Brave New Cyber World?

On March 20, our 13th-grade geography course went on an excursion as part of the semester topic “Sustainability as a Challenge in the Age of Globalization”, focusing on the theme “Brave New Cyber World.”

Our excursion began at Jungfernstieg, where we learned more about the ecological footprint of digitalization, unfair working conditions, threats to our data sovereignty, and the environmental impact of our consumption through interactive activities. We then continued to Domplatz, where we explored further facts about major internet corporations such as Google and Meta. We also gained insights into the psychological strategies behind the design of social media platforms and marketing campaigns.

The final stop was Rathausplatz. There, we learned more about data protection and reflected together on our impressions. The interactive exercises actively involved us in the topic and encouraged us to critically examine our own behavior in everyday digital life. In doing so, we became aware of connections we had hardly considered before, and some of the findings surprised us.

The excursion provided us with many new insights and highlighted the scale of the challenges posed by the digital world. At the same time, it made us aware of the responsibility we each bear in how we use digital media and consume resources. Overall, it was a very interesting and educational day that opened up new perspectives and deepened the topics covered in class in a vivid and engaging way.