Dear Participant, Dear Parent,
We would like to ask you (your child) to take part in a scientific study. This information sheet provides you
with all essential details about the study.
Up to 700 participants may be included in the project.
The study has been planned by the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen–Nürnberg and is
conducted in cooperation with the Birmingham Institute for Sustainability and Climate Action at
the University of Birmingham.
It is funded through public grants provided by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and the
German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).
The study has been reviewed by an independent ethics committee. During its evaluation, no
objections were raised against conducting the study.
Participation in this study is voluntary. If you do not wish to participate, or if you decide to
withdraw your consent at a later point, you will experience no disadvantages.
Please read this information carefully.
Why is this study being conducted?
Future visions shape the actions we take today. In the context of the climate crisis, it is
therefore essential to identify possible pathways for adaptation and mitigation and to
strengthen positive narratives. This study aims to explore how young people imagine the
future, particularly in relation to water.
Creative writing encourages imagination and can in turn influence behaviour. Through an
English-language creative writing competition, we collect insights into young people’s visions of
the future.
The texts are anonymised and compiled into a corpus (collection of texts). This does not allow
any conclusions to be drawn about personal information. The corpus will be made permanently
available for research purposes. The anonymised text data will be archived in accordance with
scientific standards and used for future research without any personal references being
possible. This means that the texts will not be freely accessible on the internet. We also do not
claim any intellectual property rights to the stories.
How is the study conducted?
Until 31 December 2026, you can submit a story you have written yourself on the theme of
‘Our Future, Our Water, Our Stories’. This will then be evaluated by a jury. Finally, an award
ceremony will take place.
Is there any personal benefit to participating in the study?
Participation in the writing competition also involves an evaluation of the stories by a jury,
followed by an award ceremony. The three best stories will be honoured, taking into account
language proficiency. The jury is composed of independent authors.
What are the Risks associated with participating in the study?
Apart from data protection risks, participation in the study does not involve any risks. More
information can be found under ‘Information on data protection’.
What is expected of the participants?
You are expected to write an original, non-plagiarised story in English. The use of AI is expressly
prohibited.
Information on data protection
Prof. Dr. Michaela Mahlberg is responsible for data processing in this study.
The legal basis for processing your data or your child’s data is your personal consent (Art.
6(1)(a), Art. 9(2)(a) GDPR). The data will be treated confidentially at all times.
The data will be collected exclusively for the purpose of this study and will only be used within
the scope of this study.
The data also includes personally identifiable information such as name, age group and gender.
All data that could directly identify you or your child, e.g. name or age group, will be replaced
by an identification code (pseudonymised). This makes it almost impossible for unauthorised
persons to identify you and/or your child.
The data will be stored at Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg and deleted six
months after the end of the study.
We do not transfer the collected data to other institutions in Germany, the EU, or to a third
country outside the EU or to an international organisation.
Consent to the processing of your data or your child’s data is voluntary. You can revoke your
consent at any time without giving reasons and without any disadvantages for you. After that,
no more data will be collected. This does not affect the lawfulness of the processing carried out
on the basis of the consent until revocation.
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In the event of revocation, you may request the deletion of the data collected. If you agree to
this at the time of your revocation, the data may continue to be used in anonymised form
(without being assigned to a specific person).
You have the right to obtain information about the data concerning you or your child, including
in the form of a free copy. In addition, you may request the correction, blocking, restriction of
processing or deletion of the data and, if necessary, its transfer.
In such cases, please contact:
Andreas Wagner, andreas.w.wagner@fau.de
If you have any questions regarding data protection, please contact the data protection officer:
Klaus Hoogestraat,
Mail: datenschutzbeauftragter@fau.de
Kommentiert [AW1]: Nach Rückmledung der Stelle für
Datenschutz der FAU ist es ausreichend Herr Klaus
Hoogestraat hier anzugeben.
You have the right to lodge a complaint with any data protection supervisory authority. A list of
supervisory authorities in Germany can be found at:
https://www.bfdi.bund.de/DE/Infothek/Anschriften_Links/anschriften_links-node.html
You can contact your local supervisory authority at:
Bayerischer Landesbeauftragter für den Datenschutz
Postanschrift: Postfach 22 12 19, 80502 München
Hausanschrift: Wagmüllerstraße 18, 80538 München
E-Mail: poststelle@datenschutz-bayern.de