From climate change and global migration to the erosion of liberal democracies and institutions in the West: many signposts point in a frightening direction. But the future is not fixed. In order to try and shape it, we need both a sober and sceptical view and the passion and belief that we can make a difference.
In the view of organic pioneer and sustainability expert Werner Lampert, we have clearly reached a turning point. No one today can estimate the consequences of global warming of 3 to 4 degrees. In addition, we are facing completely new ways of life: "We will have completely different political relationships, social conditions and forms of production in the future." What our society needs in order to remain sustainable is resilience - the ability to deal with adverse circumstances and situations. But what framework conditions are required for this? And which specific initiatives will lead to the goal? Eleven thought leaders from the humanities, social sciences and natural sciences discussed these issues with host Werner Lampert at the second Langenlois Sustainability Forum.
List of participants
What we lack is a narrative of hope
"To counteract the uncertainty of the future, we need a narrative of hope. This must be based on a solid foundation - and this can only be achieved if very drastic economic, social and political changes take place."
Philipp Blom, writer and historian, Vienna/Austria
A grand narrative unites environmental and social movements
"A new, grand narrative creates a framework and a perspective that brings together global networks with local grassroots activists. This allows movements that are over 100 years old, such as feminism, to be combined with young resistance such as civil disobedience against coal."
Daniel Boese, Media Spokesman Avaaz.org, Hamburg/Germany
There is a lack of a long-term view
"You get a completely different economic approach if you think long-term than if you think short-term. Natural capital - such as soil fertility - follows completely different laws."
Willi Bründlmayer, winegrower, Langenlois/Austria
The sense of unity creates vitality
"Resilient people are those who are confident that problems contain solutions. He masters crises by drawing on personal and socially mediated resources. They use these as an opportunity for development. Resilience cannot be reduced to individual characteristics."
Henning Elsner, physician and psychosomatist, Lahnstein/Germany
We need to strengthen global governance
"The main problem we are dealing with - climate change and sustainability - is a global problem. It cannot be tackled within the framework of nation states. We also need new institutions for global governance."
Carlos Fraenkel, philosopher, Montreal/Canada
Our means of payment is appreciation
"The vast majority of projects fail because of interpersonal challenges. Peace work starts with myself, in my bedroom, in my family, in my garden, in my neighborhood. In this sense: Feel global, act local for universal peace!"
Bastiaan Frich, activist Urban Agriculture Network Basel, Basel/Switzerland
Democracy 2.0 is migrant, global, regional
"The mediation between a political representation organized by the nation state and an increasingly heterogeneous, post-national society has entered a crisis. The problems facing contemporary politics no longer appear to be solvable at the level of nation states."
Eva Horn, literary scholar, Vienna/Austria
Fair conditions are a key to cooperation
"For me, it's an opportunity to think in terms of cooperation models and dynamics. People cooperate when they experience the system as fair. They cooperate when the goal makes sense and is coherent with their own goals."
Angela Kallhoff, ethicist, Vienna/Austria
Resilience only arises from stability
"We have to assume that in 30, 40, 50 years, the global food supply will no longer function. That's why the most important thing in our daily work is to create resilience. This brings stability to the region and creates the basis for food sovereignty."
Werner Lampert, organic pioneer and sustainability expert, Vienna/Austria
Democracies need institutions for sustainable change
"Democratic societies lack institutions that could shape and steer a transformation process towards sustainability - in the sense of the evolutionary concept of reflexive and adaptive governance."
Claudia Pahl-Wostl, Professor of Resource Management, Osnabrück/Germany
Art is conducive to the idea of sustainability
"I assume that art is something that is conducive to the idea of sustainability. If I now say that our mentality has to change, our pattern of action has to change, our political decisions have to change, then art is something that is good for this."
Kathrin Röggla, writer, Berlin/Germany
A new modernity requires images of the future
"A new social movement is missing two elements: We need a socio-political framework that relates to the individual and institutional conditions of action and civilizational standards of modern societies and their preservation. And an image of the future that allows a new modernity to appear in a different way than with the characteristics of renunciation."
Harald Welzer, sociologist and social psychologist, Berlin/Germany
Strong movements need a vision for the future
In view of the overwhelming facts about climate change and the feeling of despair, many people have fallen into a state of paralysis. According to sociologist Harald Welzer and author Kathrin Röggla, one thing is missing above all else in order to overcome this: a vision of the future. The FUTURZWEI Foundation 's "Stories of Success" by Harald Welzer paints an excellent picture of this. It presents people and projects that are already actively working towards a more sustainable world - from a recycling store to an ecological children's clothing exchange to a meeting café.
Cooperation as a boost for resilience
But how do we make the step from projects to broad-based engagement, how do we mobilize even more people? Ethicist Angela Kallhoff's answer is to link climate and sustainability issues to people's needs. "We cooperate when we experience a system as fair. We cooperate when the goal makes sense and is coherent with our own goals," explains Kallhoff. This is the only way to move away from voluntary renunciation in the consumer society towards a new, more sustainable self-image of a "good life".
One concrete approach is the "joint action" model. This involves different people and groups working towards a common goal, for example in relation to the use of natural resources, which strengthens forms of cooperation.
The Urban Agriculture Network Basel has been successfully implementing this type of approach since 2010: around 60 sustainable projects are run under the umbrella of the local, integral grassroots movement.
Daniel Boese provides another successful example with the international citizens' movement Avaaz. Avaaz networks people all over the world who are willing to take action and wants to "get the sustainability movement out of the ghetto of science and politics - and bring it directly into debates." A great deal of creativity is required here to keep coming up with new actions and forms. This is the only way to reach and mobilize people - as was the case for the largest global climate demo: at the end of September 2014, hundreds of thousands took to the streets in New York and over 2,000 other locations. We know the sequel and in 2015, before the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris, the signal to politicians around the world was clear: we are ready. Now it's your turn!
Caring for public goods together
"There has to be a feeling of being part of a common project," Welzer is also convinced of this. For doctor and psychosomatics specialist Henning Elsner, the resulting "sense of unity" is particularly important: "We have to ask ourselves what factors promote resilience and what strengthens our coherence."
People need to re-establish a relationship with nature and thus the need to use resources conscientiously. An important key to this are spaces in which an attractive way of life can be experienced. Spaces that people use together and where participation takes place - such as in community gardens.
Sharing and communal use are characteristic of such life models. This could also lead to a different understanding of economic activity: in this context, ethicist Angela Kallhoff presents the so-called "gift economy". Here, people share goods and services with each other without expecting anything in return. "In these new forms of economic activity, participation yields something for everyone - on the basis of clearly defined rules," emphasizes Kallhoff.
Sustainable change needs new approaches and clear goals
Finally, ecologist Claudia Pahl-Wostl points to another key factor for sustainable societies: they need institutions that can shape and steer the path to sustainability. It is important to link these with binding goals.
This could be implemented by means of "reflexive governance", where representative forums are created with the participation of various social groups. These would discuss and monitor progress and compliance with the treaty.
As different as the approaches and views on resilience may have been in the various scientific disciplines at the second Sustainability Forum in Langenlois, everyone agreed on one thing:
We need new visions and a narrative of hope that makes us want to take the future back into our own hands and actively shape the world!
