Landwende: How do we want to live in the future?

What could fairer and more sustainable land use look like in the future and how can we achieve this transition? To get to the bottom of these questions, 29 young adults met at the Leopoldina in Halle (Saale) in April 2024 for the future workshop "Landwende: How do we want to live?". Under the scientific leadership of Leopoldina member Katrin Böhning-Gaese, biodiversity researcher and Scientific Director of the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), they discussed the different needs that the trilemma of biodiversity conservation, climate protection and food sovereignty places on land as a resource. It quickly became clear that the trilemma is actually a multi-dilemma. This meant that aspects of ethics, psychology, economics, politics and law also had to be considered when developing their vision of the future.

The visioning process was designed and moderated by the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research (ISI). The participants received expert support from scientists who accompanied the workshop during the first two days with their expertise in the relevant disciplines.

The result is a vision that shows what a liveable, sustainable district could look like in 2070. It sheds light on areas such as resource utilisation, economy & cycles, education & supply or social coexistence & justice. Multifunctional landscapes, ecological agriculture and nature-friendly forestry play just as much a role as renewable energy supply, sustainable mobility and innovative construction. Social participation and open, science-based communication are always the prerequisites for fair opinion-forming, constructive controversy and joint solutions.

The process and the results of the five-day future workshop were recorded in a short documentary and a graphic novel and presented and discussed in Berlin on 15 October 2024.