On National Future Day on 10 November, no fewer than 275 school children gained fascinating insights into various fields of work covered by ZHAW programmes.

Like many other companies and organisations across the country, the ZHAW opened its doors to the children, grandchildren and godchildren of ZHAW staff and students, offering exciting programmes in Wädenswil, Winterthur and Zurich. Several institutes and centres held interactive workshops in the morning. Some children were able to visit a recording studio and produce their very own educational video, while others took a seat in an interpreting booth and translated a High German text into Swiss German. Other children got to set up a computer-controlled plant watering system or determined the pH value of different liquids. They experienced surprises in the chemistry lab or tried their hand at a driving simulator. Some of the kids were able to “borrow” a person with a visual impairment from a living library and learn about their daily life. Other children got to jump and move about as part of a movement-based computer game, which then showed them the muscles they had used. In the afternoon, the children joined their parents or relatives at their various workplaces.

Finding out about jobs and sparking interest

National Future Day takes place every year in November. The initiative enables boys and girls in 5th, 6th or 7th grade to learn out about fields of work that are atypical for their gender and, ideally, help them figure out their dream education.