Events

How can a city look when fossil fuels are no longer available? What role do renewable energies, battery storage, research and community living play? And how can future-focused topics like these be communicated in a way that children and young people not only understand them, but also continue to develop them creatively? Network Energy Talents e. V. explored these questions on 26 June at the Long Night of Sciences in Dresden. Together with the DiggiClub, NET organised an interactive educational format for pupils aged between six and 16 in the central building of HTW Dresden. At the heart of the activity was the planet “Newtopia” in the year 3000: a world in which fossil fuels are no longer available and a sustainable city of the future needs to be built.

How is electricity generated? How is it transmitted over long distances? And why does the energy transition require new power lines? These questions were the focus of a hands-on afternoon at the TenneT site in Bayreuth. Four young people aged between 13 and 15 took part in a session organised by the NET project group’s “Try it out” initiative there on Tuesday 9 June 2026, and were gradually trained as new “energy scouts”.

In the old canteen at TU Dresden, the event begins quite informally: organisers and speakers gather for lunch together before moving on to the main discussion. Shortly afterwards, five industrial engineers from the energy sector take their places on the podium. Before them: 26 enthusiastic students from VWI university groups across Germany, keen to find out what career paths are open to them after graduation.