Lecture title

Digital participation in a smart city of the future

Description

After reviewing all the documents and reflecting on the conversations and emails, I see my task as mentally taking the city’s population with me on the journey to the smart city of Neu-Ulm. In doing so, I not only address the residents as civil society, but also highlight the challenges for those responsible (administration, business, public institutions) to see themselves as active co-creators of the digitization process.

To this end, we look at other outstanding smart cities around the world, break down the concept of smartness into its component parts and place this change process in relation to a holistic understanding of an urgently needed transformation of society as a whole to avoid climate catastrophe.

We then mentally look for ways in which we can shape this transformation together in the shortest possible time, what framework conditions are needed for this and that ideally everyone should step out of their own comfort zone to some extent. Learning always means stretching yourself a little – and everyone probably knows what an exhilarating feeling it is when you have just mastered a new challenge!

During the lecture, I work towards developing a transformed understanding of education as a driver of change. Further education should move away from the conventional image of school desks, chalkboards and exams. Rather, it is about rediscovering one’s own curiosity in order to experience oneself anew as an urban society with lots of shared fun, decentralized working and learning, but also social places where people can come together regularly. A number of your great project ideas that can lead to innovations fit in here.

Anyone who wants to can take part in this design process, regardless of age. A vibrant urban culture that is constantly evolving through digital networking ultimately also contributes to city marketing. As a large district town, Neu-Ulm has great opportunities to continue to position itself as an attractive place to live. Such a broadly understood, lively educational approach will become a locational advantage.

Conclusion: The digital transformation must and will succeed because it is the only chance to realistically counter the climate catastrophe – and to surf the demographic change at the same time. We will all live better in a democratically designed smart city that grows from the bottom up and does not come across as an authoritarian superpower. It will be fun! And no one will be left behind!

Anja’s appearance from about 11:35 minutes. Later still with podium contributions.