How do we want to shape the fundamental rules of our coexistence in the future? What does democracy mean in the 21st century? Karlshochschule has developed a new space to address these essential questions – the Real Laboratory “Future Democracies” (FH-Personal).

A Real Laboratory means transforming the scientific lab into a real-world environment and bringing reality into the lab. Questions posed by people in Karlsruhe and the global village about future democracies are explored within the “Future Democracies” framework at Karlshochschule through dialogue with science and art, politics, and economics. A range of topics are examined from various perspectives in the Real Laboratory “Future Democracies.”

On the one hand, the Real Laboratory “Future Democracies” brings science to the table of civil society and culture – and simultaneously questions the role of SCIENCE in a future democracy. How do we construct knowledge through research, differentiate between various types of knowledge, and ensure that societies can organize a consensus on knowledge to make decisions about coexistence in times of fake news? Together with cultural organizations, we explore the role of culture in a sustainable society. In addition to the three dimensions of the Triple Bottom Line – social, ecological, and economic – is there also a dimension of cultural sustainability?

As a management school, Karlshochschule also examines the role of the economy in a future sustainable democracy. What future economies will the democracy of tomorrow lead us to, what market rules dictate our game – and how can we define the game’s rules in the future? However, people are not just citizens in a democracy but also market consumers. Therefore, the Real Laboratory aims to understand how consumer cultures function and their potential for transformation.

When we ask how we want to live as citizens in a democracy, it always involves ethical considerations and the question of the right actions – which can be discussed theoretically-philosophically but also experienced as deeply embodied emotional experiences. We want to discuss this type of Embodied Ethicality and its role in future challenges with people from Karlsruhe, the region, and the world in an open forum. Additionally, we operate in the digital space, exploring the impact of digitization on our coexistence and the digital ecosystems we inhabit.

Finally, we must ask ourselves: When discussing the future of our democracy – what possibilities do we have to bring the future into the present and make it describable? How can we even create a vision of the future? The work of the Real Laboratory“ Future Democracies“ is not just theoretical but has practical implications for our future. We aim to engage in an exchange on these and other questions with you and all interested organizations, institutions, and companies to shape a future we can all look forward to.