We research and foster opportunities of action for a future-ready present.

We look at everyday practices to learn from them. We question existing property and power relations and support a co-existence based on solidarity. We involve ourselves in discourses and use our competences in order to support the future-ready transformation of our society. We research and act above all in urban areas, as this is where particular everyday practices are established; in cities, an intensive observation of societal transformation processes and future-relevant socio-spatial systems is possible.

We assume that a multi-faceted crisis, caused by climate change, capital-oriented globalization, demographic change, increasing urbanization, migration movements and future finance crises will overwhelm present-day societal structures – as long as they are not prepared for such transformations in advance. In order to prepare for these potential upheavals, we have to change the way we live together in a reflective and constructive manner. In order to understand how this could be possible, we investigate transformation processes above all on micro-levels, as experience shows us that individual and everyday praxis can influence societal systems in ways that better prepare them for the future.

We learn along the way through transdisziplinary workshops, action research and theoretical work. We share our insights through documentations, publications and public discussions, on the internet and in print. In our offerings and sevices we provide the chance to productively bring research, analysis, critique, utopia and practice together. The knowledge we generate applies to actors from the municipal administration, urban planning entities and the education system, as well as activists, artists, and researchers with an interest in urban studies, society and culture.