When the car breaks down, the journey into the future begins

Of all days, on their grandmother’s birthday, the Hansen family’s car won’t start. Whilst everyone waits for the breakdown service, the children, Luisa and Johann, wonder how people might get around in a few decades’ time. Will self-driving cars and air taxis be part of everyday life? Or will we live in cities where there are hardly any vehicles on the roads? An everyday breakdown turns into a journey of intellectual discovery.

Behind this lies a scientific concept: ‘Futures Literacy’. It describes the ability to imagine different futures, to question one’s own assumptions and to recognise new possibilities for action. ‘We cannot predict what the world of tomorrow will look like. But by exploring different possibilities, we broaden our perspective on the present and recognise where we ourselves can make a difference,” explains Prof. Dr Laura Bechthold, Professor of Technology Assessment & Cultural Management at the Bavarian Foresight Institute at THI.

The story illustrates, using an everyday experience, how this future competence can be taught even at a young age. “We want to encourage children to be curious, to ask questions and to develop their own ideas. They should learn that their ideas matter and that they can help shape the world in which they will one day live,” says Dr Gerhard Schönhofer, scientific project coordinator in the ‘Future’ transfer area of the THI transfer project ‘Mensch in Bewegung’.

This is not just about technical innovations. The family also explores the question of how older people, those with disabilities or low-income households can benefit from new mobility solutions. In this way, the book makes it clear why social progress must take different needs into account.

Future studies for children

The picture book was written by Bechthold and Schönhofer. The illustrations are by Helmut ‘Dino’ Breneis. The story follows on from the first volume in the series, which was conceived and written by Franziska Hegner.

A supplementary information section explains the principle of ‘futures literacy’ – based on a UNESCO framework – through four steps: discovery, experimentation, comparison and action. In this way, the publication also offers ideas for exploring future-related issues within families and schools.

The book was produced as part of the THI transfer project ‘Mensch in Bewegung’ (People on the Move), which is funded through the ‘Innovative University’ funding programme of the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space.

Further information: www.mensch-in-bewegung.info