YouRban Festival: circularity takes shape at Fabbrica del Vapore
An international event showing how research, design and creativity transform composite materials into new resources.
From 26 September to 5 October 2025, the Fabbrica del Vapore in Milan hosted the first edition of the YouRban Festival, ten days of events, workshops, and installations dedicated to circular innovation and the sustainable transformation of composite materials. The festival is part of the European project YouRban, funded under the Horizon Europe programme, which promotes new models of circular economy and urban regeneration through the reuse of composite materials and the collaboration between research, design, and local communities. Coordinated by Professor Marcello Colledani from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Politecnico di Milano, the project, which also involves Polifactory from the Department of Design, combines science, creativity, and public participation to show how circularity can become a driver of sustainable transformation for cities.
The beating heart of the festival was its mobile plant, a structure designed for the demanufacturing and reprocessing of composite materials, designed and implmented by Fibereuse Tech, a startup of Politecnico di Milano, and the design studio Origoni Steiner, both partners of the project. The truck integrates various technologies covering the main stages of the process, from the collection and pre-treatment of materials to shredding, sieving, and reprocessing, making the entire transformation chain visible and understandable to the public. This travelling laboratory became the physical and symbolic centre around which all activities of the YouRban Festival took place, from technical demonstrations and co-creation workshops to installations and artistic performances, offering an immersive experience where science, design, and culture met to tell the story of circularity.
Throughout the festival days, visitors of all ages had the opportunity to see firsthand how composite waste can be transformed into new resources. Through demonstrations, interactive workshops, and dynamic lessons led by the project partners, including Politecnico di Milano, Aivox, Fibereuse Tech, and Origoni Steiner, schools, universities, and companies, together with the designers selected through the project’s open calls, explored the potential of the technologies presented, understanding the value of research and innovation in building a truly circular economy.
Alongside the technical demonstrations, the festival offered a rich programme of artistic and performative activities curated by ZONA K, exploring the relationship between materials, cities, and people. The evening events mainly took place in the area surrounding the truck, transforming it into a meeting place for art, technology, and citizens, where circularity became a shared experience and an opportunity for dialogue. Conferences, workshops, and talks dedicated to innovation and sustainability completed the programme, offering the public an immersive and interdisciplinary experience.
Inspired by the principles of the New European Bauhaus, the YouRban Festival demonstrated how collaboration between research, industry, art, and citizens can translate the principles of the circular economy into tangible and shared experiences. An open-air laboratory where science and creativity came together to imagine more sustainable, inclusive, and beautiful cities. The festival will be replicated in the municipality of Barcelona in May 2026.