‘My Future City’ initiative for school children

Earlier in June 2025, as part of the research project Hop&Mop4 +CitySpace - which focuses on transitioning towards sustainable mobility through co-creation with children and involves partners such as the University of Salzburg, Breda University of Applied Sciences, Netherland and Vrije Universiteit Brussel - IIASA researcher Chayasmita Deka organized a workshop under the initiative “My Future City.”

The workshop invited school students from Gymnasium Draschestrasse to co-identify problems in their school neighborhood and imagine how they would like to see them changed. Students were also trained to collect perception data and compare their visions with adults’ perspectives. The outcomes came alive in engaging, interactive concept maps that revealed how young imaginations and adult viewpoints might shape their school environment in the near future.

This initiative gave students a platform to critically reflect on their surroundings and reimagine their everyday spaces for a more sustainable future.