Education faces major challenges in many regions of Germany – especially in rural areas. A shortage of teachers, a lack of digitalization and often rigid bureaucracy make urgently needed reforms difficult. At the same time, it is clear that when education is rethought and different stakeholders work together, creative approaches for the future emerge.

As part of City Talks in Ballenstedt, committed people from schools, initiatives, local authorities and culture came together under the title “Wild alliances for education”. The aim was to share experiences, identify challenges and point out new paths for the educational landscape in the Harz region.

Representatives from schools, administration, civil society and business discussed their perspectives in an open storytelling café format. They were all united by the conviction that Education must focus more on the needs of children and young people and create practical spaces for experience – even outside of traditional school structures.

It became clear that the establishment of stable cooperation networks between schools, local authorities and external practitioners such as crafts, business and culture offers enormous potential. New learning spaces, flexible structures and “testing licences” could help to make education more practical, participatory and innovative. At the same time, existing hierarchical structures hinder many good approaches: Initiatives often fail due to institutional hurdles and a lack of decision-making freedom at local level.

The City Talk showed that change requires new alliances and the will to overcome old ways of thinking. Initial approaches for a better educational future are visible, but further development and institutional anchoring is still necessary.