The Transformation Lounge deals with the phenomenon of change and transformation and represents an effort to create a space in which two supposedly independent worlds can be represented, and despite their opposing views and objectives, can identify a middle ground to their mutual benefit. The space is designed to stimulate conversation about the values demanded by a more sustainable future with the final goal of redefining them and finding accessible ways of communicating them. At the festival itself, the *Transformation Lounge* constitutes a place where the discussion, previously outlined by the *Festival University*, is actively continued in public. It deals both practically and theoretically with processes of transformation, making them tangible in a variety of prototypes and methods.
The automobile manufacturer BMW is actively involved as a partner in the current discussions of the *Festival University* and together with Supersense, a Viennese experimental laboratory for sensory perception and the exploration of the interface between analog and digital, a space for different experiences has been created in which different worlds enter into an open dialogue.
Brantner Green Solutions is an Austrian waste management company that, together with Ars Electronica, is launching an attempt to collect, recycle and utilize the waste generated over the course of the festival, in the spirit of circular economy.
AfB – social und green IT focuses on the question, of how people and things outside of the “normal” can be integrated into new, sustainable value chains and in doing so, creates an eco-social project with a commercial focus.
Linz AG is a long-standing partner of the Ars Electronica Festival and provides for its sustainable foundation and in addition supplies the modern and eco-friendly public transportation network for the entire city of Linz.
Bellaflora – of value and beneficial organisms. A herbary with hundreds of herbs transforms the lounge into a place full of quality of life and adorns itself with ancient knowledge about making plants and herbs useful.
