Only they can decide whether to choose as their life goal either the highest achievable standard of living or an uncorrupt value system.  From Prague, the FUTURAMA project will go to students in Bratislava, Budapest, Krakow and Berlin.

The FUTURAMA project focuses on the totalitarian Communist past of the countries which are now members of the European Union and how it has influenced creating European identity. Through a hands-on format, the students will get to know various aspects of life under a totalitarian regime and be able to make a direct comparison with the present time. “First the students will watch short documentary films from the series Wonderful Years Without the Curtain in which the high school students question young Czech individuals who spent one half of their lives under Communism and the other half under democracy. The film will be followed by a discussion and the hands-on game COM-COM, “  Katerina Riley from Opona explains the course of the project in schools.

In the COM-COM game or Totalitarian Times in a Nutshell, the players will be divided into five groups - students, potential emigrants, artists, scientists and secret police agents (or their counterparts in other countries). In their new role, they will walk through seven rounds simulating situations common under totalitarian regimes, such as cooperating with the secret police, participating in organized forms of leisure, experiencing limited freedom of expression and movement,  enduring a shortage of goods or undergoing constant pressure to adapt to the value system of the official political doctrine.

“The game refers to the Totalitarian Simulator project and is designed as an interactive hands-on space simulating life between the years 1948 – 1989. The students will be able to get a close look at the scale model of the Totalitarian Simulator which was designed by renowned Czech artists. The model is embellished with comments describing the fundamental attributes of living in the East bloc for the students,” adds Katerina Riley.

The uniqueness of FUTURAMA is both in its hands-on and its international character which enables us to compare the differences between the recent past and the present of teenagers in neighboring countries which are now members of the European Union.  “It will be interesting to see how the opinions and approaches of the children differ and also what they have in common. We’d like to use the information in both:  our future international projects in which the students from various countries would meet as well as in the Totalitarian Simulator, as there are no plans for a similar project in other countries,” Riley explains Opona’s motivation to realize international projects.

Unlike the previous projects done by Opona, FUTURAMA focuses more on the present, directly comparing the differences of living under democracy and totalitarianism. Thus, apart from its goal of educating the public through an open approach to the Communist past, the project reflects the present direction of Opona’s activities which is to uphold the principals and importance of civic dialogue.

FUTURAMA is funded by the Community action programme „Europe for Citizens“ and is offered to schools free of charge.