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Ideas 2020 – A Tour of Tomorrow’s World
Images above: Helmholtz Association/N. Michalke, A. Blank
Eagerly awaited and now formally opened under the eyes of
more than 400 guests: on 13 March, the Helmholtz Association's
exhibition "Ideas 2020 – A Tour of Tomorrow’s World"
was officially opened at the Paul-Löbe-Haus in Berlin.
A high-rise building shaped like a sugar snap pea, an ice block
made of acrylic glass that seems to melt before the visitors'
eyes, bubbling algae panels, turned into a designer object by
the use of shiny stainless steel plates, four life plans of elderly
people as a mix-max game, a sugar shaker as a punch bag, a
huge smartphone encased in brickwork, a futuristic digital safe
– these are the seven stelae that are at the heart of the "Ideas
2020 – A Tour of Tomorrow’s World" exhibition. Created by designers
and artists, they visualise – sometimes with a twinkle
in the eye and the invitation for interaction – the major challenges
of the future.
For their innovative concept, the exhibition organisers received
official approval: Norbert Lammert, President of the German
Bundestag, praised the successful balance between the presentation
of scientific insights and playful components. Federal
Minister for Education and Research Johanna Wanka emphasised:
"We can solve the challenges of our time only, if as many
people as possible deal with and look into science." Accordingly,
the President of the Helmholtz Association, Jürgen Mlynek,
added that it is the intrinsic concern of any research organisation
to contribute to the scientific literacy of the population. The
Helmholtz Association fulfils this claim with initiatives such as
the "Haus der kleinen Forscher" (“Little Scientists' House”), the
pupil laboratories and, last but not least, with this exhibition.
The robot ARMAR, which in future will allow for prolonged selfdetermined
living in old age, an Efficiency House Plus, which
produces more energy than it consumes, vaccination by nasal
spray, secure IT solutions turning a smartphone into a house
key or a debit card: these are tangible examples proving that in
the research laboratories the future is happening already now.
More than 150 of these exemplary research projects are presented
on the monitors to the left and right of the stelae. The
short stories with pictures tell about research results as well as
about the process of "creating knowledge".
Interaction with the visitors is of great importance: at a central
dialogue desk they can submit their questions regarding
the future and read the answers to questions asked by other
visitors. Both this can be done also on the website http://www.
ideen2020.de/en. The protagonist from the future, Finn Peeters,
likewise invites visitors to interact: What does a world look like
that does not have to worry about energy supply? How about
starting a second or even a third career in our old age? How
do we feel, if our genetics allow for the prediction of potential
diseases? Finn's experiences take place in a fictive city in the
future. The exhibition organisers hope that over the running
period of the exhibition the visitors will continue the narration
of Finn's experiences and, in doing so, reveal their own wishes
and dreams as well as their fears.
"Ideas 2020" is an invitation to think, discuss and co-create.
Why? The path to a future worth living in can be successful only
if it is a joint effort!
Susann Beetz
Images below: Helmholtz Association/A. Blank; BESL GmbH

Tour Dates 2013
08 April – 18 April Technologiezentrum, Jülich
29 April – 17 May GEOMAR, Kiel
23 May – 16 June City Hall, Rostock
20 June – 10 July KIT, Karlsruhe
16 July – 25 July IHK, Nuremberg
19 August – 25 August Stadthaus, Ulm
30 August – 22 September Kunsthalle, Gießen
26 September – 10 October IHK, Regensburg
28 October – 10 November Reiff Museum, Aachen
15 November – 08 December Zeiss-Mensa, Jena
Image: BESL GmbH
www.ideen2020.de/en