Rethinking education: Why our education metaverse initiative must be more than just technology

What does it even mean today to be “German”, “European” – or “free”? In a world in which global interdependence, technological acceleration and economic power structures permeate all areas of life, this question is becoming increasingly difficult to answer. Nation states are losing influence, while capital, algorithms and global markets are creating new realities. But freedom – genuine, self-determined freedom – requires more than economic opportunities or access to technology. It needs awareness. It needs education.

Our current educational landscape still produces many skilled workers, but too few free spirits. It trains adaptation – but hardly any resilience. It feeds knowledge but hardly trains judgment. If technologies and information increasingly determine how we think, act and live, then traditional knowledge is no longer enough. Then we need global literacy: understanding how structures exert influence. Understanding how information manipulates. Understanding the ethical questions that every technological development raises. Understanding who makes decisions and who is affected.

In the context of our education metaverse initiative, a historic opportunity is emerging: not just to build a few digital learning worlds, but a new educational reality that carries the following principles in its DNA: technology serves people, not the other way around. Education means asking questions – not just learning answers. Critical thinking becomes a compulsory subject. Diversity is an asset, not a threat. Transparency creates trust. Learning never ends – and begins for everyone. Ethics is not an appendage, but the backbone.

A text has emerged from this spirit – it is a call, a framework, perhaps even the start of a movement: the manifesto for the education metaverse. It outlines a vision of the future of education in which technology does not dominate, but supports, and in which freedom, self-reflection and critical thinking retain their firm place.

But this manifesto must not just appear on a website. It must be lived, integrated and represented: in every module, in every training course for teachers, in every contract with technology partners, in every political conversation about the future of education. Because if we want to fill AI, platforms and capital power with humanity, then we need an education that does not obey – but liberates.

The future is open. But it won’t get better by itself. It will be better if we reshape it together – with courage, understanding and a clear awareness: Knowledge is power. But only critical knowledge protects against the abuse of power.

Do you want to support this vision? Then share this manifesto. Talk to your network. Contribute your ideas to the education metaverse. Because we don’t just need technology – we need people who can use it wisely, freely and responsibly.

You can find the full manifesto of the education metaverse here: https://foundationmetaverse.eu/bildungsmetaverse-manifest-2025