The 2023/2024 school year is over and with it the current round of the ZukunftsAtelier. Four school classes, Hertzhaimer Gymnasium Trostberg, Schule Schloss Stein, Johannes Haidenhein Gymnasium Traunreut and Montessori Fachoberschule from Munich, have developed a theme for a social sculpture, launched initiatives, visualized their concerns and made their mark. The individual projects were presented on the big stage in a final presentation in October at the k1 culture and event center in Traunreut.

Students of the HGT at the 1st module of the FutureAtelier in the Dan Flavin Hall of the museum. Photo: DASMAXIMUM

Social media, interpersonal relationships and "real" life

Back in February 2024, the 11th grade of the Trostberg Hertzhaimer Gymnasium (HGT) visited the DASMAXIMUM museum for the first part of the FutureAtelier, which takes place in the museum halls. You can find a detailed report on the start of this year's ZukunftsAtelier here here. A topic that the students wanted to deal with was quickly and quite clearly determined: social media, interpersonal relationships and "real" life. Full of enthusiasm for how to implement the topic and make it loud, they first had to find out who the young people actually wanted to address with their project. While the initial idea was to protect younger children in particular from the negative aspects of social media and the digital world, it became clear during the discussion that peers and older generations are also affected. The question then arose as to how to draw attention to the topic without pointing a finger. And so some of the class decided to conduct a self-experiment: a few days without a smartphone and without social media. What does that do and how does it actually feel? Do I feel good with it? What can I actually do instead and how much time do I have left? Are there any hurdles and barriers that can no longer be overcome without a smartphone?

But that's not all: the young people want to use a film to draw attention to real life and real interpersonal interaction outside the digital world and spread their message with self-designed stickers for smartphones.

Pupils from Schule Schloss Stein in a kindergarten reading a children's book on the subject of media consumption. Photo: Anke StĂĽtz

Media consumption at kindergarten age

The Year 11 pupils at Schule Schloss Stein chose a very similar topic to the HGT. Their own media consumption also gives them food for thought and many feel how dependent they are on it. In contrast to the HGT, the Stein pupils' project starts with the youngest children. They developed approaches at various levels to encourage a healthy approach to media at kindergarten age and to create an initial awareness of the potential dangers of the digital world. One part of the class used a picture book to create an age-appropriate presentation for kindergarten groups, another group built a sculpture to draw attention to "life in the smartphone" and a third group developed a toy for small children to show them exciting alternatives to tablets, Netflix and the like. Parents were also involved in the project by means of a letter to parents. With this comprehensive package, they made their way to various kindergartens in the region and put their ideas into practice.

Students of the JHG Traunreut in the interactive, multimedia exhibition on addiction and drug use. Photo: Constanze Penninger

Drug use and addictive behavior in your own environment

The third group in this year's ZukunftsAtelier is the 11th grade of Johannes Haidenhein Gymnasium from Traunreut. They also collected many different topics in which the young people see a need for action in the future. They then decided on drug use and dangerous addictive behavior among young people, which ultimately also included the topic of smartphone use in the other school classes. The students criticized the fact that there are still many drugs in circulation, some of which are legally available (e.g. laughing gas) and therefore lead to dangerous addictive behavior at a young age. The medium with which the young people wanted to draw attention to the topic quickly became clear: a photographic exhibition. Two weeks later, during the JHG project days, the concept that had been developed in the meantime was put into practice. An interactive mixed media exhibition of photography and texts was created, which was then shown for the first time at the presentation of the project days. After the summer vacations, the result will also be shown at other locations in order to sensitize as many young people, those affected and those of age to the topic as possible.

Part of a sculpture on the topic of marine pollution by students at MOS Munich. Photo: Susanne Frigge

Save Nemo: More attention for the pollution of the oceans

In September, the preliminary class of the Montessori technical secondary school traveled from Munich to Traunreut to take part in the ZukunftsAtelier. In breathtaking speed, a concept for a social sculpture was created, which on the one hand should create more visibility and education about the situation of the oceans and seas, and on the other hand can provide concrete approaches for action to improve this issue. Not only were vivid plastics made from garbage, but a multimedia concept was also created to spread their message. Under the title "Finding Nemo", the students explain Instagram and Tiktok and in public spaces about the pollution of the oceans.

Presentation of the results at k1 on October 17, 2024

The ZukunftsAtelier is not over yet: On October 17, 2024, young people will have the opportunity to present their results to the public and make their voices heard. The public presentation will take place on October 17 at 3 pm at k1 in Traunreut. All interested parties, teachers, students and relatives are invited to attend. All visitors to the event will have the opportunity to get to know the ZukunftsAtelier, the students and their projects, and to become multipliers of the young people's concerns.

ZukunftsAtelier 2024/2025: Register now and take part in the coming school year!

Are you a teacher or student and would like to take part in the ZukunftsAtelier yourself? The call for applications for the ZukunftsAtelier 2024/2025 is online. Interested teachers and school classes can now register for the coming school year. All information, conditions of participation and registration modalities can be found in the call for applications.

The ZukunftsAtelier 2024 is financed by: