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Group Projects 2026
The three-week program of AEMS also includes (guided as well as unguided) group sessions, for students to develop their own projects for systemic change:
Each project addresses a social-ecological and/or economic challenge and relates to the nine points of intervention by Donella Meadows (1999) on the one hand, and the concept of dougnut economics by Kate Raworth (2017) on the other.
Get a glimpse at this year's marvelous projects (in alphabetical order) below:
Beyond Hope and Fear
The group proposed a workshop series tailored to children of 8-12 years of age, focusing on the three core dimensions of SEEING (alternative systems & possibilites), BEING (in connection to each other, themselves & beyond the human world) and DOING (things differently, in non-exploitative ways).
They designed the curriculum for a workshop series spanning 4 modules (Nature, Community, Economy, Governance) and set the main objectives as well as workshops to take place during each module.
Climate-Resilient Real Estate
Starting point for the project was the status quo in real estate valuation, which is based on cash flows. The group proposed to include climate change in the existing valuation and created a metric, as well as assumptions for climate resilience and land value.
They illustrated an increase in land value over a longer hold period and concluded that while climate change can be priced within existing models, there's financial aspects that remain unaffected.
Countermapping Nowtopias
The group set out with the goal in mind to showcase different narratives, to counter current dominant ones. They created a map to give room to already existing initiatives that are following a different - and eco-socially transformative - approach:
The interactive map visualizes initiatives on a global scale, each with a short description and link to further information. In their presentation, the group also introduced the students to the manifold alternatives already added to the map.
Digital Wellbeing
In their project, the students focused on the impact excessive use of digital media has on our wellbeing. They showcased how the global average of young adults between 18-24 years old spends more than 8 hours of the day on screens.
To counteract, they proposed a mix of technological and behavioural measures, such as silencing notifications, emptying homescreen, using grayscale, switching to dumbphones (technological) or creating phone-free zones, reflecting your own phone-usage, or practicing boredom (behaviour). The group held their presentation without usage of digital media and created a phone-free zone in the classroom.
Ecocide
The project group called for ecocide - the destruction of an ecosystem - to be recognized as the fifth international crime, for actors responsible to be held accountable and the de-escalation of ecocidal acts around the globe:
They created a website - listing historical and ongoing cases of ecocide, as well as providing more detailed resources - and additionally a corresponding account on Instagram. On the website, they defined which actors are to be held accountable for what and how their desicisions impact ecosystems. The website also points users to political campaigns, legal initiatives, and handbooks for individual action from other organisations.
Kawsay Bumi
The project team explored the issue of the one-sided transfer of wealth and resources from the Global South to the Global North, while neglecting the negative impacts on local populations. To tackle this, they proposed two complementary measures:
First, an information campaign on social media (Instagram and TikTok) designed to enhance understanding of the issue - particularly among the European population - through easy-to-understand information on case studies, infographics, and short videos. In a second step, a petition addressed to the European Parliament aims to help demand stricter legal frameworks and ensure companies comply with them.
L'arama - The personalized opportunity platform
The students set out from the starting point that information overflow is a big problem in today's digital society, with algorithms deciding on which information reaches whom. From there, the group created an AI opportunity assistant on Telegram that aggregates data from hundreds of global sources and tailors it to the user:
The assistant regularly searches various websites and APIs for relevant content, summarizes and classifies it and creates a database of structures news. The user searches via promts in the Telegram bot, where the assistant matches the user profile with the content from the database. The group also created an instagram profile to promote the bot.
AEMS 2029 @Mala Zêrin
The group invited us on a time-travel to 3 years into the future: As part of the program, students of AEMS 2029 would get to visit @Mala Zêrin as one example for a transformative organisation in Vienna. As part of their visit, they would learn more about how the organisation works, from their purpose to their activities to their finances.
Students would leave with pracitical insights and inspiration - either to support this organisation, to look out for something similiar in their own cities, or to become active themselves.
Think TwiZe
The project group set out to disrupt impulsive consumption behaviours by the idea of reverse marketing: Following the core values of mindfulness, ethics and kindness, they proposed a browser extension with an AI agent to tackle psychological manipulation with a barrier.
They created a prototype for the browser extension to launch during the checkout process at an online-shop and ask the user questions adapted to their behaviour. Responses are then tracked, to enable the analysis of emotional patterns and show spending as percentage of disposable income.
Token Green
The students focused on municipal waste management for the target areas of Vienna's 10th and 11th districts.
They proposed a token-based systems to earn rewards for socially and environmentally favourable actions, such as recycling, using public transport or supporting local and fair-trade businesses. These tokens can then be redeemed for rewards from community partners and entrepreneurs. They created a website, with more details on the process, as well as a smartphone-app to manage and keep track of the complementary currency.