From 20-22 September 2010, Vienna will host an international conference “IMAGINE! Exploring radical visions for tomorrow's schools… and how to make them work”. It is being organised by OECD/CELE in co-operation with the Ministry for Education, Arts and Culture, Austria and Vienna University of Technology, and with the participation of the OECD Centre for Educational Research and Innovation (CERI). The conference will explore how innovative design solutions and financing and procurement strategies can address current and future challenges in educational policy and practice. It will also be informed by reflection on different major trends influencing education and scenarios for the future.

The conference will feature keynote speakers and panel discussions involving visionaries, change agents, policy makers, architects and planners; hands-on creative workshops; visits to educational facilities in the Vienna area; and a poster exhibition on “Visions for tomorrow's schools”.

Four themes will be addressed at the conference:

• Designing future learning environments: As decision makers identify the best way to manage resources to optimise the quality of their schools, classrooms and equipment, some school leaders and designers are questioning the use of and need for traditional, indeed any, learning spaces and furniture. Case studies will feature radical examples of existing schools, classrooms and equipment which could provide the prototypes for the learning environments of tomorrow.

• Educational spaces which meet the educational needs of future learners: How can a school constructed today most effectively serve the needs of learners in 50 years time? In some countries, the role of the school is increasingly one of a range of community services. Initiatives encouraging learners to create and re-create their own learning environments are providing new opportunities for designers, educators and communities to work together to create inspirational spaces for learning.

• Technologies for future learning environments: Information technologies hold the promise of transforming every aspect of our lives. But if we want to efficiently harness technologies to improve educational outcomes, policy makers need to start transforming dreams of a wireless, seamless connected world into a reality. Case studies will assess existing constraints to integration of technologies in schools and propose some radical visions and solutions to enable the promise of technology to fulfil its potential.

• Financing and procurement strategies of the future: In many countries, governments are relying increasingly on partnerships with the private sector to design, build, finance, operate and maintain schools. But what is the future of procurement if schools no longer exist or have been integrated into homes or virtual communities? Case studies on this theme will reflect upon existing procurement models and speculate on the types of models that might exist in the future.