Recap: University:Future Festival 2024
Three days to think about the future, develop visions and discuss practical experiences. With over 4,500 active participants, the University:Future Festival 2024 took place from 5 to 7 June in presence and in the digital space.
The fourth edition of the festival offered more workshops and training sessions than ever before and expanded the geographical network. The two-day main stage event in Berlin was accompanied by presence stages in Leipzig, Nuremberg, Bochum and Heilbronn. Once again this year: digital first! The content of the programme could only be experienced in all its diversity online. All stage contributions were streamed on the digital event platform and could therefore be followed from anywhere. You can find impressions of the presence stages in our gallery.
On-demand programme
How do universities deal with artificial intelligence? And which digital skills will be important for the working world of the future? There is no comparable setting in which these topics are discussed as much as at the largest event dedicated to the (digital) future of academic education – the University:Future Festival. More than 600 speakers organised three unique festival days with over 300 lectures, discussions, workshops and training sessions in German and English.
The digital concept of the festival not only makes it possible to follow as many personal highlights as possible during the festival, regardless of location. The majority of the contributions can also be viewed afterwards, regardless of the event period, and thus further inspiration and new impulses can be recognised. The recorded contributions of the University:Future Festival 2024 can be found in playlists on the YouTube channel of the Hochschulforum Digitalisierung. You can also watch the videos directly in the programme overview on our website!
Mit dem Aufruf des Videos erklörst du dich einverstanden, dass Deine Daten an YouTube übermittelt werden und dass Du die Datenschutzerklärung gelesen hast.
The University:Future Festival 2024 was organised by the Hochschulforum Digitalisierung and the Stiftung Innovation in der Hochschullehre. It was supported by the Stifterverband.
The motto “Tales of Tomorrow”
Stories are powerful. They construct our reality. The future is not fixed, but we create it here and now through our stories. We talked about this at the University:Future Festival 2024.
Under the motto “Tales of Tomorrow”, we thought about futures and developed visions that go beyond the immediate. We invited participants and our speakers to find and share new narratives together. We addressed current and future technological developments while also shedding light on the social and ideological context in which they take place. Together we sought solutions and paths into the future.
Tale” can be translated as the concept of history or fairy tales. At the U:FF, we scrutinised established narratives of the future. Rather than dwelling on a superficially used concept of innovation, we discussed which narratives are relevant to the future and which are actually just fairy tales.
What made the University:Future Festival 2024 special
Size and overview: As the largest event of its kind in the DACH region, the U:FF offers a unique overview of the future of tertiary education and is therefore THE place for inspiration in terms of content. At U:FF 2024, participants found contributions that matched their personal interests and fields of work. Nine tracks, which covered the range of current topics and challenges for (digital) academic education, formed the basis of the programme design.
Community-based: Our community doesn’t just meet once a year for the festival – we work together in a spirit of trust throughout the year. In 2024, the content and formats of U:FF were again largely fed by the various communities of HFD and the Foundation for Innovation in Higher Education.
Innovative and colourful: U:FF always strives for innovation – in content and formats. This includes artistic interventions, new and diverse format ideas and a contemporary digital and analogue event experience.
Rethinking spaces: U:FF rethinks digital and analogue spaces. It is a digital-first hybrid: digital participants are the most important group of participants. Anyone can join us online with just one click. But we are also geographically networked and, following the successful pilot in 2023, we also offered opportunities for regional exchange in 2024 with several locations in Germany.
