The science communication pursued with science outreach and marketing is relevant in two ways: On the one hand, it makes an important contribution to strengthening the scientific foundations at the IZT and in Berlin, as well as to the IZT's competitiveness within the national and international scientific community. On the other hand, it is also about making relevant results from the Institute's research and design projects accessible to a broad public and intensifying the transfer of knowledge and technology to business, politics, science and civil society.

The technological boost triggered by the pandemic conditions continues to have an impact on modern communication channels. Although digital formats are efficient, environmentally friendly and save time and costs, they do not offer a complete replacement for face-to-face communication. They are unable to create social glue, i.e. replace non-verbal communication, informal dialogue and spontaneity. It is therefore necessary to strike a new balance between the respective advantages of virtual and face-to-face communication and, depending on the specific communication objectives and circumstances, to decide how virtual or face-to-face communication should be organised in order to optimally reach the relevant target groups. In order for this to succeed and to ensure an efficient exchange between science and society, to make it attractive and thus reach people in the long term, the special aspects of face-to-face communication must be intelligently combined with digital formats. Based on previous experience, the IZT has experimented with various future-orientated and creative event formats and developed its own format or adapted an existing one accordingly.

Hybrid formats for science communication: "Discovering Berlin's futures"

In the first implementation phase of the new hybrid communication format "Discovering Berlin's Futures", small teams of junior researchers, students and (school) interns undertook content-focused exploration tours in 2022 based on images of the future of Berlin Cathedral (dating from around 1900), the United Nations Square formerly known as Leninplatz (1960s) and Hackescher Markt (2021). The aim was to develop possible (new) visions of the future directly on site. The teams visited the relevant locations independently of each other and photographed them - inspired by the existing images of the future - from the same perspective if possible with the help of a messenger and sketched their ideas directly into the photos. In the next step, these were concretised and further processed. At the IZT Future Day, the experiences and results were discussed with the IZT's scientists and partners. In particular, the need for a digital network of experts was identified, which is available during the "site visit" and can be contacted directly via Messenger if questions arise, for example regarding feasibility or framework conditions. These results are to be taken up and further developed in a subsequent phase.

Hybrid formats IZT "Lunchtalk" series

The new hybrid form of the science communication series "IZT Lunchtalks" enabled a much broader range of topics on the one hand and a direct, intensive exchange between IZT employees across research fields in the context of a joint future-oriented "Big Picture" on the other. The internal and external impulses generated were taken up directly by the teams from the various research fields, discussed intensively, reflected upon and made directly productive for scientific work. The topics included in particular "The Power of Platforms" (Michael Seemann), "Future and Democracy" (Paulina Fröhlich), "Science Fiction & Transmedia Storytelling" (Dan Hassler-Forest), "Future and Migration" (Felicitas Hillmann), "Future and Geopolitics" (Ralph Thiele).