Stories for a Better Future – Final Event

February 5, 2026 / Korina Zovak

Throughout the winter semester 2025/26, students from three seminars – Hobbes and Rosseau, Political Emotions, and Storyscapes (ILPOE) – have reflected on and discussed the potential power of stories and myth in their disciplines based on diverse impulses as part of the “Stories for a Better Future: The Power of Myth in Philosophy, Urban Ecology, and Politics” series.

[Picture: ILPOE]

On Friday, January 30th students of these three seminars came together for the final “Stories for a Better Future” event, in which each seminar led an activity that brought together the topics from their course and the power of stories. The philosophy students kicked off the event with a freely narrated collage of sketches that represented the philosophies of Hobbes and Rosseau and how they connect with views of human-nature and societal/political relationships. Next, a house of commons style debate was conducted, in which the full group discussed difficult questions related to the power and use of political myth in society. Finally, the Storyscapes (ILPOE) students ran pilot tests of creative interventions that aim to address urban ecological and environmental challenges in Stuttgart, based off stories they developed for specific urban ecosystems in the city.

Stories for a Better Future is a joint project of ILPOE, IZKT, and the Philosophy Institute at the University of Stuttgart and the Künstlerhaus Stuttgart.

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Student pins a sketch to the collective collage depicting aspects of the philosophies of Hobbes and Rosseau.
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Example discussion question from the House of Commons debate.
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Students construct and plant their own “Kodama Hotels” as part of a Storyscapes intervention on habitat fragmentation.
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Students from the Storyscapes seminar lead a crafting activity using foraged material as part of their intervention on urban forests.
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