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2026
Report
Title
The Knowledge of our Civilization in 2040
Title Supplement
Workshop report
Abstract
The Knowledge of our Civilizations in 2040 - a foresight workshop hosted by the Foresight Team of the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISI - took place on 20-21 November 2025 at the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities, as part of the project Eye of Europe.
At the heart of the two-day workshop was the open question of how future civilizations might define, create, harness, value, share, embed and apply knowledge. The workshop’s aim was to explore both conceivable and desirable alternative futures for the knowledge of our civilization in Europe by the year 2040 by letting participants explore the theme of the knowledge of our civilization through a facilitated process consisting of three main stages.
Across four working groups, participants started off by identifying different key domains of trouble in the current state of knowledge, with the notion of trouble being interpreted in a positive way as an area of investigation and exploration where things are in deep flux.
To delve into these areas of trouble, participants then applied the Causal Layered Analysis (CLA) framework twice: first, to critically examine the present by unpacking common narratives, systemic structures, shared worldviews and deep cultural metaphors; and then again, in a creative turn, to imagine desirable alternative futures. This second phase involved reconstructing alternative metaphors, beliefs, and systemic designs, eventually boiling down to a transformed litany.
At the heart of the two-day workshop was the open question of how future civilizations might define, create, harness, value, share, embed and apply knowledge. The workshop’s aim was to explore both conceivable and desirable alternative futures for the knowledge of our civilization in Europe by the year 2040 by letting participants explore the theme of the knowledge of our civilization through a facilitated process consisting of three main stages.
Across four working groups, participants started off by identifying different key domains of trouble in the current state of knowledge, with the notion of trouble being interpreted in a positive way as an area of investigation and exploration where things are in deep flux.
To delve into these areas of trouble, participants then applied the Causal Layered Analysis (CLA) framework twice: first, to critically examine the present by unpacking common narratives, systemic structures, shared worldviews and deep cultural metaphors; and then again, in a creative turn, to imagine desirable alternative futures. This second phase involved reconstructing alternative metaphors, beliefs, and systemic designs, eventually boiling down to a transformed litany.
Author(s)
