The University:Future Festival will take place from 5 to 7 June 2024 in Berlin, in the digital space and at several partner stages. The motto 2024: “Tales of Tomorrow”

The University Future Festival (U:FF) is the largest event on the (digital) future of academic education. Topics include AI, future skills, didactics and strategy processes.

The U:FF is hybrid: the entire content of the programme can be fully experienced online. At the same time, stages in Berlin, Bochum, Heilbronn, Leipzig and Nuremberg allow for on-site encounters. The programme is largely based on submissions from our communities. It is rounded off by outstanding VIP speakers. The festival will be held bilingually in German and English.

In 2023, the University:Future Festival was a great success with a total of 5,553 registrations, 3,900 active participants and 300 sessions from almost 600 speakers.

The University:Future Festival 2024 is organized by the Hochschulforum Digitalisierung and the Stiftung Innovation in der Hochschullehre. It is supported by the Stifterverband.

Who is the University:Future Festival for?

For anyone interested in higher education: university administrators, lecturers, students, didactics, civil society and politics. A good university education is a joint effort by its stakeholders. The University:Future Festival brings them all together.

During the festival, they can combine their perspectives, develop solutions and discover scope for action. To this end, the festival offers ideal conditions. It provides space for exchange, networking and inspiration. To help create good futures.

Confirmed keynote speakers in 2024: Steve Fuller, Maja Göpel, Silja Graupe, Armin Himmelrath, Nele Hirsch, Julia Kloiber, Rikke Toft Nørgård and Nell Watson!

Photo Maja Göpel
Photo Silja Graupe
Photo Nele Hirsch
Photo Julia Kloiber
Photo Eleanor "Nell" Watson

What will change in 2024

Stronger presence in 2024

Stronger presence in 2024

We are planning a main stage in Berlin and four partner stages at other locations. This allows for a cross-site capacity of up to 1,000 attendees simultaneously.

Community

We are involving the community more closely

The content-related focus will once again be set with the input from partners and the community in autumn 2023. There is also a Call for Volunteers for both moderations and jury work.

programme

Broad and flexible programme

2024, the festival will broaden its view and look at all places of academic learning. The programme will become more flexible: we will offer workshops and micro-trainings on all days and test innovative formats.

The motto “Tales of Tomorrow”

Stories are powerful. They construct our reality. The future is not fixed; rather, we create it here and now through our narratives. This is what we will be discussing at the University:Future Festival 2024.

Under the motto “Tales of Tomorrow,” we contemplate futures and develop visions that go beyond the immediate. We invite participants and our speakers to collaboratively discover and share new stories. We address current and future technological developments while also shedding light on the social and intellectual context in which they occur. Together, we seek solutions and pathways into the future.

The word “Tale” can be translated as both “Geschichte” (story) and “Märchen” (fairy tale). At U:FF, we challenge established future narratives. We do not dwell in a superficially used concept of innovation, but rather aim to discuss which narratives are relevant to the future and which are truly just fairy tales.

News

Review 2023

The festival was digital first – but there were also multiple physical stages throughout the country. This allowed participants to engage in personal exchanges without long travel distances. Both online and in-person tickets were free of charge. More information about our three on-site locations of the U:FF 2023 can be found here.

Impressions and highlights from the stages can be seen in our gallery.