From April to July 2023, some two dozen European students will crisscross the Midwest in a retrofitted school bus featuring two mobile exhibits. The non-profit, educational “BUS-eum” will bring regional history alive and engage the public in discussions, with related films, presentations, and publications. This year, an all-new exhibit focuses on environmental shifts and extremes facing all of us today: How will we deal with a changing climate, while addressing such challenges locally?

The main exhibit is inside a retrofitted school bus turned into a museum, which has toured the Midwest since 2003 with relevant but often overlooked aspects of history and culture. This mobile format has made topics accessible to audiences in a variety of settings and hundreds of communities across the region.

The new project focuses on the environmental and societal challenges of climate change, under the title “Heartland’s Future: How Might We Live Together on a Changing Planet?” It aims to expand popular awareness about possible responses to climate change by focusing on communal discourse and less on passive education.

Students from the University of Erfurt, Thuringia as well as American students and other volunteers will accompany the BUS-eum, tasked to broaden curbside discussions and offer different perspectives on known and lesser known subjects. In this way, we hope to find common ground on this often-times divisive subject by providing new insights and interactive presentations about possible, simple and cost-effective solutions.