October 9, 2026 – May 16, 2027, Museum Garden,
Museum Niederösterreich in St. Pölten

UNITED NATURE DEMOCRACY: Bold Visions of the Future for 2040–2100 is the title of the Impulse Exhibition, which will be on view—and, above all, audible—from October 9, 2026, through May 16, 2027, in the museum garden of the Museum Niederösterreich in St. Pölten. It has been developed by the Future Platform ReGenerativa and the Institute of Design Research Vienna (IDRV) (co-directed by Ronja Grossar), in collaboration with the Regenerative Design Lab at the University of Applied Arts Vienna. The Impulse Exhibition is being presented in cooperation with the Museum Niederösterreich. Additional partners include the Haus der Digitalisierung Tulln and the KinderKunstLabor St. Pölten. The design is by EOOS Design (implementation: Lotte Kristoferitsch).

The exhibition is driven by the conviction that far-sighted projects like this one are needed to inspire people’s imagination and encourage them to engage deeply with the future—especially now, in the midst of the dual digital and ecological transformation. It presents stories about the future for 2040–2100 available as podcasts—half of them in English and the other half, which are thematically distinct, in German—so it’s worth listening to all of them. The themes of the stories are spread across five nature islands (“Continents of the Future”), ranging from democracy, (eco)social equity, and education (Island 1) to housing, mobility, and food (Island 2), health, arts & culture, and tourism (Island 3), work, industry/craft, and services (Island 4), to research & technology, superintelligence, and agriculture/soil protection (Island 5). The texts will also be available on the ReGenerativa website starting October 9, 2026.

The origins of these visions of the future are remarkable: for the first time, they were developed entirely from the perspective of Generation Z (born between 1995 and 2012). Christoph Thun-Hohenstein, artistic director of the Future Platform ReGenerativa and one of the two curators: “Generation Z is the generation that is already in the workforce or on the verge of entering it, and at the same time has excellent prospects of living to see the next turn of the century in robust health. We need this generation’s power of imagination and transformation to irreversibly realize the UND vision by 2040 at the latest. We must therefore urgently empower Gen Z with decisive agency and actively support them in exercising it. However, shaping a regenerative future will not only benefit Gen Z and subsequent generations—it will improve the lives of us all already in the coming years.”

The project was based on workshops with young people and an experimental, multi-stage process utilizing six generative AI systems (ChatGPT, Claude AI, Gemini AI, Mistral, DeepSeek, and Kimi AI). Through this, the project explores new forms of collaboration between human imagination and artificial intelligence in the development of visions of the future of society. But what exactly is creative about presenting AI-generated texts in an exhibition?

No less a figure than Jaron Lanier—the AI-critical digital thought leader, artist, and futurist—recently emphasized during a lecture in Vienna that when using AI in artistic projects, it is not the AI tool that is the “creator” of the work, but rather the person who developed the relevant prompts… We would argue that this applies even more so to the discipline of art that most consistently addresses the major challenges of the future: design—and in particular its forms of strategic and regenerative design.

Harald Gründl, director of the Regenerative Design Lab at the University of Applied Arts Vienna and co-curator, about the design concept of the exhibition: “The exhibition doesn’t depict the future in images, but as a speculative audio play. This gives visitors more freedom to use their own imagination, combine different ideas, and envision alternative futures. Regenerative design is the consistent application of nature’s principles in design. This creates a completely new perspective on all aspects of our way of life. Let’s all become designers of our future!”

To mark the opening of the exhibition, the UNITED NATURE DEMOCRACY is being proclaimed. It is conceived as a key vision and a space for experimentation in shaping a responsible future. “United” refers to the interaction of people of all generations, as well as with other species, AI, and future superintelligence. “Nature” places nature at the center of future prosperity; when nature thrives, our human future is also secured. “Democracy” must not be a playground for elites or dominant algorithms, but rather requires a vibrant vision of a more-than-human world, which we realize together with nature and through the active support of intelligent machines.

Building on this, the exhibition offers numerous ideas for a respectful, regenerative way of life and economic culture within our planetary boundaries. The 2,500 m² museum garden provides the atmospheric backdrop for the exhibition. The United Nature Democracy future flag flies over the garden, weaving together the five future continents across which the audio stations—featuring narratives for the years 2040–2100—are scattered. The future flag draws on the “regenerative future ladder” developed by Christoph Thun-Hohenstein in his book “Zukunftsmutig” (2026). It was designed in four colors that represent a newly developed conceptual framework for regenerative transformation: Orange represents the foundation of facts (love of truth), green the level of empathy (love of nature, literacy, and transparency), yellow the systemic level (holism, circular culture, and imagination & creativity), and turquoise the level of realization (enthusiasm for cooperation, team intelligence with AI, and courage for the future). This orientation model provides a toolbox for shaping a regenerative future.

With the presence of the future flag, the garden is staged in a festive yet institutional manner. In addition to the audio contributions, the exhibition addresses the role of the arts and culture for the transition to a regenerative future. Two Austrian artists Friedensreich Hundertwasser and Lois Weinberger, who have shaped the relationship between nature, culture, and the human living environment through pioneering projects, are featured in the exhibition with selected works. Hundertwasser advocated for ecological architecture that integrates nature into the living environment. As a reference, his “Koru Flag for New Zealand” from 1983—which symbolizes, among other things, peace with nature—flies in the garden. Lois Weinberger’s garden, which was laid out some 30 years ago, still manages without human intervention (irrigation, plant care) to this day and impressively demonstrates nature’s capacity for adaptation and regeneration.

The exhibition highlights how Gen Z’s life perspective 2100 requires visionary decisions already within the next years to address the major challenges of the future. The better and faster we succeed in this, the more strongly and sooner all generations will benefit. For society and the economy, this opens up the most exciting chapter of creativity and innovation of the century. The Impulse Exhibition UNITED NATURE DEMOCRACY: Bold Visions of the Future for 2040–2100 explains why.

Information:
Impulse Exhibition in the museum garden of the Museum Niederösterreich, St. Pölten
Exhibition dates: October 9, 2026 – May 16, 2027
Intergenerational Tour: October 15, 2026, 9:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Additional events are being planned.

Future Platform Regenerativa: www.regenerativa.eu/home-en
Museum Niederösterreich: www.museumnoe.at/en

If you have any questions, please contact us at office@regenerativa.eu