In summer, the ITA gave a group of schoolchildren the opportunity to develop their visions for a sustainable future. The results were presented in the form of a "Newsletter from 2020".
Sampling the topic of sustainability
Sustainability is effective if it takes account of people's needs. This was also the aim of the "Rio+20 – scientists and young people take stock" initiative organised by the Federal Ministry for Science and Research (BMWF). Rio+20 enabled more than 300 young people to obtain an insight into Austrian sustainability research. The best 25 reports on the experience were selected by a jury and published in book form.
ITA group visits Ars Electronica
Because of the extraordinary form of the schoolchildren's report, the BMWF decided to award a second prize: the Creativity Prize. Reinhard Edelmoser, Johanna Eichinger, Elisabeth Steiner, Julian Möhlen, Johannes Elsner, Niklas Loidl and Angel May Eyalil were given the unique opportunity of a day trip to see what goes on behind the scenes at Ars Electronica. Meeting the Telenoid, a japanese, humanoid roboter, was one of the high-lights of the tour. Students talked to the roboter, however, when offered a hug most of them declined politely.
The young award-winners examined questions of the future within the framework of their ITA internship according to the CIVISTI-Method. The fictitious newsletter from 2020 shows how current efforts in the fields of research and society can become sustainably effective in the future and what critical issues and research topics ought to be addressed.
Focus on trans-disciplinary learning
The jury members were impressed by the optimism of the young people and the creativity of the texts. The works were produced in collaboration with scientists from a wide variety of disciplines and are also intended to emphasise the importance of trans-disciplinary learning.
"Sustainability is far more than an in-word, it penetrates many aspects of politics and science. The very varied projects by these young people provide an exciting insight into a field of research in which Austria is already one of the leading proponents and which in future will increase in significance", to quote Minister of Science and Research Dr. Karlheinz Töchterle at the awards ceremony.
Links
All the contributions can be found here on the Ministry of Science website.
Book: Hubert Dürrstein (ed.): “Forschung für nachhaltige Entwicklung. Wissenschaft ler/innen und Jugendliche ziehen Bilanz.” Eine Initiative des BMWF anlässlich des Jubiläumsjahres Rio+20. Studienverlag. Innsbruck, Bolzano, Vienna. ISBN 978-3-7065-5257-8
