Abstract

In view of our highly threatened world - or rather humanity - the following remarks are an attempt to answer the existential questions from the perspective of scientific futurology and future design: How does humanity remain fit for the future in the 21st century and what contribution can and should the new Germany make to this after the fall of the Berlin Wall? Are we in a position to mobilise special forces from the great fortune of a reunited open Germany in order to make a weighty contribution to the future viability of the community of nations? The following outline is based on the findings of modern futurology as well as observations and experiences from politics, business and civil society. In the first part, the major challenges and megatrends that will shape developments in the 21st century are presented. The second part deals with the answers that politics and business usually give today. A critical analysis shows that these are completely inadequate in view of the demands made by our highly complex modern industrial and scientific societies. Because worldwide - and so also in Germany - the long-outdated ideas of the past still dominate the solution to today's and tomorrow's challenges. First and foremost, the belief in the all-encompassing technical solution competence and feasibility and the achievement of progress and prosperity through economic growth dominates. Not only decision-makers in politics and business are stuck in these old development categories, but also most opinion leaders in science and education persist in old ways of thinking and behaving that lead to the well-known short-term and short-sighted patterns of reaction and action. ALBERT EINSTEIN has rightly emphasised time and again that the problems of the future cannot be solved and mastered with the spirit and means of the past. This is why the third part of this outline is devoted to new concepts of thought and action for possible and desirable future perspectives ("futures") based on sustainable world development and the possibilities and opportunities for Germany to play a weighty role in this.

Authors

Behrendt, Siegfried; Kreibich, Rolf

Fields of research

Resources, economies and resilience