Outputs

German version

Here we present some of the Xtopias and other actions from our research project between 2020 and 2023 and keep you up to date on our publications and other activities.

The special letter X

April, 2024: In the WDR 5 podcast X – the special letter, Annette and Jasmin talk about the X in Xtopias: It stands for the combination of utopia and dystopia, for the unknown, for the extreme. Listen to the German podcast here!

Xtopias as a guest at the Futurium Lab in Berlin

Our research project came to a wonderful conclusion on 24 November 2023 at the Futurium: Tanja, Richard and Jasmin presented the Toolbox for Xtopias in a three-hour multiplier workshop. Almost 30 participants tried out three of the eight tools themselves and thought about how they could apply and further develop these tools in their own impact contexts. We were absolutely thrilled by the wealth of ideas and the diverse backgrounds of our participants. Many thanks to everyone who came from near and far – we really enjoyed it! Many thanks also to the Futurium team for their hospitality and great support!

Installation for Interconnected Thinking in Karlsruhe

In October 2023, we were involved in the KIT Science Week with the Installation for Interconnected Thinking. Thinking in complex contexts is usually something for the ivory tower of science – but it doesn’t have to be that way: At Kronenplatz in Karlsruhe, visitors to Science Week were able to think about how two major transformation processes of the present interact and what futures this could lead to: The future of work, in which much of what is considered work today is being questioned, and the transformation processes towards sustainable development. Participants were able to post their own questions and ideas on their interplay in the „Installation for Interconnected Thinking“ in order to share them with others.

Playspace Xperiment in a great anthology

Artographies is here! In this work, various authors show the possibilities and limits of creative artistic practices and discuss how these can contribute to a power-critical and space-related science. Annette, David and Jasmin have contributed a chapter on the Playspace Xperiment as an Xtopian form of envisioning. The anthology is available open access here. We would like to thank the editors Katrin Singer, Katharina Schmidt and Martina Neuburger for an outstandingly creative and constructively critical, appreciative publication process – including a great creativity workshop in Hamburg, where the visualisation for the chapter was created. It shows a collage of submissions to the Playspace Xperiment, which you can find in the padlet.

Xtopian thinking and the SDGs in schools

On 8/9 June 2023, together with Spirit of Football e.V., we tested an Xtopian educational programme with 9th graders at the Emil Petri School in Arnstadt. Firstly, the young people learnt about sustainability and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Then they focussed on utopian visions of the future. Using various learning and teaching methods, we gradually guided the young people to develop their own visions of the future for themselves and for the society in which they would like to live. For most of the participants, it was the first time they had explicitly dealt with a more distant future. Nevertheless, most of them succeeded in developing their own new ideas for the future – and some also managed to reflect on their ambivalence.

Change of perspectives in Kiel

On 25 April 2023, the Xtopian multi-stakeholder workshop „PerspekTIERwechsel“ took place in cooperation with our practice partner DenkRaum. In the fantastic FLEET7 coworking space, we developed visions for future human-animal relationships in Kiel. We invited participants to use our specially developed Animal Perspectives card game to experimentally explore the perspective of wild animals in open spaces. After that, we discussed whether and to what extent the needs of these species can be considered differently in the future design of our cities. We ended the day with a seagull performance by Julian Willming.

Xtopian Circuit Training on the end of human dominance (II)

On 24 October 2022, we were guests at the Staatstheater Kassel with the Xtopian Circuit Training „The end of human dominance over other species“. The circuit training consisted of four stations developed by students from the University of Kassel and the Potsdam University of Applied Sciences. For one hour, visitors were able to playfully think and feel their way into Xtopian futures at the stations „Sound of City Nature“, „Off to the Biocene“, „Everyone into the City“ and „Cohabitat“.

On this evening, the circuit training was the prelude to the panel discussion „Green utopias or the end of the world„. We were delighted with the lively participation in the Xtopian stations and would like to thank the students involved for their renewed commitment!

How would the Erfurt Wiesenhügel like to live the day after tomorrow?

In October 2021, we were in Erfurt for a multi-day Xtopian vision workshop at the neighbourhood Wiesenhügel. Together with Spirit of Football e.V., we invited the younger residents of Wiesenhügel in particular to think about how they would like to live in the day after tomorrow. Together with the children and young people, we used the results to develop graffiti for the wall of a gymnasium that shows the participants‘ visions. An evaluation in spring 2023 showed that it also inspired other people from the neighbourhood to think about the future and that it largely evoked positive associations. Here are some impressions of how the graffiti was created.

Xtopian Circuit Training on the end of human dominance (I)

The website The End of Dominance shows great student work from the seminar „It’s the End of the World as we Know It – Xtopias for a World of Tomorrow“. We held this seminar as an Xtopian university intervention in cooperation with Prof. Myriel Milicehiv in the summer semester 2021 at the Potsdam University of Applied Sciences. The course resulted in an Xtopian, interactive circuit training of the future, which we played in September 2021 in Eberswalde and in October 2021 at the university. You can see a few images of the stations of the circuit training on the website and here: