University:Future Festival 2024

We are convinced that digital tools and smart didactics can improve higher education. That’s why the University:Future Festival (U:FF), the leading event on digitalisation in teaching and learning, offers orientation, networking and inspiration – community-oriented and open to all. For the academic education of tomorrow.

Almost 4.000 active participants attended the last U:FF 2023. The event addressed all groups concerned with the future of higher education – including teachers, university administrators, didactics, students and civil society.

The motto “Tales of Tomorrow”

Stories are powerful. They construct our reality. The future is not predetermined; instead, we create it through the narratives of today. That’s what we’re talking about at the University:Future Festival 2024. 

You can translate “tale” as the concept of a story or a fairytale. With this, we express that we are challenging established future narratives at the University:Future Festival. We invite everyone to find new narratives together. We address both current and upcoming technological developments while exploring the social and intellectual-historical context in which they occur.

The motto “Tales of Tomorrow” stands for a reflection on futures and for visions that go beyond the immediate. It stands for solutions and paths to the future. But it also stands for a critical attitude. Therefore, we do not linger on a superficially used concept of innovation, but want to discuss which narratives are relevant for the future and which are actually just fairy tales.

What makes the University:Future Festival special

Size and overview: As the largest event of its kind in the DACH region, U:FF offers a unique overview of futures in tertiary education, making it THE place for inspiration.

Community-based: Our community does not just meet for the annual festival – we work together in a spirit of trust throughout the year. The content and formats of U:FF are largely fed by the diverse communities of Hochschulforum and Stiftung Innovation in der Hochschullehre. Members of the community inspire others and share information about the festival.

Innovative and colourful: U:FF always strives for innovations in content and format. This includes artistic interventions, new and diverse format ideas and a contemporary digital and analogue event experience.

Spaces rethought: U:FF rethinks digital and analogue spaces. It is digital-first-hybrid: digital participants are the most important group of attendees. Everyone can join online with a click. But we are also geographically connected and following the successful pilot in 2023, will offer opportunities for regional exchange at five locations in Germany in 2024.