WEBINAR_ Towards meeting futures’ educational needs: a case study of CERN IdeaSquare planet

Curious how interdisciplinary collaboration and behavioral science can reshape the way we approach complex challenges? Join us for an inspiring webinar on May 26 at 12:00, where we dive into innovative thinking, collaboration without hierarchies, and building systems from the ground up.

Ole Werner obtained his M.Sc. in Behavioral Change at Radboud University Nijmegen, the Netherlands in 2022. Next to his master’s thesis at the ARENA2036 in Germany, he started working at Design Factory Stuttgart. There, he encountered the Design Factory Global Network (DFGN) and the opportunity to apply his knowledge of behavioral psychology in innovation sciences. Via the DFGN, Ole got in touch with CERN IdeaSquare, and is now putting his knowledge and thoughts to work for the innovation space since November 2022. Since March 2026, Ole is researching the cognitive and behavioural components of interdisciplinary innovation work without formal hierarchies as a PhD candidate at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VUA).

In recent years, CERN IdeaSquare has created an educational methodology called "IdeaSquare Planet". In that, participants embark on an interplanetary thought experiment: 10.000 Travellers arrive to an exoplanet with limited resources and high degrees of uncertainty. They have the chance, and challenge, to build a (part of) society from the ground up. It could be the first school on the new planet, the first hospital or the societies' new constitution on how to deal with emerging technologies (like AI) on the new planet. What would you do differently? And why do you think it would create a system that is "better" than the one we live in today? Questions like this challenge participants to leave their comfort zones and think out of the box. The target audience is interdisciplinary student groups with diverse perspectives, that can get a holistic view of a problem, if they manage to communicate and collaborate. "Soft skills for hard work" is what emerges as one of the core learnings of IdeaSquare Planet.

This webinar offers a unique perspective on how we can rethink systems, collaboration, and innovation in an increasingly complex world. Whether you're a student, researcher, or professional, this session will challenge you to reflect, question, and imagine new possibilities.

Don’t miss out, register now and be part of the conversation.

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