When a Paper Finds Its Stage — Even Without Its Author

leberecht3
Jun 4
4 min read

Reflections on GROUFES 2026, Magdeburg & the VRA as a Compass for Futures Literacy and Entrepreneurial Life Design

By Marc Leberecht-Schneider | 4FuturesLab

In early May 2026, the Unicampus in Magdeburg became something rare: a genuine international forum where education, sustainability, and transformation were not just discussed — they were lived. Over 100 researchers, educators, and practitioners from across the world gathered for the two-day conference "Growing up the Future: Education for Sustainability" (GROUFES), hosted by the EUGREEN alliance at Otto-von-Guericke-University.

I was supposed to be there.

My paper — "From Gamification to Serious Gaming: A Toolbox for Mindset-Oriented Teacher Training in Sustainability and Futures Literacy" — had been accepted for Panel 6, dedicated to how teacher training programs can foster sustainability competencies and transformative awareness. I was genuinely looking forward to the panel discussion, to the exchange with fellow practitioners and researchers, and to the energy that only emerges when people who care deeply about the future come together in one room.

Then life happened. A family occasion made it impossible to attend.

And yet — the ideas travelled without me.

What GROUFES Was About

The conference addressed one of the most pressing questions of our time: How can schools, universities, and educational institutions help people navigate — and shape — a world defined by climate change, digitalisation, biodiversity loss, migration, inequality, and growing future anxiety?

Three keynote speakers set the tone:

Timothy Ingold reminded the audience that any university worth its name must be built on freedom, trust, education, and community.
Prof. Dr. Michael Böcher proposed that politics deserves recognition as a fourth pillar of sustainability — alongside ecology, economics, and social justice.
Prof. Dr. Eva Ärlemalm-Hagsér made the case that teachers and teacher educators are among the most powerful agents of transformative change toward sustainability.

Eight thematic panels, workshops, outdoor activities, and Future Research Forums rounded out a programme that was as diverse as the challenges it sought to address.

The Core Message I Would Have Brought

My contribution was rooted in a conviction I carry into every workshop, course, and coaching conversation:

Futures Literacy and Entrepreneurial Life Design need an orientation framework — not just tools, not just methods, but a compass.

That compass, in my work, is the VRA — Value Recognition Approach (in German: WOOP!E — Werteorientierte Organisations- und Persönlichkeitsentwicklung).

The VRA is not a rule book. It is an experiential path — one that begins with three foundational questions:

What drives me? — Clarifying motivation, not as a one-time exercise, but as an ongoing practice.
What mindset am I operating from? — Recognising whether I am in a survival mode, a performance mode, or a more integrated, regenerative state of awareness.
What does this moment call for? — A Recharge, to restore energy and clarity? Or even a Reset, to let go of what no longer serves and open space for something genuinely new?

Why Mindset Matters More Than Method

In teacher training — and in life design more broadly — we often reach for tools before we understand the state we are operating from. We gamify, we map, we design — and then wonder why the impact doesn't stick.

The VRA inverts this sequence. It asks: Before we act, who is acting?

A teacher in survival mode will use even the most innovative tool defensively — to get through the lesson, not to open minds.
A teacher in performance mode may deliver brilliantly, but the deeper transformation — in themselves and their students — remains out of reach.
A teacher who has done the inner work — who has clarified their values, recognised their motivation, and chosen their mindset consciously — becomes something different: a facilitator of transformation.

This is precisely what Panel 6 at GROUFES was exploring: how teacher training programs can be designed to foster not just competencies, but the inner conditions from which those competencies become alive and meaningful.

Gamification as a Gateway — Not a Destination

My paper proposed a modular pathway:

Climate Fresk as a gamified entry point — emotionally engaging, systems-oriented, accessible.
Impact Mapping and Serious Gaming formats linked to the European Green Deal — deepening understanding through co-creation, narrative, and agency.
All of it embedded in the VRA framework, aligned with GreenComp, UNESCO's Futures Literacy Labs, and the Inner Development Goals (IDGs).

The key insight: gamification and serious gaming are not peripheral activities. When designed with intention and grounded in a values-based framework, they become mindset catalysts — helping educators move from knowledge transmission to genuine transformation facilitation.

A Missed Conversation — and an Open Invitation

Not being in Magdeburg meant missing the panel discussion, the questions from the audience, the informal conversations over coffee that often carry the most insight. That is a real loss — and I name it honestly.

But the ideas are not lost. They are, if anything, more alive for having been tested against the reality of life's unpredictability. Because that is precisely what the VRA teaches: the gap between intention and reality is not a failure — it is the learning space.

If you were at GROUFES and engaged with these questions — or if you are working at the intersection of Futures Literacy, teacher training, and regenerative education — I would love to continue the conversation.

The future of education is not built in conference halls alone. It is built in the small, honest moments where educators ask themselves: Who am I being right now? And is that who this moment needs me to be?

About the Author

Marc Leberecht-Schneider is the Chief Innovation Officer of 4FuturesLab — Das 1×1 der Möglichkeiten. Zukunft erlebbar machen. He works at the intersection of Futures Literacy, Conscious Leadership, and Entrepreneurial Life Design, accompanying people, organisations, and communities in developing the inner and outer capacities for regenerative transformation. His work draws on 12 years of leadership experience in business, 12 years of contemplative practice, and ongoing engagement as an impact entrepreneur and educator.

📩 Connect via 4FuturesLab | Conference: GROUFES 2026 Event Recap

Selected conference papers will be published in the GROUFES Conference Proceedings in autumn 2026 by Atlantis Press/Springer Open Access.