Building Solutions To The Unfolding Crises
Conference to be held on
07. -09. November 2025, University of Göttingen
Call for lectures, workshops and cultural contributions!
Since 1516, when the English philosopher and statesman Thomas More (1478-1535) published his novel ‘Utopia’, true utopias have been regarded as imaginative blueprints of a future ideal society. It was then, and still is today, about a form of democratic social order in which social justice, physical and mental health, universal education and common property for all people are sought. The Irish playwright Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) made this connection between social progress and utopias clear 300 years later with the words: ‘Progress is only the realization of utopias.’
Today, 500 years later, humanity is at a turning point – and we must once again think together about new pathways into the future. Despite all our technological and scientific advances, many people around the world are still affected by poverty, great social inequality, oppression, environmental damage, disease and war. We all live under social conditions that are controlled by a few billionaires and their boundless striving for more and more power, profit and socio-political influence.
How can we create truly participatory governments, real democracies, the likes of which we have never seen before? We can start by thinking critically about our own history. What has really happened to the grand designs of social, socialist or even communist utopias of human liberation? How do we want to live in the future? What do utopias mean for what is important in life and how do they open up paths for real human progress?
Our conference seeks to provide a critical, intellectually honest basis for imagining positive visions of the future. We invite scientific contributions and discussions about utopias that can range from collective action by individuals to large-scale, society-changing blueprints:
– ranging from utopian thinking to practical action;
– ranging from concrete examples of change in local communities to the history and future of social revolution.
The conference is aimed for general public. Speakers will come from all fields of science, culture, politics, worker’s movements and social movements.
Please submit your contribution by the 15. of August 2025 to info@offene-akademie.org.
It should include a title, a short description (maximum 1/3 page A4, 12 pt) and a short bio.Suggestions for speakers, workshops and cultural events are also welcome.
Possible Topics (not exclusively):
(a) The dismantling of bourgeois democracies in Europe is progressing rapidly: Is the very idea of democracy at the brink of collapse? Is there an international fascist tendency and where does it come from? How can genuine democratic conditions be achieved in the face of extreme inequality in the distribution of property, ownership and wealth?
Let’s think ahead: How can democracy be fully realized?
(b) Climate crisis; damage and destruction of ecological systems, loss of biodiversity: What is happening to the climate and our common natural resources that are so important for our survival?
Let’s think ahead: How to prevent significant climate damage and establish climate justice in terms of space and time?
(c) The neglect of basic research for the common good: What do the latest scientific restrictions, budget cuts, and other political interventions and measures against scientists, not only in the US, mean for the population?
Let us think ahead: How can the promotion of basic research for the common good fundamentally contribute to the democratization of science itself, but also of society?
(d) Military armament as a dangerous path: New hegemonic territorial claims and massive military armament undoubtedly pose a great danger to world peace. Does the current massive military armament not ultimately undermine any lasting peaceful coexistence internationally?
Let us think ahead: Which utopias and which policies enable a future perspective for a sustainable and socially just world without wars?
(e) The history, practice and future of progressive utopian ideas: Why are such visions of the future and their scientific foundation extremely important? What are the goals of often suppressed socialist, anarchist and other socially transformative, progressive utopias – and what can be learned from their previous attempts at implementation?
Let us think ahead: How we want to life in the future? What does this mean for social change? If we want to improve the world and the common good, do we not have to rethink such utopias in science, politics and society?
Organizer: Open Academy in cooperation with scientists and students from Göttingen.
The Open Academy is a forum for progressive, critical science and culture. Information and the scientific advisory board can be found at https://offene-akademie.org