The future cannot be saved with a "salto mortale" into the past. The fact that backward-looking ideologies with their focus on "Volk" (TN: people/nation), "Nation", and "Religion" have become so attractive is connected to the fact that many people have lost hope for a better future. The Giordano Bruno Foundation (gbs) aims to counteract this with its focus theme for this year.

Populists benefit from people's mutual distrust: from the fear of "the foreigners" who are perceived as a threat, the disorientation caused by social, technological, or economic changes, as well as the fear of catastrophes, wars, crime, and terror, which is additionally fueled by interested circles (such as Putin's "troll armies"). Added to this is the conviction, further reinforced by the Covid-19 crisis – that "the elites" have conspired to exploit and deceive "ordinary people."

Those who are trapped in this "apocalyptic matrix" see primarily the problems and evils of this world – and lose sight of the enormous progress our species has already been able to achieve in the course of cultural evolution. While we certainly do not live in the "best of all possible worlds," we do live under the freest and fairest conditions that humanity has been able to produce so far (even if there have been civilizational setbacks in the last 10 years due to war, Covid-19, climate change, and the rise of identitarian group ideologies). Europeans in particular are complaining today at a very high level, because they take many things for granted that are by no means self-evident in international and historical comparison. Anyone who wishes to dispute this should take a look at the world 100 years ago, which was still considerably darker than today's world.

With its focus theme "Go Future! Die offene Zukunft und ihre Freunde" ("Go Future! The Open Future and Its Friends"), the Giordano Bruno Foundation aims to direct attention toward productive solutions that we should advance, rather than freezing in fear because we are overwhelmed by the range of global problems. Ultimately, this is about regaining the "Zukunftsvertrauen" (trust in the future) that is of central importance for societal progress, as last year's Nobel laureate in economics Joel Mokyr, among others, has demonstrated in his research.

A better world is possible

Humanity – this is the core message of this year's focus theme – has, despite all the doomsaying, the potential to create freer, fairer, more intelligent, and more future-proof conditions than those we currently find. What this means, for example, in the field of ecology, is shown by the "Cradle to Cradle" (C2C) concept, which was developed by German chemist and gbs advisory board member Michael Braungart in collaboration with US-American architect William McDonough. With "Cradle to Cradle", we could overcome the still prevailing, short-sighted mode of production from the cradle of raw material extraction to the grave of the hazardous waste landfill and develop a socially, economically, and ecologically more intelligent "metabolism with nature."

C2C has long since arrived in practice and has found important supporters in politics and business both nationally and internationally. At the 10th International C2C Congress, taking place from September 17 to 18 in Berlin, around 1,000 participants and 80 speakers (including gbs members Michael Braungart, Monika Griefahn, and Michael Schmidt-Salomon) are once again expected. The gbs has supported the C2C NGO from the very beginning. For ultimately, humanity will only live up to its planetary responsibility in the "Anthropocene" (see focus theme 2024) if it not only reduces its "negative ecological footprint" but at the same time increases its "positive ecological footprint."

By developing more intelligent products that are not merely unproblematic but beneficial for the biosphere, we transform ourselves from "environmental polluters" into "environmental benefactors." In this way, the "futurological imperative" can also be realized, which Karl Marx formulated already a century and a half ago: Even a whole society, a nation, or even all simultaneously existing societies taken together, are not the owners of the globe. They are only its possessors, its usufructuaries, and, like boni patres familias, they must hand it down to succeeding generations in an improved condition.

A worldview on par with the times

This maxim can likely only be put into practice if we develop a worldview "on par with the times" – and this cannot be achieved by reverting to outdated concepts of "Volk", "Nation", and "Religion", which are frequently associated with irrational, anti-scientific ideas and anti-human-rights notions. In this context, it is alarming that such ideas, which many already considered to have been overcome, are now finding particular resonance precisely among the younger generation. The fowid survey 2025 came to the conclusion that worldview-related progressive, rational, and evidence-based attitudes are today more likely to be found among the older rather than the younger generation. Twenty years ago, when the Research Group on Worldviews in Germany (fowid) first published empirical research findings on this set of topics, the ratio was reversed.

Presumably, the effects of the increased engagement of religious or nationalist influencers on social platforms are already becoming visible here, as they transfer concepts of the American MAGA movement to German conditions. (In part, this is even happening with financial support from the Catholic Church; see the current ARD documentaries "Kreuzzug von rechts" (Crusade from the Right) and "Die hippen Missionare" (The Hip Missionaries)). How can this targeted manipulation of young people be countered? It will probably not be sufficient to merely criticize the grave misrepresentations in the propaganda channels – why should young people who believe they have found a reliable orientation in life trade their "hopeful illusions" for "bleak truths"? The gbs will therefore place increased emphasis this year on highlighting the emotionally positive aspects that are associated with a rational-enlightened, humanistic worldview.

This concerns not least the field of "spirituality," which is highly popular among the younger generation. In this context, the aim will be, among other things, to make clear through target-group-appropriate formats on social media that "spirituality should not mean lying oneself out of reality, but rather facing reality with unflinching honesty," says gbs board member Michael Schmidt-Salomon. "Those who accept this challenge quickly recognize that reality is by no means bleak and banal. Upon closer examination, it nourishes 'the sense and taste for the infinite' even better than any religious narrative of salvation. For science has not only 'disenchanted' the world, but has at the same time bestowed upon it a 'new enchantment' by opening our view to the infinite expanses of a universe that is far more mysterious than any founder of a religion could have imagined."

A desirable future

In addition to the focus on productive approaches to solutions (such as C2C) and the emphasis on the emotionally positive aspects of a contemporary worldview, a range of further future-relevant questions are to be addressed within the framework of the focus theme. One topic that generates fears among many people, although it also offers enormous opportunities, is the use of "Artificial Intelligence" (AI). This will be the subject of the Kortizes Symposium "Der Geist in der Maschine" (The Mind in the Machine), which will take place from October 2 to 4 in Nuremberg and is likewise supported by the Giordano Bruno Foundation. The third edition of the "Philo.live!" festival, planned for November 20 to 23 in Berlin, will also feature future-relevant topics. The essay competition announced by the "Hans-Albert-Institut" (HAI) on the occasion of the 80th birthday of philosopher and bioethicist Dieter Birnbacher is specifically dedicated to the question of a "desirable future." The winning contributions are to be presented in November 2026 at an event at the foundation's headquarters.

In reference to a publication by the philosopher of science Hans Albert, who died in 2023, gbs board members Michael Schmidt-Salomon and Ulla Wessels see the focus theme in the tension between "Konstruktion und Kritik" (Construction and Critique): "After placing the critique of identitarian group ideologies at the center of our work last year, we want to emphasize the constructive elements associated with an enlightened, evolutionary-humanistic worldview this year."

However, the gbs will not neglect the critique of religious or political ideologies, Wessels and Schmidt-Salomon emphasize. "We will continue to support the 'Arbeitskreis Politischer Islam' (Working Group on Political Islam, AK Polis) and accompany legal proceedings through the Institute for Secular Law (ifw). As early as January, a trial against four exiled Iranians is scheduled, who must answer in Hamburg for alleged ‘blasphemy’. In February, the next hearing follows in the case of Lippstadt gynecologist Joachim Volz, who is no longer permitted to perform abortions due to religious dogmas. We will also adhere to our central education policy demand, which we brought back into center last year with the focus theme 'Mein Kopf gehört mir: Lernen für die offene Gesellschaft' (My Mind Belongs to Me: Learning for the Open Society): 'Gemeinsam Ethik statt getrennt Religion' (Ethics together rather than religion apart). In close cooperation with the ‘Zentralrat der Konfessionsfreien’ (Central Council of the Non-Denominational) and now also in alliance with the GEW, we will advocate for 'non-denominational schools' and 'mandatory ethics education for all.' As one can see: there will be no shortage of exciting topics for us in 2026 either."