"Sustainable consumption behaviour will continue to be embraced merely by a dedicated minority for as long as the wrong incentives are provided and structures fail to support it."
Council initiates dialogue to discuss concrete visions for Germany’s future
Across the globe, upheaval and transformations are taking place today at an ever-faster rate and on an increasing scale. They affect all aspects of politics, society and the economy of individual states as well as their relations with one another. Seeing this transformation through to a sustainable society requires guiding principles and long-term thinking. For many, and young people in particular, the year 2050 is still a very distant future. Yet, the next 40 years will see these young people evolve in their personal lives and professional careers, enter into partnerships and raise families and live in communities. Using its Dialoge_Zukunft_Vision2050 project as a knowledge and generation bridge, the German Council for Sustainable Development is aiming to reach out to this generation and learn about their perceptions and visions of life in the future.
Report on the “Visionen 2050. Dialoge Zukunft Made in Germany” project
Launched in 2010, the project began with an envisioning test phase. At the request of RNE, 33 societal players wrote down their visions of life in the year 2050. These visions as well as analyses and appraisals of the topic can be found in the "Visionen 2050. Dialoge Zukunft Made in Germany" report (PDF, 9321 KB, in German).
The Dialoge_Zukunft_Vision2050 project
The report provides valuable input for the Dialoge_Zukunft_Vision2050 project which was to follow and has since begun, and which culminated in a conference (in German) at the end of March 2011 (photos).
The German Council for Sustainable Development has asked decision-makers from civil society and the political and business communities known to be credible advocates of sustainable development to nominate young participants under the age of 27. Over the next few weeks, these young people will examine and discuss – both online and subsequently during a conference – their topics for a sustainable future, the topics addressed in the report, and ultimately their own visions. The outcomes of the dialogue will be presented at the 11th Annual Conference of the German Council for Sustainable Development to be held on 20th June 2011. The dialogue's results are summarized in the report "Dialoge Zukunft Vision 2050. Dialoge Zukunft „Made in Germany“. Band 2" (PDF, 2489 KB, in German).
The RNE project is, in part, in response to the criticism expressed by a team of international experts who, in their Peer Review 2009, urgently recommended that the lack of an overarching vision of sustainability and guiding principles for the future be addressed.
In welche Zukunft gehen die heute Jungen? Wird sich ihre Welt zum Guten entwickeln oder zu einem unbewohnbaren Ort werden? Was verbinden Menschen unter 27 Jahre mit dem Zeithorizont 2050 – dem Jahr, in dem viele von ihnen das heute gültige Rentenalter erreichen werden? Teilnehmerinnen und Teilnehmer des RNE-Projekts „Dialoge Zukunft Vision2050“ gehen diesen Fragen in einem Kurzfilm nach. Sie machen einen Zeitsprung in das Jahr ihrer Visionen, das Jahr 2050, und blicken zurück auf das, was sich seit heute verändert hat. Der Film entstand im Auftrag des Rates für Nachhaltige Entwicklung.
