Utopias – according to the definition, these are those “non-places” whose existence and organization is not or only with difficulty imaginable from the current point of view. Utopian ideas have something unrealizable and unrealistic about them, just as those who think them are labeled as fantasists or dreamers. This is a serious misconception that the Utopia – made in Green Tech Valley project is working to correct. It is an initiative of the Green Tech Valley Cluster, Creative Industries Styria, Holzcluster Steiermark, Graz University of Technology and FH Joanneum – Institute of Design and Communication, which understand utopias as essential drivers for change. Only thinking the unthinkable focuses the view on the solutions of the future in the explosive fields of climate protection, circular economy, energy and mobility. The specific location – in this case the research, knowledge and business location of Styria – is of particular importance in this context, in that local competencies are used to solve global problems.

Based on current research results at the location, strong utopias are to be developed in which all formative disciplines participate in research, teaching and entrepreneurial practice. In selected courses, in a series of Green Revolution Camps in spring 2023 and in the context of Design Month Graz, 8 utopias will be visualized and presented at a final event. They serve as a vision and inspiration for the development of further projects in all fields to correct or avert current undesirable developments and threat scenarios. The inevitable question of the next generation will be: Why didn’t you do anything about it? And this will primarily mean: Why didn’t you think utopian enough?