WDC-Campus – young talents at work

WDC Campus

The WDC Campus is the central future-oriented project of World Design Capital Frankfurt RheinMain 2026. It highlights how students, graduates and doctoral researchers think and work today – and reveals the potential of a new generation.

young talents at work

Under the motto young talents at work, the WDC Campus showcases how young designers respond creatively, critically and constructively to the pressing issues of our time. Whether social change, digital transformation or the ecological crisis – students, academics, graduates and start-ups from diverse disciplines develop and present projects that offer fresh and surprising perspectives.

A showcase of ideas

The WDC Campus acts as a showcase for ideas that address relevant topics in innovative, interdisciplinary and international ways. It demonstrates the power of higher education, creates spaces for global exchange and makes the future more tangible.

Kick-off in winter semester 2025 – grand finale in summer 2026.
From winter semester 2025/26, the process begins across universities in the region.

Projects in the making

The first projects will emerge in courses, seminars and workshops – laying the foundation for exchange, networking and interdisciplinary learning and design. By summer semester 2026, this process will grow into a collective teaching and research project.

The highlight: the Campus Festival

The Campus Festival, held from 3–5 July 2026 with an exhibition period until 9 August 2026 at the Museum Angewandte Kunst Frankfurt – the WDC Hub – will be a central highlight. Here, the Young Talents’ projects will be presented to the public, framed by talks, exhibitions, guided tours, innovative formats, colloquia and a high-calibre accompanying programme.

Design as a driver of transformation

The WDC Campus embraces an expanded understanding of design: design is more than form and aesthetics. Here, design is understood as a tool for social progress – a means of addressing complex issues and making new solutions visible.

A workshop of transformation

In the Workshop of Transformation, design becomes directly tangible: as a driver for sustainability, a liveable future and a vibrant democracy. At the heart of this are outstanding student projects inspired by the WDC 2026 motto: Design for Democracy. Atmospheres for a better life.

10 fields of action

Entries are aligned with ten fields of action – ranging from work, education and medicine to consumption, mobility and culture, through to public space, sport, construction and industry. Projects are nominated by the respective universities. An interdisciplinary jury of eleven experts – spanning design, art, architecture, natural, social and engineering sciences – will select the best projects.

Networks and partnerships

The WDC Campus is more than an exhibition platform: it is a meeting place for people and ideas shaping the future. In close collaboration with universities, business, politics and civil society, partnerships are formed that will resonate far beyond the event year. For partners, this means insights into the work of talented young people, access to innovation and international visibility within a forward-looking context.

Pooling energy

The WDC Campus provides the younger generation with spaces and dialogues to channel their energy. It sets creativity in motion, raises awareness of responsibility, and makes commitment visible – acting as a catalyst, laboratory and festival all at once: a place where the future is not only imagined but actively shaped.

Full commitment

Participants in the WDC Campus go all in when it comes to identifying and rethinking challenges. Design offers a vast range of methods, techniques and processes. The projects on display demonstrate how these can be used to critically question products and structures. In this way, change is enabled – and sometimes entirely new professional roles emerge.

Exchange at the core

Innovation is not only about results – it thrives on creative exchange among participants. For us, small, deliberate steps in everyday life are just as valuable as major product launches or patent registrations.

A partnership for the future

Designers create solutions for new demands, develop services for emerging markets and respond to seemingly unsolvable problems across the ten fields of action of World Design Capital Frankfurt RheinMain 2026. Let us build trust, discuss, form teams.

Let us shape the future together! We look forward to the exchange.

young talents at work – Campus Festival 3 July to 9 August 2026 at the Museum Angewandte Kunst Frankfurt
Contact: campus@partner.wdc2026.org