On June 5, 2025, from 2:00 to 3:00 PM, Prof. Dr. Alexa Weik von Mossner and Thomas Heintz will present the VISIONS OF SUSTAINABILITY project in an interactive talk at the Public Climate School in Freiburg.
The Public Climate School is organized by Students for Future Freiburg as a climate education week, taking place from June 2 to June 6 on the Platz der Alten Synagoge. The goal is to take education for sustainable development, along with climate- and society-relevant topics, out of the universities and lecture halls and make them accessible to everyone. This includes a variety of workshops, lectures, panel discussions, and participatory activities focused on the climate crisis and its intersections with social and societal issues. The VISIONS OF SUSTAINABILITY team is happy to support this great initiative, and we were especially delighted to receive the invitation.
What motivates people in Freiburg to watch films about climate protection? What do they take away from the experience, and can traditional media formats like documentary films still have an impact today? In their interactive lecture, Prof. Dr. Alexa Weik von Mossner and Thomas Heintz will explore these questions and present initial research findings on the Fridays for Future documentary Aufschrei der Jugend by Kathrin Pitterling, which was shown in October as part of the VdN project at the Harmonie Cinema. The talk will highlight how climate films work and what emotions they can evoke. To illustrate this, short film clips will be shown, and a live audience survey will be conducted.
At 7:30 PM, the film Aufschrei der Jugend will be screened again at the Public Climate School. In her documentary, Kathrin Pitterling brings us up close with young Fridays for Future activists, including well-known faces like Luisa Neubauer and Clara Mayer. The film powerfully shows how, despite the existential restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, these children and young people continue to fight fearlessly for our shared future. From today’s perspective, it’s a film well worth seeing.
VISIONS OF SUSTAINABILITY is an inter- and transdisciplinary research project funded by the Innovation Sustainability Campus (ICN), located at the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). Non-university cooperation partners include Harmonie Kino, the Volkshochschule Freiburg and Greenmotions. The Freiburg environmental mayor Christine Buchheit has take on the patronage of the project.