On July 3rd, the 3rd annual symposium of the Oxford Berlin Research Partnership convened. This year, the focus was on futures, on exploring how we can collectively develop knowledge to respond to our challenges today, and build better lives tomorrow. Across a variety of disciplines, ranging from infectious disease control to seventeenth-century literature, academics sat down in the Humboldt Forum. Together, they explored how their work can be leveraged to create new ways of approaching the uncertain times we live in.

From these diverse discussions, a few key themes emerged for how we, as people concerned with our societies’ futures, can best respond to the challenges in front of us.

The first important theme that emerged from the discussions was the need for collaboration. It deepens the knowledge we generate, and brings more perspectives into our discussions. The Global Health panel stressed the need to involve partners around the world, as local knowledge creates far more effective responses to the different geographic manifestations of our shared challenges. Living in a highly interconnected world, with complex systems, during the panel on energy security, Professor Junne added that even experts often hold limited knowledge. In order to provide solutions for issues with many stakeholders, such as the green energy transition, we need to work together.

 

When discussing the development of future research approaches in sub-Saharan Africa, on the Global Health panel, Professor Aryeetey also spoke about how partnerships can empower more actors, by “moving us from thinking that others ought to do it, to how we can do it ourselves.” And ultimately, when facing our 21st-century crises, Dr. Okwor aptly said: “We must all act together to defeat our common enemy.”

Alongside the need to collaborate amongst academic partners, the symposium also served as a vivid reminder of the need to engage the broader public. Professor Betts spoke about the necessity of reframing our narratives around migration. The far-right and populists have conquered this discursive space and are making our democratic societies less safe and inclusive for the most vulnerable.

 

He called for the creation of a playbook for responding to emergent trends, using academic knowledge to tackle real-world problems. Still, to be able to implement evidence-based narratives and solutions, the public needs to be brought on board. Dr. Okwor resoundingly reminded us of this as well, with a story from Nigeria, where public infection control measures were most effective when the audience was given shared ownership over the process, and raised from a passenger to a participant.

The final key theme that emerged from the symposium was how our future is yet unknown. One observer at the Future of Democracy panel quipped that listening to our democratic and geopolitical trends had, at times, made them feel like a spectator at a funeral. Of course that is a natural sentiment when seeing our state of affairs. At the same time, being a conference on the future, the discussions did not remain on this level, focusing only on today’s problems. Whilst acknowledging the urgency of our contemporary challenges, the panels resoundingly moved to exploring how we can forge ways forward.

 

Philipp Misselwitz’s keynote speech on how we can build for a changing world engaged this task head-on. A major source of growing carbon emissions globally is the construction sector. At the same time, with migrating populations and increasing urbanisation, there is constant demand for new buildings. His talk explored how new technological innovations, like bricks made from waste, can help decarbonise our construction processes and cater to evolving human needs in a more sustainable fashion. At the same time, technology alone is not the solution, and innovatively recycling and re-using the resources at our disposal is important too. Whilst the obstacles ahead are daunting, concerted action improves our odds of success.

 

Finally, as the discussion on Utopias reminded us, our perception of the world is crucial for shaping how we interact with it, and ultimately, what outcomes are possible. By moving our focus beyond the problem, and exploring solutions and alternative futures, we can expand the scope of the possible.

 

Discussion is only the first step

I end with a thought from the youth media project I am working on, Next Era. Our mission is to respond to the proliferation of anxious and regressive narratives, and collectively explore how we can build brighter futures for young people today. With this lens I listened to the panels, seeking to hear how we can create more optimistic and future-oriented discourses in society.

 

And the symposium provided many vivid responses to today’s pervasive pessimistic thinking. From concrete solutions to climate change, to utopian thought experiments for re-imagining our societies, the panels firmly fixed their gaze on the challenges we need to overcome, and the alternatives we can work towards.

 

Ultimately, these conversations should only be the first step. To spark true change, the democratic public must be engaged, and innovative ideas must be converted into real action. But as Professor Betts said; “the future is not deterministic.” That reminds us that the story of our time has not been written yet. And if there is one sentiment that prevailed from the symposium, it is that our actions, collectively, will determine what the future will be.