Build Your Future is reliant on design thinking techniques and teamwork. Seven digital theme toolboxes are currently available as online educational resources. While working on their projects participants learn key skills. They experience working both in a team as well as independently, they learn empathy and they grow in self-confidence.

Regional Build Your Future camps with design thinking experts provide students with additional support. “It was totally different to the standard classroom setting – it was really varied,” said Chantal at the end of one day at a camp. Teachers are often amazed when they see how focused, independent and keen their students are to work on their ideas using the newly learned techniques.

Young people can enter their project ideas in the nationwide BautEureZukunft@challenge contest. Entries can take a number of forms: presentations, photo stories, three-dimensional models, posters or video clips. The six teams with the most convincing proposals are then invited to the two-day long final at the bank’s Quartier Zukunft in Berlin, where they compete head to head.

In June 2019 the challenge’s motto was: “Living democracy: How can students play an active part in shaping society and make their voice heard?” and its template was the new “democracy” toolbox supplied by the German Federal Ministry for Family, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth.

The finalists delivered coherent proposals to the members of the jury, who included Norbert Kunz, managing director of Social Impact: “We are delighted at the dedication and enthusiasm the teams displayed while working on their project ideas. The second year of this challenge has shown us how perfectly suited design thinking techniques are to develop far-sighted solutions to complex questions.”