The conference SPACE x SOCIETY x CULTURE took place on 3 December in Berlin and impressively demonstrated how unusual partnerships can develop innovative answers to urgent social challenges. ‘Together, we have the opportunity to shape the future of our society [...]’, emphasised Géraldine Naja (Director of Commercialisation, Industry and Competitiveness, ESA) in her video message. Dr Konrad Schmidt-Werthern, representing the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (BKM), underlined the importance of innovative thinking and partnerships between culture, society and technology.

Organised by Fonds Soziokultur in cooperation with the German Space Agency at DLR and the European Space Agency (ESA), the event brought together experts from culture, research and technology in lectures, panels and networking discussions. It became clear that although the two partners, socioculture and space technology, may seem unusual at first glance, have different perspectives and speak different languages, they both pursue the same goal of creating added value for society as a whole - they bring people together. Rita Rinaldo (Head of Projects Implementation and Studies Division, ESA) sees a "change of mindset in the space sector, because space is no longer seen in isolation’" Technological solutions must address social challenges and not be viewed in isolation, but space is a "unifying element, because it connects all people no matter where there are on earth".

The initiators of ‘Techlab: Socioculture’ saw the potential of the connection between space technologies and socioculture, and turned it into a pilot programme. Twelve ambitious socio-cultural organisations undergo a consultation process in which they refine their ideas, test them with target groups and develop potential implementation strategies. The focus is not only on how technology can support socioculture, but also on how the crisis-tested, participative, solution-orientated and imaginative mindset of socioculture can be transferred into meaningful tech applications.

In the two ‘Ideas with a sustainable impact’ panels, ten socio-cultural organisations funded by Techlab: Socioculture and four companies funded by DLR/ESA shared their ideas and their development with the audience. They were centred around the headings ‘Data Literacy and Learning’ and ‘Sustainable Cities’. Some of the topics ranged from heat planning, a playful colonisation of Mars, homelessness, inclusive cultural participation, digital wayfinding up to open source transfer of cultural data, art workshops for technology companies, media and data literacy, visitor guidance in tourism and gamification. The organisations develop concrete solutions with imagination and from the perspective of society, from which the common good can benefit. Co-initiator of the pilot programme Dr Abhay Adhikari summed it up enthusiastically: "Everything you're working on sounds big, ambitious and impossible." With enthusiasm and motivation, the organisations from both sectors showed that they are well on the way to making the seemingly impossible possible.