Elna Aurand is a French-Swedish textile and social designer based in the Netherlands. Elna's work explores how citizen can take part of decision-making and find agency in water management. Her work finds emergence at the intersection of citizen science and sensing technologies.

The project “Lakescape in Progress” invites locals and scientists to meet and craft alternative futures for a collective sensing of the water. Recognizing the value of local knowledge and community involvement, the project is a collective and more-than-scientific mapping of the water, and of its caretakers. The project involves wool-based water sensors, dipped in the water for a few days. The material is biodegradable, locally abundant and color-sensitive. Crafting workshops will be organized to share the production experience.

The workshop invites curious locals, artists, fishers, swimmers, sailors and water lovers for a collective sensing of the Lake Vänern. Participants will craft their own water sensing tool and chose a spot on the shore to dip it in the water for a few days. Made out of wool, the sensors are color sensitive and biodegradable. Absorbing colors, textures and smells, they constitute a sensorial mapping of the lake through space. The workshop happens around the lake, and includes an individual wandering time.

Hajnal Gyeviki, is a ceramics designer and maker from Budapest, Hungary

She is working with ceramics, porcelain, glass and concrete, that are made by the mixture of traditional techniques and contemporary technologies.

Her research is focusing on the current ecological state of Lake Balaton and its presence in the public consciousness. She created a set of ceramic tableware’s, based on ecological data collected around the lake. Those are visually embedded in ceramics to communicate and raise discourse between locals or other lakes' residents.

With Balaton Borders porcelain tableware collection within the Lakescape project, Hajnal serves curated dinners – gatherings, to reflect to the ecological state of Balaton reed beds not only during the limited time of an event, but also as a product line. During dinners they serve water, soup and pie, often conceptually connected to the place.

Marta Pejoska is a Contemporary filigree artist, from Ohrid, N.Macedonia.

Her field of interest, for the last 10+ years is the water itself, with focal point the Ohrid Lake. Ohrid is her home, and Lake Ohrid the natural habitat in (and with) which she grew up. And not just the lake, but also Mount Galichica and Mount Jablanica, have built her poetic childhood picture of the place she lives. The more she learns and educate herself about the importance of this ecosystem, the more awakened is her feeling of concern and the question arises of whether she is contributing to the natural environment or doing the exact opposite with her everyday actions?! Her opinion is that every individual should work on their individual consciousness primarily for the environment in which they live and work (both urban and natural, as a whole) and what is happening to the environment, its development and protection, especially today when the human factor plays a key role.

"THE LAKE FISH" is the name of the collection she develops within the Lakescape project. The fish, their playfulness underwater, alone or in group, is the concept idea for this collection. It’s something she has been working on for quite some time now and we are impatient to see it “alive” in silver. The jewelry pieces will be mainly made out of silver wires and silver plates (sheets), with subtle filigree intervention and natural stones as detailing.

Nature is not my subject, but my collaborator. Every fiber holds a memory, every object a quiet call to reconnect.

Jasmina Glavince is a visual artist and artisan from Ohrid, North Macedonia (curently living in Skopje). She works with handmade paper crafted from recycled materials often combined with other waste materials. With a background in art history and archaeology, her practice bridges sustainable craft, cultural heritage, and ecological design - connections between nature, memory, and material.

She creates poetic and functional objects that reflect our relationship with nature and aim to transform waste into forms of renewal.

Her field of interest lies in the intersection of ecological craft, material storytelling, and environmental regeneration. She is particularly interested in the use of algae and other lake-derived matter in paper-making, as a way to engage directly with the ecology of freshwater basins. By integrating waste and organic residues into her artistic process, she aims to highlight both the fragility and the regenerative potential of these ecosystems. European lakes, with their unique biodiversity and cultural histories, are central to this research.

Rooted in the concept "Traces from the Shore", “Pulpa” is a design collection within the Lakescape project that reimagines waste from lake environments as the foundation for sustainable, handcrafted objects. Combining recycled paper, lake algae, and imprints of cultural symbols, the collection bridges ecology, tradition, and innovation. It invites us to rethink what we discard and to rediscover meaning in what nature offers. With its focus on local materials and regenerative making, Pulpa reflects the essence of Crafting Sustainable Futures by the Lake.

I work with handmade paper and papier-mâché techniques using recycled paper pulp, freshwater algae, and natural binders. My process includes low-tech methods such as hand-pulping, mold shaping, and botanical printing (anthotype), allowing for sustainable, small-scale production with a strong connection to place and material origin.

Linnéa Ekelöf, is a Swedish multidisciplinary artist currently based in Barcelona, working across sculpture, installation, and jewelry. She explores materials like glass, metal, bioplastic, and natural matter to create fragile structures that sit between craft and technology. Her work often echoes natural cycles and reflects on tension, vulnerability, and transformation.

Her practice investigates how fragile, organic materials, often shaped by water, can be transformed into objects that hold memory, tension, and care. She is drawn to what the lake leaves behind: broken shells, fragments, debris, and stories. She is interested in how these place bound objects can act as vessels for transformation and resilience.

“WaveWorn” is a small-scale collection within a Lakescape project. It is collection of wearable objects made from lake-washed shells and other naturally discarded shoreline materials, joined and shaped using soft soldering. The collection explores how we might live in closer dialogue with the ecosystems around us, by listening, by scavenging with care, and by honoring what’s already been shaped by nature. Each piece is holding space for vulnerability, transformation, and repair.

Linnea uses the Tiffany technique, a soft soldering method with lead-free tin and silver, to join delicate, water-worn materials without covering their raw, natural surfaces. I’ll responsibly collect shells, debris, and fragments from the shoreline, letting these elements become both my medium and my message in a subtle act of care. Soldering sometimes feels like repairing, other times, like building armor, where the metal doesn’t just hold things together, it shelters, strengthens, and protects.

Maria Kazimierczak was born and raised in the Silesia region of Poland, but currently study and most of the year, is in Ireland. She is a product designer who is designing across the spectrum of objects beyond their function and bringing beauty to everyday use.

In her projects she frequently reaches to inspirations related to water, aquatic creatures and sailing. Movement, liquidity and experimentation are prominent elements of her design journey. She loves to design pieces that are not stiff and static but require finesse and change, grow, evolve, such as the lakes and their biospheres. Her research focuses on bridging the gap between beauty, usability and sustainably within design related to the water.

“The Flux” collection that she develops within a Lakescape project, takes its name from motion of constant change, and the flow of water/fabric.

“With change nothing is ever perfectly the same” – she says - and as such this name fit perfectly to the wearables collection. The change also is present in the environment which we begin to influence, crafting sustainable future. Flow and change - these two form the future of sustainable practices by our European Lakes.

For the Flux project she will be working with old, discarded sails, as well as natural fibers and pigments. The natural dyes and fibers will be used to create graphics representative of the lakes on the sewn garments and the stiffer, more structural sailcloth will bring back the element of circularity and life by the water.

Her workshop will focus on natural dyeing processes, guiding the participants through the plants they could use in their own processes and providing them with practical knowledge on the topic of natural dyeing.

Everything is connected to everything; I want to create design that enhances the health of our ecosystems.

Michelle Heising, is a sustainable product & spatial designer, based in Berlin/Stockholm. She creates designs that enhance the health of our ecosystems.

Lakes are heavily impacted by human activity, including wastewater discharge, littering, and industrial pollution. By experimenting with fungi and microbial systems, we have the opportunity to develop entirely natural water filters. By placing functional design objects in the public realm is increasing the aesthetics of it's enviorment and well-being of it's enhabitants. – She says.

Her product design within the Lakescape project Is a Microbial Filter. New materials meet traditional craft in a collection of natural water purifiers that work with fungi microbes, inspired by traditional Swedish craft of basket weaving and fish trap making.

She is working with new materials like Mycelium foam combined with the technology of bioremediation of fungi microbes to filter polluted water, collaborating with people that do traditional basket or fish trap craft.

During the residency stay, Michelle will hold the workshop intended for knowledge exchange between the participants and preserving of traditional basket making and fish trap making techniques from Sweden and Värnern. The result will be used to develop collaborations to design a natural water filter with combining new materials like Mycelium and microbes with local traditional craft.

Marianne Hellman is jewelry artist from Västerås, Sweden

Her field of interest is sustainable and respectful use of animalistic marine material. That includes raising questions about how and what we harvest from the lakes, how we can make the most of it and if there are new ways to talk about the problems in the marine ecosystem.

“Great Lakes Bounty’s” is the working name of the collection that she will work within the Lakescape project. “Everything we take from the lakes should be treated as treasures. Art and craft is a universal language telling us to care for the water ecosystem for future generations.” – she says.

She will use natural and traditional techniques to tan fish skin - sustainable crafting techniques that approach to material with the value it deserves.

Márk Somogyi, is art conservator, designer bookbinder, and educator, currently based in Dublin, Ireland. His artistic practice blends traditional bookbinding with sustainable materials and experimental paper art. His artistic interest lies in exploring how the book as an object can reflect narratives through structure, material, and gesture.

While he has mostly contributed to designer bookbinding projects as a craftsman and a maker, he is now transitioning toward developing his own artistic voice and concept-driven works.

Freshwater ecosystems — especially rivers, bogs, and lakes — inspire him through their layered histories, cycles of renewal, and material richness. Through paper, binding, and structure, he aims to tell stories of fragility, transformation, and regeneration.

Within the Lakescape project he develops a journey books "Unfolding Waters" a series of hand bound books of unusual folding structures (blizzard book, Turkish map fold, or lotus fold) inspired by the journey of water through freshwater landscapes — from spring to wetland, from river to lake. It is “crafted by the lake” both literally and conceptually; incorporating marbled paper made with Irish moss, local dyes, and pressed aquatic plants.

The work invites viewers to consider the role of craft not only as preservation, but as a regenerative, future-oriented act.

For the collection will combine traditional bookbinding techniques with experimental paper-based pop-up engineering. Materials include hand-marbled paper made with carrageenan moss, partly natural dyes from lakeside flora, algae or reed-based handmade paper, and pressed botanical elements.

Art that cares: We aim to raise awareness about the environmental cost of mass production, especially the massive water consumption and pollution it causes. Each piece becomes both an artwork and a quiet protest against waste and water misuse.

Oaza, is an artistic duo (Ana & Viktorija) committed to exploring the intersection of creativity and sustainability. Through their work, they transform found and recycled materials into meaningful wearable art that tells stories of renewal and care, rooted in circular practices.

Ana is a psychologist and Expressive arts therapy practitioner based in Skopje. She works across modalities—poetry, collage, graphic design, and jewelry—blending art and healing through creative expression, often using found objects and recycled materials.

Viktorija is a visual artist trying to help raising awareness about overconsumption and reusing already made goods on this planet.

“Our work is deeply rooted in circular practices; we are committed to reusing materials in all aspects of our art-making” - explains the duo. Their goal is to create wearable art—patches, jewelry, badges, pockets—using materials that are at the end of their life: broken, worn out, or otherwise deemed unusable, waste found and shaped by the lake.

The collection developing within the Lakescape project is called “Anima Lacus”, Latin for “Soul of the Lake”. Through this name, they honor the living spirit of the lake and reminding them and ourselves that we are not separate from it, but part of its ecosystem. Each piece of wearable art is crafted from discarded materials, echoing the need to repair our relationship with nature through sustainable, mindful living. In response to the Lakescape slogan, “Crafting Sustainable Futures by the Lake!”, their work invites care, circularity, and reverence for the waters that sustain us.

They will work with found materials shaped by human impact—old textiles, electronic waste, cables, and objects altered by the lake over time. Using hand-stitching and slow, small-scale techniques, they will construct patches, brooches, fabric pockets, and soft assemblages entirely from discarded, non-functional, or worn-out materials, turning waste into intimate, wearable forms.

During the residency in Struga (10-17 jully) Oaza will will facilitate a community-engaged workshop inviting the local community to create small wearable art pieces from waste materials with them. Together, they will collect, sort, and transform discarded textiles and found objects into wearable pieces they can take home. While making, they will open space for conversation about our personal and collective impact on the natural environment—especially on the lake. The workshop aims to foster connection, awareness, and creativity through hands-on, sustainable art-making.

Rebeka Csiby-Gindele is a product designer based in Budapest, originally from Romania.

Her practice focuses on furniture design as well as conceptual and narrative-driven design projects.

She grew up in a region where everyday life was deeply connected to nature, and this continues to shape her design perspective. In her practice, she often explores and reinterprets traditional techniques, working with regionally sourced materials and local knowledge. She is interested in how craft heritage can inform contemporary design in meaningful and sustainable ways.

The project she proposed for Lakescape adapts a once-used water-related object into a contemporary context, offering an ecologically conscious approach both in material and technique.

The project, titled “Floating Rest”, builds upon her earlier work Úszka, created as part of the Fragments collection with the MAIII collective.

“Úszka is a handcrafted wooden floating object designed for recreational use in lakes. The concept draws inspiration from a traditional handmade pinewood frame, shaped like an ox yoke, remembered by my grandparents from Bear Lake (Medve-tó) in Sovata, Romania, where it was used as a simple floating ring – explains Rebeca. The slogan “Crafting Sustainable Futures by the Lake!” – she continues- strongly resonates with my project, as the Úszka floating ring offers a sustainable alternative to plastic while reinterpreting a locally made, traditional swimming aid”.

Her work centers on pine wood, a material traditionally used for floating objects due to its lightness and buoyancy.

At the residence, she will facilitate a participatory design workshop connected to the ongoing development of her project, Uszka. The session invites participants to reflect on personal and cultural relationships with water through storytelling and simple hands-on exercises. Together with participants she will explore how floating objects can support playful, respectful, and ecologically grounded interactions with natural waterscapes.

Sandra Stigert, lives and works in a small rural village in Sweden. She is an artist and craftsperson specializing in traditional woodcraft, especially in fan birds. She combines storytelling, sustainability, and heritage through tactile making process.

Her work explores the relationship between wood, place, and memory through traditional craft. She is especially drawn to materials that carry a story and how they reflect their natural environment. Lakes and forests are central to her inspiration and her life; their cycles and ecosystems shape the rhythm of her practice. Through carving, She reflects on how we coexist with freshwater landscapes and what they teach us about care, time, and renewal.

Her collection within the Lakescape project is called “Echoes of the Lake”. It consists of hand-carved birds made from reclaimed or lakeside materials, each shaped by both nature and tradition. The pieces reflect a dialogue between human touch and environmental forces—ripples, drift, migration. The project imagines sustainable futures as something poetic and grounded in local stories and respectful making.

She works entirely by hand, using simple tools like carving knives and drawknives. Her materials are mostly reclaimed or locally sourced wood chosen for their connection to place and history.

Within Lakescape residency, she will hold a simple hands-on demonstration of the spånfågel technique, inviting visitors to see the tools, try the shaving process, and learn about the story behind the birds. “Nothing is too difficult to be explored with curiosity” – concludes Sandra.