A scientific and creative exploration of new worlds
YOU ARE GOING ON A MISSION TO MARS.
Pupils (10-14 y.o.) from all over Austria are invited to join the S.P.A.C.E. PhotoVoice Challenge, part of the European Researchers’ Night (Horizon Europe – MSCA). Pupils explore their world through photography, reflection and storytelling, and answer one central question:
What would you take with you? What will you miss the most?
Imagining a new beginning on another planet, student teams capture what truly matters; in their personal life, their community, the world around them, and in their imagination. This is more than a competition. It is an opportunity to reflect, to choose, and to share perspectives with a wider audience. This time you are not being asked to be creative in a piece of paper, but on another planet. You are not asked to imagine everything. You are asked to choose. To look at your world carefully and decide what is meaningful enough to carry forward. Your answers will shape the world you imagine.
What is a photo voice method?
The Photo Voice method is a way for people to identify and document good practices and challenges that they meet in their daily life within their region by means of photography. It is a means to communicate about personal and community concerns, exposing social problems and igniting bottom-up social change. Needs and good practices gathered by the Photo Voice are a starting point for further discussion and developments.
📸 The Challenge
You are a researcher in a mission to space. You arrive in a place where everything is quiet. Have you heard that there are no noises in Space? No music, no birds... There is no culture yet, no houses, no streets, and no rules. It is empty. You are standing somewhere completely new, a place where nothing has been defined yet. There are no street names, no cars, no video games, and nothing that tells you how things should be. It is simply space, open and still. After some time, you look back.
Far away, you can see a small blue planet. It is floating in a vast dark space, held together by gravity. From this distance, you cannot see borders or conflicts. You do not notice the differences that usually feel important. You only see one planet. This may change how you think.
What would you take with you? What will you miss the most?
This time you are not being asked to be creative in a piece of paper, but on another planet.
Students work in small teams (3–6 pupils) and create:
One poster based on four images
Give your new planet a creative name.
Each image represents one SPACE:
How to join the competition
The competition is open to schools from Austria. Students must be between 10-14 years of age to participate. The participating teams must submit their challenge contribution in English or German (English preferred).
Find more information in our competition guidelines and in our collection of helpful resources to get started with your entry to the event.
