Technische Universität Berlin

Present Futures Forum

The Present Futures Forum Berlin | Shaping responsible futures through integrative science and technology research provides a platform for networking, mutual reflection and project development. The aim is to work together at the interface between the humanities, social, technical and natural sciences and to develop each other in a reflective manner. Questions about major social transformations, such as those resulting from the use of intelligent systems in the world of work and everyday life, the change in knowledge dynamics as a result of digitization or the shift in values ​​in product development in response to the climate crisis, can only be solved in their complexity through interdisciplinary cooperation. At the same time, the close exchange across disciplinary boundaries allows for method reflection and criticism. This offers additional innovation potential for a targeted method transfer, who can react to new challenges. Universities represent a central place to actively help shape transformation processes - that is, to drive them forward, but at the same time to understand them under their socio-political framework and in their cultural context in order to accompany them responsibly.

The Berlin approach is characterized by the fact that, in addition to traditional accompanying research in the humanities and social sciences, it strives to develop joint reflective research between the humanities and social sciences and the natural and technological sciences, beyond the natural and technical sciences. The reflection and the discourse with the various scientific disciplines helps to penetrate and develop one's own discipline better. Only in this way, according to the working hypothesis of the forum, can the respective disciplinary strengths develop fully in close cooperation and in open exchange with one another in order to react to current social challenges.

The forum would like to create a meeting and discourse space in the field of science and technology research for the subject areas and their young academics in order to bring representatives of the humanities and social science disciplines into an exchange with colleagues from the natural and technical sciences. The Present Futures Forum Berlin provides low-threshold networking opportunities for this purpose - for example through bundled, thematic short presentations, interdisciplinary teaching cooperation or workshops for the thematic groups. In this way, a structural environment is created that accompanies research and promotes interaction, communication and exchange in order to become the initiator and incubator of (preparatory) projects. In a twofold function, the forum becomes a window.