reasons to stay. Communities gathering. Again. Perhaps rural futures do not begin with large interventions. Sometimes they begin with care. With relationships. With giving new meaning to places that quietly waited. For new perspectives and new living.
Special Guest:
Anja Fortuna
Policy analyst AEIDL. Expert on rural development, tourism and youth policy.
About Anja Fortuna
Anja Fortuna has over a decade of experience in youth policy, agriculture, tourism and rural development, working across local, national and European levels. She is Policy Analyst for Rural Pact Support Office and has extensive expertise in EU programmes and project management, particularly in the fields of youth participation, rural development, education and health.
She has been Programme Manager at Rural Youth Europe in Brussels, overseeing EU-funded initiatives on agriculture, rural development and youth empowerment, and representing the organisation in the European Board on Agriculture and Food. She also works independently as a consultant and trainer, supporting organisations in project design, facilitation and stakeholder engagement. Previously, Anja served as President and Vice-President of the National Youth Council of Slovenia and as Vice-President of the European Youth Forum, leading advocacy and policy-shaping processes at national and European levels. She was External Expert during the Slovenian Presidency of the EU Council in 2021, co-organising the European Youth Conference and contributing to the Council Working Party on Youth. She has also managed international projects at the International Youth Health Organisation.
Non Tox Talk is an official satellite event of the New European Bauhaus Festival.
Non Tox Talk – Regeneration Matters 02.06.2026
The event begins with a question:
How can we transform places without losing the depth of what makes them meaningful?
Tuesday, 02.06. 2026 at 16:00
In person
Online stream, 09.06. 2026 – 13.06.2026 – Link will be available here.
Event location: Healthy public living room, Trbovlje
Organised by: Non Tox Uni Kum / Non Tox Hub and hosting by Library Trbovlje
• Event language: English
• Participation: No Fee
You are warmly invited to our next Non Tox Talk “Regeneration Matters”, an official satellite event of the New European Bauhaus Festival, where we will open a conversation on how post-industrial landscapes can become spaces of new relationships, new stories and new futures through regenerative approaches.
Post-industrial areas often carry visible traces of exhaustion, abandonment and transition. Beneath these layers remain memory, identity, knowledge and the potential for new forms of life. This is where regeneration begins. Not by erasing the past, but by entering into a relationship with it. The special guest of the evening will be Alison Mears, architect, professor at Parsons School of Design, NY, co-founder and Executive Director of Healthy Materials Lab and HML EU gGmbH. During the event, she will also present conceptual ideas and research work developed by students from Parsons School of design, New School NY, who explored the former Trbovlje Thermal Power Plant (TET) site as a place of transition, regeneration and future possibilities. Not by erasing the past. But by moving through it towards the future.
Transform without losing the depth of what makes a place meaningful.
How do we repair relationships between people, place, ecology, culture, and time? How do we move beyond extraction. Not only of resources, but also of communities, attention, landscapes, and meaning? How do we regain a sense of belonging? And how can former industrial territories become spaces where new imaginaries emerge?
Post industrial landscapes often carry visible traces of extraction, exhaustion, abandonment, and transition. But beneath these visible layers remain memory, knowledge, identity, and the possibility for new forms of life.
Regeneration begins there. Not in erasing the past, but in entering into relationship with it.
The Thermal Power Plant, Trbovlje stands at the intersection of these questions. A place once built around energy production now becomes a place for reflecting on what kind of energy societies will need in the future.
Social energy, cultural energy, ecological intelligence, collective imagination.
This evening opens a conversation about how post-industrial regions can become spaces of regeneration through culture, architecture, education, ecology, and collective imagination.
Not despite their history, but through it.
Special Guest:
Alison Mears
AIA LEED AP Associate Professor, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Parsons Healthy Materials Lab and Director and Co-founder of HML EU gGmbH.
About Alison Mears
Alison Mears AIA LEED AP is an Associate Professor, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Parsons Healthy Materials Lab and Director and Co-founder of HML EU gGmbH. She is also an Associate Professor of Architecture at Parsons School of Design. Alison leverages her practice-based experience as an architect and her knowledge and experience as a long-term academic leader to confront one of the more serious and often overlooked environmental challenges of our time: the health of the built environment. HML creates resources, educational programming, and prototypical innovative housing models for a new post-petroleum world.
Alison is the recipient of multiple grants and lectures widely disseminating current thinking within the field of material health. Alison Mears was awarded (with Jonsara Ruth) the 2022 Women in Architecture Innovation Award from Architectural Record and co-edited “Material Health: Design Frontiers”.
Non Tox Talk is an official satellite event of the New European Bauhaus Festival.
In person
Online stream, 09.06. 2026 – 13.06.2026 – Link will be available here.
Event location: Healthy public living room, Trbovlje
Organised by: Non Tox Uni Kum / Non Tox Hub and hosting by Library Trbovlje
• Event language: English
• Participation: No Fee
You are warmly invited to our next Non Tox Talk “Regeneration Matters”, an official satellite event of the New European Bauhaus Festival, where we will open a conversation on how post-industrial landscapes can become spaces of new relationships, new stories and new futures through regenerative approaches.
Post-industrial areas often carry visible traces of exhaustion, abandonment and transition. Beneath these layers remain memory, identity, knowledge and the potential for new forms of life. This is where regeneration begins. Not by erasing the past, but by entering into a relationship with it. The special guest of the evening will be Alison Mears, architect, professor at Parsons School of Design, NY, co-founder and Executive Director of Healthy Materials Lab and HML EU gGmbH. During the event, she will also present conceptual ideas and research work developed by students from Parsons School of design, New School NY, who explored the former Trbovlje Thermal Power Plant (TET) site as a place of transition, regeneration and future possibilities. Not by erasing the past. But by moving through it towards the future.
Transform without losing the depth of what makes a place meaningful.
How do we repair relationships between people, place, ecology, culture, and time? How do we move beyond extraction. Not only of resources, but also of communities, attention, landscapes, and meaning? How do we regain a sense of belonging? And how can former industrial territories become spaces where new imaginaries emerge?
Post industrial landscapes often carry visible traces of extraction, exhaustion, abandonment, and transition. But beneath these visible layers remain memory, knowledge, identity, and the possibility for new forms of life.
Regeneration begins there. Not in erasing the past, but in entering into relationship with it.
The Thermal Power Plant, Trbovlje stands at the intersection of these questions. A place once built around energy production now becomes a place for reflecting on what kind of energy societies will need in the future.
Social energy, cultural energy, ecological intelligence, collective imagination.
This evening opens a conversation about how post-industrial regions can become spaces of regeneration through culture, architecture, education, ecology, and collective imagination.
Not despite their history, but through it.
Special Guest:
Alison Mears
AIA LEED AP Associate Professor, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Parsons Healthy Materials Lab and Director and Co-founder of HML EU gGmbH.
About Alison Mears
Alison Mears AIA LEED AP is an Associate Professor, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Parsons Healthy Materials Lab and Director and Co-founder of HML EU gGmbH. She is also an Associate Professor of Architecture at Parsons School of Design. Alison leverages her practice-based experience as an architect and her knowledge and experience as a long-term academic leader to confront one of the more serious and often overlooked environmental challenges of our time: the health of the built environment. HML creates resources, educational programming, and prototypical innovative housing models for a new post-petroleum world.
Alison is the recipient of multiple grants and lectures widely disseminating current thinking within the field of material health. Alison Mears was awarded (with Jonsara Ruth) the 2022 Women in Architecture Innovation Award from Architectural Record and co-edited “Material Health: Design Frontiers”.
Non Tox Talk is an official satellite event of the New European Bauhaus Festival.
Exhibition – Zasavje Museum, Trbovlje
Exhibition – Regenerative visions of post industrial site 02.06.2026 / Museum of Zasavje – Trbovlje, Healthy public living room, Vašhava, Trbovlje.
2.6.2026 at 18.00 – Opening of the exhibition 50 years of chimney TET and Regenerative visions of post industrial site, student work from Parsons School of Design, The New School NY in front of the Museum of Zasavje, Trbovlje, Zasavje Museum and Municipality of Trbovlje
11.6.2026 – A part of the exhibition will be moved to Just Transition conference, organised by Regional Development Agency, Vašhava, Nasipi, Trbovlje
Over the past months, students from Parsons School of Design NY explored for Municipality of Trbovlje former Thermal Power Plant TET, Trbovlje area not only as an architectural site, but as a place in transition and a testing ground for future possibilities. Trough models, drawings, research, and spatial explorations, they developed visions that engage with questions of ecology, public space, memory, resilience, coexistence, and regeneration within the post-industrial landscape of Trbovlje.
Alison Mears will present the students work for Municipality around the TET area and share reflections on their process, approaches, and perspectives developed during the semester. The talk will be followed by the official opening of the exhibition in front of the Museum of Zasavje, Trbovlje. The Zasavje Museum exhibition brings together the legacy of the Thermal Power Plant through its fifty year history alongside emerging visions for its future transformation. The exhibition invites visitors to reflect on how places in transition may become spaces of new narratives, relationships, and futures.
Alison Mears will present the students work for Municipality around the TET area and share reflections on their process, approaches, and perspectives developed during the semester. The talk will be followed by the official opening of the exhibition in front of the Museum of Zasavje, Trbovlje. The Zasavje Museum exhibition brings together the legacy of the Thermal Power Plant through its fifty year history alongside emerging visions for its future transformation. The exhibition invites visitors to reflect on how places in transition may become spaces of new narratives, relationships, and futures.
Non Tox Talk – Project Matters 23.01.2026
Why do some projects make it all the way through, while others do not?
Friday, January 23, 2026 at 16:00
In person
Event location: Healthy public living room, Trbovlje
Organised by: Non Tox Uni Kum / Non Tox Hub and hosting by Library Trbovlje
Non Tox
• Event language: English
• Participation: No Fee
Why do some projects make it all the way through, while others do not?
We will host Prof. Dr. Ivan Damnjanović (Texas A&M University), an internationally recognised expert in project management, risk and systems-based decision-making in complex construction and infrastructure projects. The discussion will focus on what truly determines success in practice, how critical decisions are made, how responsibility is effectively distributed, and what must be embedded in the process for a project not only to be successfully completed, but to truly come to life.
It is intended for the general public, architects, construction professionals, designers, students, decision-makers. For all those interested in how projects truly shape space and future development.
Project Matters in Trbovlje, a conversation about projects, very quickly it became a conversation about how systems really work once plans meet reality. With exceptional Prof. Dr. Ivan Damnjanović, full professor atTexas A&M University and an internationally recognised expert in project management, risk management and public private partnerships, we spoke about why projects rarely fail because of one big mistake, but much more often because of assumptions that are never questioned and slowly turn into facts. It was about planning not as a document, but as a continuous act of thinking and rethinking, about risk not as something to eliminate, but as something that gives direction and meaning to decisions, and about complexity that initially protects systems, but over time grows into something that replaces purpose and consumes energy, time and resources.
We spoke about public private partnerships as a matter of culture, trust and aligned incentives rather than contracts alone, inclusion, about values, and about health not as a “soft” topic, but as a precise indicator of how mature, disciplined and well organised a system actually is. We planned a discussion, but mostly found ourselves listening, because the examples were concrete, the thinking sharp, and the insights immediately applicable to everyday work, whether in public projects, organisations or life in general. As several participants later said, the outcome of this talk was a clearer way of seeing and very much a conversation we will remember. Prof. Dr. Ivan Damnjanović was in Slovenia as part of the Fulbright Specialist programme, hosted by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia and Non Tox Uni Kum.
In person
Event location: Healthy public living room, Trbovlje
Organised by: Non Tox Uni Kum / Non Tox Hub and hosting by Library Trbovlje
Non Tox
• Event language: English
• Participation: No Fee
Why do some projects make it all the way through, while others do not?
We will host Prof. Dr. Ivan Damnjanović (Texas A&M University), an internationally recognised expert in project management, risk and systems-based decision-making in complex construction and infrastructure projects. The discussion will focus on what truly determines success in practice, how critical decisions are made, how responsibility is effectively distributed, and what must be embedded in the process for a project not only to be successfully completed, but to truly come to life.
It is intended for the general public, architects, construction professionals, designers, students, decision-makers. For all those interested in how projects truly shape space and future development.
Project Matters in Trbovlje, a conversation about projects, very quickly it became a conversation about how systems really work once plans meet reality. With exceptional Prof. Dr. Ivan Damnjanović, full professor atTexas A&M University and an internationally recognised expert in project management, risk management and public private partnerships, we spoke about why projects rarely fail because of one big mistake, but much more often because of assumptions that are never questioned and slowly turn into facts. It was about planning not as a document, but as a continuous act of thinking and rethinking, about risk not as something to eliminate, but as something that gives direction and meaning to decisions, and about complexity that initially protects systems, but over time grows into something that replaces purpose and consumes energy, time and resources.
We spoke about public private partnerships as a matter of culture, trust and aligned incentives rather than contracts alone, inclusion, about values, and about health not as a “soft” topic, but as a precise indicator of how mature, disciplined and well organised a system actually is. We planned a discussion, but mostly found ourselves listening, because the examples were concrete, the thinking sharp, and the insights immediately applicable to everyday work, whether in public projects, organisations or life in general. As several participants later said, the outcome of this talk was a clearer way of seeing and very much a conversation we will remember. Prof. Dr. Ivan Damnjanović was in Slovenia as part of the Fulbright Specialist programme, hosted by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia and Non Tox Uni Kum.
Non Tox Talk – Health Matters 21.10.2025
Let’s explore what it means to build with care, and what kind of world we construct in doing so.
Tuesday, 21. October 2025 – 16.00
In person
Event location: Healthy public living room, Trbovlje
Organised by: Non Tox Uni Kum and hosting by Library Trbovlje
• Event language: English
• Participation: No Fee
As part of the Non Tox Days in Trbovlje, we are preparing something truly special. ⚪️
The first in the series of conversations, “Non Tox Talk,” will host two remarkable experts from the Healthy Materials Lab at Parsons School of Design, New School New York. 🤍
Together with our guests Alison Mears and Leila Diana Behjat co-founders and directors of Healthy Materials Lab New York and HML EU gGmbH, we engage openly and sincerely about how we can create healthier spaces and a culture of design that cares for both people and the planet.
This will be a conversation without a stage. Among people, where real change begins. Woven with the principles of the New European Bauhaus – sustainable, inclusive, and beautiful. We will discuss how we can start with small steps, like this one. In the Healthy Public Living Room of the Trbovlje Library, a space designed with care for health, sustainability, inclusion, and beauty. For everyone.
We will talk about how spaces we are surrounded with affect us. About healthier materials and how, sometimes the step towards a healthier environment can be really simple. What regenerative design means, and how and through the choice of materials we can create a world that supports life. We will discuss the importance of connection, availability of technologies and materials, wisdom we can draw from history, and how our local environment can provide high-quality, healthier materials.
This event brings together research, design, and responsibility into a shared vision of a healthier future. You are warmly invited to join us.
The event is free of charge. The conversation will be held in English.
We look forward to sharing this meaningful afternoon of dialogue, inspiration, and tea that connects.
Every structure begins with a choice. Not only of form, but of matter, method, and meaning. To build differently, we must begin differently – with the questions we ask, the materials we choose, and the values we build into the process.
This event connects us with Alison Mears and Leila Behjat from Healthy Materials Lab, Parsons School of Design, New York — two leading experts in healthy materials and regenerative design.
It opens a conversation on how to move from awareness to action, and why building for health matters now more than ever.
In person
Event location: Healthy public living room, Trbovlje
Organised by: Non Tox Uni Kum and hosting by Library Trbovlje
• Event language: English
• Participation: No Fee
As part of the Non Tox Days in Trbovlje, we are preparing something truly special. ⚪️
The first in the series of conversations, “Non Tox Talk,” will host two remarkable experts from the Healthy Materials Lab at Parsons School of Design, New School New York. 🤍
Together with our guests Alison Mears and Leila Diana Behjat co-founders and directors of Healthy Materials Lab New York and HML EU gGmbH, we engage openly and sincerely about how we can create healthier spaces and a culture of design that cares for both people and the planet.
This will be a conversation without a stage. Among people, where real change begins. Woven with the principles of the New European Bauhaus – sustainable, inclusive, and beautiful. We will discuss how we can start with small steps, like this one. In the Healthy Public Living Room of the Trbovlje Library, a space designed with care for health, sustainability, inclusion, and beauty. For everyone.
We will talk about how spaces we are surrounded with affect us. About healthier materials and how, sometimes the step towards a healthier environment can be really simple. What regenerative design means, and how and through the choice of materials we can create a world that supports life. We will discuss the importance of connection, availability of technologies and materials, wisdom we can draw from history, and how our local environment can provide high-quality, healthier materials.
This event brings together research, design, and responsibility into a shared vision of a healthier future. You are warmly invited to join us.
The event is free of charge. The conversation will be held in English.
We look forward to sharing this meaningful afternoon of dialogue, inspiration, and tea that connects.
Every structure begins with a choice. Not only of form, but of matter, method, and meaning. To build differently, we must begin differently – with the questions we ask, the materials we choose, and the values we build into the process.
This event connects us with Alison Mears and Leila Behjat from Healthy Materials Lab, Parsons School of Design, New York — two leading experts in healthy materials and regenerative design.
It opens a conversation on how to move from awareness to action, and why building for health matters now more than ever.
Special Guest:
Alison Mears
AIA LEED AP Associate Professor, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Parsons Healthy Materials Lab and Director and Co-founder of HML EU gGmbH.
About Alison Mears
Alison Mears AIA LEED AP is an Associate Professor, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Parsons Healthy Materials Lab and Director and Co-founder of HML EU gGmbH. She is also an Associate Professor of Architecture at Parsons School of Design. Alison leverages her practice-based experience as an architect and her knowledge and experience as a long-term academic leader to confront one of the more serious and often overlooked environmental challenges of our time: the health of the built environment. HML creates resources, educational programming, and prototypical innovative housing models for a new post-petroleum world.
Alison is the recipient of multiple grants and lectures widely disseminating current thinking within the field of material health. Alison Mears was awarded (with Jonsara Ruth) the 2022 Women in Architecture Innovation Award from Architectural Record and co-edited “Material Health: Design Frontiers”.
Special Guest:
Leila D. Behjat
Director of Material Ecology at Parsons Healthy Materials Lab, Co-Founder and General Manager of Healthy Materials Lab EU gGmbH , DGNB Consultant
About Leila D. Behjat
Dipl. Ing Architect Leila D Behjat combines her design expertise in construction with experience in using healthier, bio- and geogenic building materials in projects globally. As Director of Material Ecology at Parsons Healthy Materials Lab, she curates collections of healthier, low-embodied construction products and design methods to achieve regenerative, and toxic-free spaces that will serve coming generations and the planet well. This work also informs project consulting engagements with designers, organizations and municipalities. Leila heads the Lab’s partnership with the New European Bauhaus and is Co-Founder and General Manager of Healthy Materials Lab EU gGmbH with its seat in Wiesbaden, Germany. Leila is a DGNB Consultant. The work in material ecology helps Leila recognize the correlation between creating healthy spaces and communities as a collective cultural endeavor. Solutions must be considered in context of the oneness of humankind and in reverence to the Earth. She is the mother of two daughters.
Non Tox Day – Health Matters Conference Trbovlje 22.10.2025
The shift how we think about projects and how we relate to space, land, health and each other.
Wednesday, 22. October 2025
In person
Event location: Thermal Power Plant Factory Trbovlje – Termoelektrarna Trbovlje – Inside of the chimney
Organised by: Municipality of Trbovlje and Non Tox Uni Kum
• Event language: English
• Participation: Invitation only – No fee.
In person
Event location: Thermal Power Plant Factory Trbovlje – Termoelektrarna Trbovlje – Inside of the chimney
Organised by: Municipality of Trbovlje and Non Tox Uni Kum
• Event language: English
• Participation: Invitation only – No fee.
Non Tox Day – Materials Matter Conference 03.06.2025
A bridge between research, responsibility, and the reality of building differently.
Tuesday, 3 June 2025
Hybrid event
Event location: GZS – Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia (CCIS) – Dimičeva 13, 1000 Ljubljana Slovenia & Online
Organised by: Non Tox Uni Kum in collaboration with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia (CCIS) Division: Chamber of Construction and Building Materials Industry of Slovenia (CCBMIS)
• Event language: English
• Participation: No Fee
• Secure your spot:
▫️ Online attendance: register by 2 June 2025 – 12.00 CEST
▫️ In-person attendance: register by 30 May 2025 – 24.00 CEST
Hybrid event
Event location: GZS – Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia (CCIS) – Dimičeva 13, 1000 Ljubljana Slovenia & Online
Organised by: Non Tox Uni Kum in collaboration with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia (CCIS) Division: Chamber of Construction and Building Materials Industry of Slovenia (CCBMIS)
• Event language: English
• Participation: No Fee
• Secure your spot:
▫️ Online attendance: register by 2 June 2025 – 12.00 CEST
▫️ In-person attendance: register by 30 May 2025 – 24.00 CEST
Every structure begins with a choice – not just of form, but of substance, method, and meaning. If we want to build differently, we need to start differently – with the questions we ask, the materials we choose, and the values we embed in the process.
Bio-based materials offer more than incremental change. They shift how we think about projects, how we relate to space, land, and health.
This gathering brings together pioneers, researchers, doers, funders and facilitators to explore:
How do we move from innovation to real implementation – and why does it matter so deeply?
Bio-based materials offer more than incremental change. They shift how we think about projects, how we relate to space, land, and health.
This gathering brings together pioneers, researchers, doers, funders and facilitators to explore:
How do we move from innovation to real implementation – and why does it matter so deeply?
Event Agenda (All times in CEST)
10:30–11:00 Arrival & Welcome Coffee
Registrations and Meet & Greet – Coffee. People. Materials.
11:00–11:10 Opening Words
Mag. Gregor Ficko, Chamber of Commerce and Industy, Chamber of construction and building materials industry – GZS ZGIGM.
Introduction by the organiser – setting the tone for material culture, health and responsibility
Why it matters?
Petra Marinko, Architect & Founder, Non Tox Uni Kum
Introduction by the organiser – setting the tone for material culture, health and responsibility
11:10–11:15
The GREET CE Project
Valentina Kuzma, GZS ZGIGM
Presentation of the international I3 project GREET for establishing an eco-construction pilot, GZS ZGIGM.
11:15–12:00 Keynote Lecture – “Materials of the Future – From Innovation to Implementation”
Prof. Dr. Sascha Peters, Founder of Haute Innovation – Germany
A guided journey through plastic-free biomaterial innovations — with insight into what is ready now, and what has the potential to reshape the way we build.
12:00–12:10 Material Health Matters – Special Intervention
Leila Behjat, Director of Material Ecology, Healthy Materials Lab EU gGmbH – Germany
Why material health matters – and how it shapes the spaces we inhabit and the people within them.
12:10–13:05 Pitches and presentations: Good Practice in Action
Perspectives. Materials. Steps toward a better building culture.
• Mycological Biomineralisation for Self-Healing Concrete – Sabina Dolenec & Dr. Polona Zalar, UL BF & ZAG, Slovenia
• Mycelium-Based Systems for Construction and Packaging – Matjaž Božič, Mycopor, Slovenia
• Circular Approaches to Heritage Architecture – ACNT, Tradi-Innovation, Romania
• Hemp Cluster – Dusan Knezovic, Slovakia
• Building with Hemp: From Field to Wall, Primož Zorec, Cogreen, Slovenia
• Natural Fibre Materials for Sustainable Construction – Branko Kašman, KO SI, Slovenia
• House of straw – Marina Zajec, Arhitektura E.L.I., Croatia
• Bio-Stabilisation of Marine Sediments for Coastal and Terrestrial Use – doc. dr. Stanislav Lenart, ZAG, Slovenia
13:05–13:50 Panel Talk: From Potential to Practice
A moderated conversation with experts of their fields on what it really takes to scale biomaterials – from vision to regulation, production to policy.
Moderated by: Petra Marinko
Panelists: Prof. Dr. Sascha Peters • Dr. Andrej Kržan • Dr. Alenka Mauko • Marina Zajec • Primož Zorec • Matjaž Božič
13:50–13:55
Audience Q&A
An open floor for questions, reflections, resonances.
13:55–14:05
Break
14:05–14:15 Designing for Endless Cycles – Cradle to Cradle in Practice – Special Intervention
Albin Kaelin, EPEA Switzerland
What if materials were never waste, but nutrients in a continuous loop of value creation? And what if we could trace every step of that loop—from origin to reuse?
14:15–14:45 Funding & Scaling Opportunities
• From national schemes to EU instruments – what’s available now, Katja Bučan, GZS, Slovenia
• Crowdlending for Green Construction – new finance tools for SMEs across Europe Manuel Nina, GoParity – Portugal
14:45–15:00 Closing Reflections
Valentina Kuzma, GZS ZGIGM And Petra Marinko, Architect & Founder, Non Tox Uni Kum
To shift not only how we build—but how we think projects. From materials to mindsets, from structure to story. Together.
15:00–16:00 Biomaterials Library & Lunch & Networking
Explore. Touch. Connect. Curated material library to engage with, projects to learn from, people to meet.
Meet and greet with producers, researchers, and guests – hosted in an open, tactile atmosphere.
About Prof. Dr. Sascha Peters
Prof. Dr. Sascha Peters is one of Europe’s leading experts in sustainable materials and emerging technologies. He is the founder of the Berlin-based agency Haute Innovation and a long-standing advisor, author, juror, and educator in the field of biobased innovation, circular design, and future production systems.
About Healthy Materials Lab EU gGmbH
HML EU gGmgh is a nonprofit, design led research lab based in Germany. As the European sister organisation of Parsons Healthy Materials Lab in New York, HML EU advances regenerative, healthier and biobased materials through research, education and collaborative projects across Europe. Their work explores the relationship between materials, human health, climate and the built environment, supporting healthier and more sustainable futures for architecture and construction.
10:30–11:00 Arrival & Welcome Coffee
Registrations and Meet & Greet – Coffee. People. Materials.
11:00–11:10 Opening Words
Mag. Gregor Ficko, Chamber of Commerce and Industy, Chamber of construction and building materials industry – GZS ZGIGM.
Introduction by the organiser – setting the tone for material culture, health and responsibility
Why it matters?
Petra Marinko, Architect & Founder, Non Tox Uni Kum
Introduction by the organiser – setting the tone for material culture, health and responsibility
11:10–11:15
The GREET CE Project
Valentina Kuzma, GZS ZGIGM
Presentation of the international I3 project GREET for establishing an eco-construction pilot, GZS ZGIGM.
11:15–12:00 Keynote Lecture – “Materials of the Future – From Innovation to Implementation”
Prof. Dr. Sascha Peters, Founder of Haute Innovation – Germany
A guided journey through plastic-free biomaterial innovations — with insight into what is ready now, and what has the potential to reshape the way we build.
12:00–12:10 Material Health Matters – Special Intervention
Leila Behjat, Director of Material Ecology, Healthy Materials Lab EU gGmbH – Germany
Why material health matters – and how it shapes the spaces we inhabit and the people within them.
12:10–13:05 Pitches and presentations: Good Practice in Action
Perspectives. Materials. Steps toward a better building culture.
• Mycological Biomineralisation for Self-Healing Concrete – Sabina Dolenec & Dr. Polona Zalar, UL BF & ZAG, Slovenia
• Mycelium-Based Systems for Construction and Packaging – Matjaž Božič, Mycopor, Slovenia
• Circular Approaches to Heritage Architecture – ACNT, Tradi-Innovation, Romania
• Hemp Cluster – Dusan Knezovic, Slovakia
• Building with Hemp: From Field to Wall, Primož Zorec, Cogreen, Slovenia
• Natural Fibre Materials for Sustainable Construction – Branko Kašman, KO SI, Slovenia
• House of straw – Marina Zajec, Arhitektura E.L.I., Croatia
• Bio-Stabilisation of Marine Sediments for Coastal and Terrestrial Use – doc. dr. Stanislav Lenart, ZAG, Slovenia
13:05–13:50 Panel Talk: From Potential to Practice
A moderated conversation with experts of their fields on what it really takes to scale biomaterials – from vision to regulation, production to policy.
Moderated by: Petra Marinko
Panelists: Prof. Dr. Sascha Peters • Dr. Andrej Kržan • Dr. Alenka Mauko • Marina Zajec • Primož Zorec • Matjaž Božič
13:50–13:55
Audience Q&A
An open floor for questions, reflections, resonances.
13:55–14:05
Break
14:05–14:15 Designing for Endless Cycles – Cradle to Cradle in Practice – Special Intervention
Albin Kaelin, EPEA Switzerland
What if materials were never waste, but nutrients in a continuous loop of value creation? And what if we could trace every step of that loop—from origin to reuse?
14:15–14:45 Funding & Scaling Opportunities
• From national schemes to EU instruments – what’s available now, Katja Bučan, GZS, Slovenia
• Crowdlending for Green Construction – new finance tools for SMEs across Europe Manuel Nina, GoParity – Portugal
14:45–15:00 Closing Reflections
Valentina Kuzma, GZS ZGIGM And Petra Marinko, Architect & Founder, Non Tox Uni Kum
To shift not only how we build—but how we think projects. From materials to mindsets, from structure to story. Together.
15:00–16:00 Biomaterials Library & Lunch & Networking
Explore. Touch. Connect. Curated material library to engage with, projects to learn from, people to meet.
Meet and greet with producers, researchers, and guests – hosted in an open, tactile atmosphere.
About Prof. Dr. Sascha Peters
Prof. Dr. Sascha Peters is one of Europe’s leading experts in sustainable materials and emerging technologies. He is the founder of the Berlin-based agency Haute Innovation and a long-standing advisor, author, juror, and educator in the field of biobased innovation, circular design, and future production systems.
About Healthy Materials Lab EU gGmbH
HML EU gGmgh is a nonprofit, design led research lab based in Germany. As the European sister organisation of Parsons Healthy Materials Lab in New York, HML EU advances regenerative, healthier and biobased materials through research, education and collaborative projects across Europe. Their work explores the relationship between materials, human health, climate and the built environment, supporting healthier and more sustainable futures for architecture and construction.