The volume is based on a cooperation between the KU and the Zurich University of the Arts and a hybrid lecture series on the same topic offered by both institutions in the 2023/24 winter semester. International experts from various academic disciplines and the extramural world discussed strategies, policies and networks for the future. The future challenges of educational institutions were considered from philosophical, cultural, political and economic perspectives. "It was a very lively exchange full of mutual inspiration and stimulation", concludes Prof. Dr. Rainer Wenrich.
Thanks to funding provided by the Swiss National Science Foundation, the edited volume, which brings together all the lectures from the series, has now been published open access and thus made available to a wide audience. The aim is to reach students and colleagues from universities, but also from the private sector, explains Wenrich. It was about working together to better network the university system within itself, but also with the world of work. Art could make a decisive contribution here: "21st century skills such as creativity, collaboration and critical thinking are key to mastering the challenges of the future – and we have great potential in the arts." In view of AI and machine learning, creative thinking and action in particular should be promoted in education.
Wenrich himself contributes a piece on how art education and New Work can be thought of as a union. Due to the renovation of the Main Building on the Eichstätt campus, new premises are currently being built for the art Education department at the KU, and Wenrich is involved in the planning: "Our new rooms will show how creativity can be studied in the future. It is important to take both the analog and the digital with us in order to reduce concerns and keep the hurdles low."
