- Event
- Conference
Fewer – older – more diverse. Opportunities and Challenges for Our Society
Karlsruher Forum für Kultur, Recht und Technik e. V.
Wed, October 14, 2026 10:00 am – 6:00 pm CEST
Fewer, older, more diverse – what appears as a curve in statistics will shape how people live, work and receive care in the future. The symposium of the Karlsruher Forum für Kultur, Recht und Technik e. V. takes demographic change as its starting point to discuss its social, technological and legal consequences – and to explore how society can be shaped under changing conditions.
Demographic change affects far more than the age structure of the population. Its consequences extend from education, family life, housing and healthcare to the world of work, technological development, urban planning, civic engagement and cultural life. The issue is not simply one of individual generations, but of how people at different stages of life and in different circumstances will live together in the future.
How can cities and neighborhoods be planned in ways that enable communal and intergenerational living? Whether new technologies broaden participation or deepen inequalities depends on the conditions under which they are deployed – with consequences for the future of work, healthcare and aging. And on what legal basis do we actually negotiate questions of justice between generations?
Demographic change is therefore also a question of social cohesion. Where interests, experiences and visions of the future diverge, the challenge is to negotiate differences without prematurely treating them as oppositions. Intergenerational action can provide a concrete field of learning in this respect: the future does not emerge within individual generations, but between them.
The symposium brings together perspectives from culture, law, science and technology.
An event organized by the Karlsruher Forum für Kultur, Recht und Technik e. V.
Program
| 10:00 | Opening | Dr Frank Mentrup, Mayor of the City of Karlsruhe and Chair of the Karlsruher Forum Alistair Hudson, Scientific-Artistic Chairman of the ZKM | ||
SOCIETY IN TRANSITION – SHAPING TOMORROW | ||||
| 10:15 | Demographic Change in Germany – Diverse Challenges for Education and Family Policy | Prof. Dr Katharina Spieß, Director of the Federal Institute for Population Research and Professor of Population Economics at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz | ||
| 11:15 | A New Working World Every Three Years – Vision or Nightmare? A Reading | Dr Sonja Hermeneit, Medical Director, Spirit Link GmbH, Erlangen | ||
| 11:30 | Marketplace of Possibilities: Six Impulses for a Better Tomorrow How can a society that is becoming smaller, older and more diverse remain liveable, inclusive and capable of action? Six people working in the fields of urban development, housing, technology, accessibility, social participation and culture present how they are already helping to shape the future today. Afterwards, they invite participants to explore interactive stations around the room, try out new ideas, ask questions and think further together. Participants include Karlsruhe 2040, Franklin Village, KIT-ITAS with exoskeletons, Karlsruhe barrierefrei, Stiftung Kraft-Netz and the ZKM. | Moderator: Dr Dana Mahr, Research Associate, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis (ITAS) | ||
| 12:30 | Lunch break with information stands for the Marketplace of Possibilities | |||
A QUESTION OF JUSTICE | ||||
| 13:30 | Demographic Change and Constitutional Law | Prof. Dr Martin Eifert, Justice of the First Senate of the Federal Constitutional Court, Karlsruhe | ||
| 14:15 | What Matters to the Younger Generation Today? | Panel discussion with young people from Karlsruhe and the surrounding region (including StJA, DGB Youth and Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences) Moderator: Vanessa Schwab, Trade Union Secretary, ver.di Karlsruhe | ||
| 15:00 | When the Future Grows Old – Why We Need to Rethink Relations Between the Generations | Dr Carsten Lotz, Philosopher and Business Ethicist, University of Mannheim | ||
| 15:30 | The Historical Development of Digitalisation – Opportunities and Risks of New Technologies | Dr Martin Weiss, Curator of Computing Technology at TECHNOSEUM, Mannheim | ||
| 16:00 | Data – or Who Will Decide in the Future? A Reading | Tanja Binder, Computer Scientist and Author | ||
LET'S TALK ABOUT LAW | ||||
| 16:30 | What Can Karlsruhe Do to Respond to Demographic Change? – The Legal Perspective | Moderator: Alena Lagmöller, Stiftung Forum Recht | ||
DIALOGUE IN DIVERSITY | ||||
| 18:00 | Closing reception and conversations for and with all guests in the ZKM foyer | |||
| MODERATION: Dr Dorothee Schlegel, Jennifer Siegmund | ||||
Organization
Symposium organized by the Karlsruhe Forum for Culture, Law and Technology (e.V.) in collaboration with the ZKM and the Karlsruhe Cultural Office.
