What does the future of our city, our working world and our social coexistence look like? The young people themselves provided the answers to these questions on 2 February 2026: At the fifth Youth Science Camp KReateFUTURE, around 70 pupils from year 9 onwards developed innovative ideas on the topics of digitalisation, artificial intelligence, sustainability, health and quality of life together with stakeholders from business, universities and politics.
The young people worked in interdisciplinary teams for a whole day on issues they had developed themselves - from initial problem analyses and hypotheses to concrete solutions and public pitches.
Learning at eye level - companies and universities as resonance partners
A central element of KReateFUTURE is the close cooperation with stakeholders from business and universities. Representatives of regional and national companies accompanied the teams as coaches, resonance partners and jury members. Participants included ALBERDINGK BOLEY GmbH, Autobahn GmbH des Bundes, Becker Robotics, GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft, Landhouz GmbH (AI.Land GmbH), PLEUS Consulting, SWK AG and KrefeldBusiness.
They contributed their expertise in areas such as artificial intelligence, mobility, energy, industry, healthcare, robotics, software development, urban development and securing skilled labour. The focus was not on ready-made solutions, but on joint thinking: sharpening questions, changing perspectives and realistically developing ideas.
Representatives from business and academia were also involved in the jury and jointly assessed the projects in terms of degree of innovation, social relevance and feasibility.
The Hochschule Niederrhein: An active role and a strong signal
The Hochschule Niederrhein played a central role. The president of the university, Professor Dr Susanne Meyer, gave a welcoming address to the participants, followed the team pitches closely and sought direct dialogue with the young people. After the presentations, she was impressed by the quality of the ideas and emphasised: "When I see the seriousness, creativity and responsibility with which these young people approach future issues, I am very confident that our world will be in good hands."
Professor Dr Meyer then presented the winners with their certificates.
Political appreciation with a greeting from Minister Ina Brandes
The video greeting from Ina Brandes, Minister of Culture and Science for the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, sent another strong signal. In her welcoming address, she recognised the commitment of the young people and the importance of formats such as KReateFUTURE for education, science and innovation: "Young people need spaces in which they can try things out, question things and develop their own ideas. KReateFUTURE is an impressive demonstration of how much creativity, curiosity and innovative strength our pupils possess."
At the same time, Brandes emphasised the importance of cooperation: "When schools, universities, business and politics take on responsibility together, this creates exactly the combination of theory and practice that we need for a successful future."
Clear the stage for young ideas - jury and public voting
The highlight of the day was the degree pitches, in which the teams presented their concepts to the audience and jury. The best projects were distinguished by both a jury vote and an audience vote.
Pupils from several secondary schools in Krefeld and the region attended, including Uerdingen Comprehensive School, Kaiserplatz Comprehensive School, Fabritianum Grammar School, Horkesgath Grammar School Krefeld, Korschenbroich Grammar School, Ricarda-Huch Grammar School and Maria-Sibylla-Merian Grammar School.
Jury voting:
1st place - "Spotlight" (8 winners):
2nd place - "Skilled Labour Shortage in Health Care" (10 winners)
3rd place - "PathFinder" (8 winners)
Public voting:
1st place - "Y-AI" (9 winners):
2nd place - "PathFinder" (8 winners)
3rd place - "KReateCity" (12 winners)
All of the award-winning projects were developed entirely by the young people themselves and impressively demonstrate how thoughtfully young people analyse current social and technological challenges - and what solutions emerge when they are given the opportunity to really help shape them.
KReateFUTURE - more than just a project day
KReateFUTURE is a joint format of the initiators from education, business and innovation promotion. The project is run by the KReateFUTURE team in collaboration with the zdi centre KReMINTec, the city of Krefeld, The Hochschule Niederrhein, the employment agency, KrefeldBusiness and the Unternehmerschaft Niederrhein. The venue for the Youth Science Camp is the Krefeld Mediothek, an open learning and meeting space that offers ideal conditions for exchange, creativity and interdisciplinary work.
The aim of KReateFUTURE is to get young people interested in future topics at an early age and to give them real insights into scientific, economic and social contexts - with perspectives that extend beyond the day of the event.
