enter the future
standpoints and
ideas in dialog
Digitalization, climate change, rapid shifts in values in the world of work – industry and society in general are facing huge challenges. In this context, it would be too short-sighted for companies to limit themselves to developing technical innovations and adapting production processes. They must also do their part to constructively shape the associated fundamental transformation of society. How can people be motivated to be sufficiently agile and open, so that they really do drive profound change and see it as an opportunity? How do beliefs and patterns of orientation need to change? What interactions need to be considered? How can the fundamental transformation of society succeed?
With the “enter the future” event series, which was launched by WITTENSTEIN SE in November 2020 and is now being continued by the Wittenstein Foundation, we want to enter into a fruitful dialog with society on how we can safeguard our resources for future generations. Innovation and progress are the key factors for us to achieve this goal. As a rule, two speakers talk about one topic from different perspectives – that is the basic formal idea behind “enter the future”. This is followed by a discussion with the audience. The speakers are high-profile individuals from business, science and society. The talks are based on scientific principles, but are kept understandable for the audience interested in the topic. Every contribution, every thought is important. We therefore cordially invite you to enrich the discourse with your ideas.
With the kind support of our media and cooperation partners:
tenth event:
food for the future – raw vegetables or high-tech meals?
Prof. Dr. Jan Frank
Prof. Dr. Mario Jekle
The tenth “enter the future” took place on April 30, 2025.
What will be the consequences for our diet when forecasts predict that almost 10 billion people will populate the planet in 2050? Can we possibly feed so many people a healthy diet? What role will be played by new technologies like 3D food printing or precision fermentation? The importance of dietary advice, the opportunities offered by personalized diets, questions such as whether raw vegetables are the key to a long and healthy life or whether (highly) processed foods are making us ill – our experts will take you on an fascinating journey into the future of food and nutrition.
Topic:
Food for the future – raw vegetables or high-tech meals?
Speakers from the University of Hohenheim:
Professor Jan Frank, Director of the Department of Food Biofunctionality
Professor Mario Jekle, Head of the Department of Plant-Based Foods
Facilitated by:
Benedikt Hofmann, Editor-in-Chief MM MaschinenMarkt
nineth event:
consensus or conflict – how polarized is our society?
The nineth “enter the future” event took place on November 6, 2024.
Are you fed up with dancing on eggshells just to avoid saying the wrong thing when it comes to gender or racism? Is it discriminatory to mention immigration and crime in the same breath? Or should our society instead devote far more thought to how everyday forms of speech promote inequality? Is it our duty to make sustainability a top priority in our everyday lives, or are we Germans already doing more than the rest of the world anyway?
These seemingly disparate questions all have one thing in common: they take inequality-related issues to extremes in a way that induces people to adopt very vehement, irreconcilable and often highly emotional positions. There is more and more talk of a “split in society” – yet is public opinion really so divergent? Or are conflicts merely sparked by certain trigger points, where otherwise peaceful consensus prevails? More clarity is urgently called for about the state of opinion in our society – not least because divisions can literally be talked into existence.
Topic:
Consensus or conflict – how polarized is our society?
Speaker:
Professor Steffen Mau, Professor of Macrosociology at the Humboldt University of Berlin and SPIEGEL bestselling author
Facilitated by:
Benedikt Hofmann, Editor-in-Chief MM MaschinenMarkt
eighth event:
fresh in the head –
how we free ourselves from digital sensory overload
The eighth “enter the future” event took place on April 17, 2024.
Online meetings, screen work, surfing the Net, social media, streaming, chatting, gaming, online 24/7 ... How does the digital sensory overload to which we expose ourselves every day affect our “Stone Age brain”, our thinking and our behavior? What do the latest research findings reveal and what myths need to be dispelled? And how should we adapt our use of digital technologies in everyday life – both private and business – in order to become more focused, more productive and more creative again? These are exciting and relevant questions that concern us all – children, young people and adults alike.
Topic:
Fresh in the head – how we free ourselves from digital sensory overload
Speaker:
Professor Martin Korte, Professor of Cellular Neurobiology at TU Braunschweig and author of numerous books
Facilitated by:
Benedikt Hofmann, Editor-in-Chief MM MaschinenMarkt
seventh event:
new space –
from science fiction
to daily reality
The seventh “enter the future” event took place on November 29, 2023.
What just a few years ago was dismissed as science fiction has meanwhile become a reality in our day-to-day lives. Access to the internet in even the remotest corners of the globe, space tourism as an unforgettable experience for private individuals or satellite monitoring of agricultural land – all of this is made possible by technological advances and the commercialization of space.
Watch the whole recording of the fourth event here (only German).
Topic:
New space – from science fiction to daily reality
Speaker:
Professor Klaus Schilling, CEO of Zentrum für Telematik würzburg e.V.
Hans Koenigsman, former Vice President and Chief Engineer of SpaceX
Guest:
Michael Najjar, Photo Artist and Pioneer Astronaut
Facilitated by:
Benedikt Hofmann, Editor-in-Chief MM MaschinenMarkt
The sixth “enter the future” event took place on April 27, 2023.
Is it really true that everything around us is becoming more and more complex? Or could it be that complexity is actually the great constant over time, and that it is simply a matter of new challenges regularly taking priority over others? Yet who ultimately decides on these priorities? Politicians? Society? And if so, which society? What do we do, or not do, in order to retain or regain the necessary guidance? Or is this guidance something we never in fact had in the first place and will never be able to have in the future either? It’s a complex subject.
Watch the whole recording of the fourth event here (only German).
Topic:
Finding our way in a multipolar world – Key concepts on the spiritual situation of the time
Speaker:
Professor Peter Sloterdijk
German philosopher, cultural scientist and author. He taught philosophy and aesthetics at the Staatliche Hochschule für Gestaltung Karlsruhe until 2017.
Facilitated by:
Benedikt Hofmann, Editor-in-Chief MM MaschinenMarkt
sixth event:
finding our way in a
multipolar world –
key concepts on the
spiritual situation of the time
The sixth “enter the future” event took place on April 27, 2023.
Is it really true that everything around us is becoming more and more complex? Or could it be that complexity is actually the great constant over time, and that it is simply a matter of new challenges regularly taking priority over others? Yet who ultimately decides on these priorities? Politicians? Society? And if so, which society? What do we do, or not do, in order to retain or regain the necessary guidance? Or is this guidance something we never in fact had in the first place and will never be able to have in the future either? It’s a complex subject.
Watch the whole recording of the fourth event here (only German).
Topic:
Finding our way in a multipolar world – Key concepts on the spiritual situation of the time
Speaker:
Professor Peter Sloterdijk
German philosopher, cultural scientist and author. He taught philosophy and aesthetics at the Staatliche Hochschule für Gestaltung Karlsruhe until 2017.
Facilitated by:
Benedikt Hofmann, Editor-in-Chief MM MaschinenMarkt
fifth event:
biological transformation – what is it good for?
and what have mushrooms got to do with it?
The fifth event took place on October 13, 2022.
“Biologization” and “biological transformation” mean nothing less than the increasing integration of principles of nature in modern economic sectors as well as the development of products or solutions with the help of the life sciences. This creates new opportunities and potential for solving the central and essential challenges facing humanity – for example climate protection, nutrition, health, the use of scarce resources or circular economies. “Business as usual” is not an option here but our duty to future generations. New approaches are called for. The keynotes will cover a whole range of challenges and possible responses and highlight specific, selected areas for application.
Watch the whole recording of the fourth event here (only German).
Topic:
Biological transformation – what is it good for? And what have mushrooms got to do with it?
Speakers:
Professor Vera Meyer, Head of the Chair of Molecular and Applied Microbiology at Technische Universität Berlin,
Professor Thomas Bauernhansl, Head of the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation (Fraunhofer IPA) in Stuttgart
Facilitated by:
Benedikt Hofmann, Editor-in-Chief MM MaschinenMarkt
third event:
climate protection – the difference between well
meant and well done
The third event in the series took place on November 11, 2021.
Climate change is the central specter of our time. Some people deny that it even exists at all while others fear that the end of the world is nigh. The truth lies somewhere between these two extremes, as do the options for us to engage the challenge meaningfully. Whereas the first presentation will be dedicated to the technologically innovative aspects, the second will highlight the economic and political dimensions.
Watch the whole recording of the third event here (only German).
Topic:
Climate protection - the difference between well menat and well done
Speakers:
Prof. Dr. Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, founder and former Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK),
Prof. Dr. Hans-Werner Sinn, former President of the ifo Institute for Economic Research
Facilitated by:
Benedikt Hofmann, Editor-in-Chief, MM Maschinenmarkt
fourth event:
china’s rise – how can
europe keep pace?
The fourth “enter the future” event took place on April 27, 2022.
Even though China has lost some of its power recently as an engine of growth, it remains a huge, dynamic force of increasing global importance – and an undisputed market of opportunities, especially for strong exporting countries like Germany, as well as a daunting, complex challenge that must be engaged with shrewdly. The presentations therefore shed light not only on economic, political and technological factors but also on fundamental aspects of the world order in general and differences between the underlying social models in particular.
Watch the whole recording of the fourth event here (only German).
Topic:
China’s rise – How can Europe keep pace?
Speakers:
Dr Janka Oertel, Director of the Asia Program at the European Council on Foreign Relations and author of numerous publications, for example on EU-China relations as well as Chinese foreign policy,
Professor Sebastian Heilmann, Chair Professor for Government and the Political Economy of China at the University of Trier and one of Europe’s most internationally distinguished experts on China
Facilitated by:
Benedikt Hofmann, Editor-in-Chief MM MaschinenMarkt
second event:
game changer ai:
change needs creative drive
The second enter the future event was held on April 22, 2021.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming the key driver of innovation in our living and working environments. But what exactly does “AI” mean today? What can AI do and what can it not do (yet)? What is AI allowed to do and what is it not? While the first presentation is dedicated to such questions, the second uses specific use cases to highlight the innovation and transformation process of companies in the mechanical engineering sector on their path to becoming solution providers in global, digital ecosystems.
Topic:
Game Changer AI: Change needs creative drive
Speakers:
Dr. Julia Duwe, Head of R&D Production Platforms at TRUMPF Werkzeugmaschinen GmbH & Co. KG and Prof. Dr. Klaus Mainzer, Emeritus of Excellence at the Technical University of Munich, Senior Professor and co-founder of the Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker Center at the University of Tübingen
Facilitated by:
Benedikt Hofmann, Editor-in-Chief MM MaschinenMarkt
first event:
co2 - climate killer
or useful raw material
The first event was held on November 26, 2020.
Due to the COVID-19 situation, the event was live streamed from the TauberPhilharmonie in Weikersheim. Viewers were able to participate in the discussion and ask questions using the chat function during the live broadcast.
Topic:
“CO2 – Climate killer or useful raw material”
Speakers:
Prof. Ortwin Renn, scientific director at the Institute for Transformative Sustainability Research (IASS) in Potsdam
Torsten Kallweit, Head of Corporate Occupational Safety, Fire Protection, Environmental Protection and Sustainability at Robert Bosch GmbH.
Facilitated by:
Benedikt Hofmann, Editor-in-Chief MM MaschinenMarkt