Futures and Innovation

In the face of increasing complexity and uncertainty in societal and environmental conditions, foresighted orientation knowledge is becoming increasingly important for strategic decision-making. Working with futurology methods is one way of producing and applying this knowledge.

The core competency of the Futures and Innovation Unit (until 5/2023: Professionalizing Knowledge Transfer Processes Unit) is to develop future knowledge for the use of new technologies and services with the help of our interdisciplinary team. To this end, we examine the market development potential and relevant advances in technology and services in their broader context (e.g. social, economic, or political aspects). In addition, we test new collaborative formats of knowledge transfer and organize cooperation initiatives between researchers and experts with different professional backgrounds.

Our unit has been working successfully for several years in both European initiatives (7th Framework Programme (FP7), HORIZON 2020, Interreg CENTRAL EUROPE Programme) and German projects from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).

News

 

New research project

Launch of "Speculative Futures"

Together with Johanna Seelemann design studio and the GRASSI Museum of Applied Arts Leipzig, the “Speculative Futures” project was launched in September 2024. Over the coming months, the project team will develop new perspectives on bio-based value creation, including through “speculative” future objects made from plant residues. The research process and the objects developed will be on display in the exhibition “ZUKÜNFTE: Material and Design of Tomorrow” at GRASSI. ZUKÜNFTE will open on November 20, 2024. The exhibition leaflet can be downloaded here.

7.10.2024

Games stimulates discussion about future regional fruit cultivation in Central Germany

As part of the “Zukünfte für die Innovationsregion Mitteldeutschland (MIRO)” research process, a project team led by Valentin Knitsch is working with regional fruit-growing companies to develop visions for the future of fruit growing in Central Germany. The so-called Future Cubes game developed for MIRO provides an entertaining introduction to this topic. In the game, individual topics and pointed statements are negotiated from 20 key topics relevant to fruit growing. This controversial simplification encourages reflection, generates criticism and new ideas. In the video (in German), project managers and participating designers present their approach.

 

Press release / 6.8.2024

EXPRESS: Five years of research – Progress made in digtial agriculture

On August 6, 2024, the EXPRESS research project, funded by the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) on the basis of a decision by the German Bundestag, looked back on its five-year success story during a network meeting at the Schloss Proschwitz winery. The EXPRESS experimental field, a joint project on digitization in agriculture, has made significant progress in the use of digital technologies for fruit growing and viticulture over the past five years of the project. 

 

News / 12.4.2024

Valuable input: Second meeting of the Value Creation Radar Scientific Advisory Board

On April 12, 2024, the scientific advisory board of the “Value Creation Radar” project met for the second time in Leipzig. The interdisciplinary advisory board, consisting of experts from science and industry, discussed the progress made so far and current issues of the project. The meeting included a presentation of the current project status, in-depth workshops on AI-supported tool development and qualitative methods in the horizon scanning process.

Further Events and News

The news articles are arranged according to their topicality. The filter allows you to narrow down the time period. To read current news of this unit, you can additionally search for it using the term “Professionalizing Knowledge Transfer Processes“.

Industry and Research Projects

 

"Speculative Futures"

 

Climate assessment of cultural institutions with the “E-Tool Kultur”

 

MIRO: Central German innovation region for fruit growing

 

EXPRESS: Data-driven networking and digitization in agriculture

 

Connect & Collect: AI-supported Cloud for interdisciplinary networked research and innovation for the work of the future

 

Value creation radar: AI-supported foresight for recognizing signals relevant to value creation

Cooperation with other Fraunhofer institutes

 

 

Publications

Jahr
Year
Titel/Autor:in
Title/Author
Publikationstyp
Publication Type
2024 Digitale Plattformen als Enabler für hybriden Wissenstransfer. Das Entwicklungsprojekt Connect & Collect als Beispiel aus der Arbeitsforschung
Bernhard-Skala, Christian; Sonnenmoser, Anne; Tombeil, Anne-Sophie
Konferenzbeitrag
Conference Paper
2023 Gestaltung von Zukünften durch Nutzung von visionären Zielbildern
Welz, Juliane; Kosinski, Jörg
Konferenzbeitrag
Conference Paper
2023 Metabolic implications of axonal demyelination and its consequences for synchronized network activity: An in silico and in vitro study
Gerevich, Zoltan; Kovács, Richard; Liotta, Agustin; Hasam-Henderson, Luisa; Weh, Ludwig; Wallach, Iwona; Berndt, Nikolaus
Zeitschriftenaufsatz
Journal Article
2023 Digitale Zukunftswerkstatt: Die klassische Methode geht mit der Zeit
Weh, Ludwig
Aufsatz in Buch
Book Article
2023 Digitaler Marktplatz für ökologisch erzeugte tierische Lebensmittel. Handlungsfelder für den Aufbau eines digitalen Marktplatzes. Praxisleitfaden
Welz, Juliane; Strecker, Daniel; Kögler, Philipp; Ziegler, David; Rockstroh, Janice; Schmidt, Anja; Reichel, Christiane; Langer, Vivien; Pein, Christian
Andere
Other
2023 Regionale Wertschöpfungsketten für ökologische Tier- und Fleischprodukte
Welz, Juliane; Strecker, Daniel; Kögler, Philipp; Ziegler, David; Rockstroh, Janice; Schmidt, Anja; Reichel, Christiane; Langer, Vivien; Pein, Christian
Bericht
Report
2023 AI Ethics and Neuroethics Promote Relational AI Discourse
Weh, Ludwig; Soetebeer, Magdalena
Aufsatz in Buch
Book Article
2023 Images of the Future in a Participatory Online Course - Empowering Student-Driven Projects for Higher Education Sustainability Transformation
Weh, Ludwig; Kinne, Lisa
Zeitschriftenaufsatz
Journal Article
2023 Ecosystem Scenarios as Environmental Futures - Implications for Participatory Framework Designs Integrating Social Capital Formation and Natural Capital Preservation
Weh, Ludwig; Weil, Charlotte; Haan, Gerhard de; Leinfelder, Reinhold
Zeitschriftenaufsatz
Journal Article
2022 Wissensflüsse und Informationsbedarfe für die digitale Transformation im Obst- und Weinbau
Knitsch, Valentin; Welz, Juliane; Rockstroh, Janice
Paper
2022 Die Digitalisierung als Enabler von Resilienz in der Krise - Status quo und quo vadis
Ries, Sonja; Neuschl, Sarah; Kubenz, Victoria; Haugk, Sebastian; Arzt, Alexander; Kögler, Philipp
Aufsatz in Buch
Book Article
2022 Auf dem Weg zur Klimaneutralität - soziale Innovationen als Erfolgsfaktor lokaler projektbezogener Transformationsvorhaben
Kosinski, Jörg; Riemer, Annamaria
Aufsatz in Buch
Book Article
2022 Bedarf an regionalen Produkten im inhabergeführten Lebensmitteleinzelhandel
Welz, Juliane; Strecker, Daniel; Heinrich, Julian Phillip Jonas; Kögler, Philipp
Andere
Other
2022 Regionale Wertschöpfungsorganisation als Wegbereiter für eine resiliente Landwirtschaft? - Erfahrungen aus der Landwirtschaft in Sachsen
Welz, Juliane; Strecker, Daniel
Aufsatz in Buch
Book Article
2022 Patterns of business model innovation for advancing IoT platforms
Markfort, Lino; Arzt, Alexander; Kögler, Philipp; Jung, Sven; Gebauer, Heiko; Haugk, Sebastian; Leyh, Christian; Wortmann, Felix
Zeitschriftenaufsatz
Journal Article
2022 Resilienz für die Zukunft von Wertschöpfungsnetzwerken
Sammelband
Anthology
2022 Die Bedeutung von qualitativen Forschungszugängen für den Wissenstransfer in Experimentierfeldern
Knitsch, Valentin; Welz, Juliane
Konferenzbeitrag
Conference Paper
2022 Wissenstransfer im Forschungsprojekt EXPRESS
Knitsch, Valentin; Grass, Rikard; Mollenhauer, Hannes; Krug, Silvia; Hutschenreuther, Tino; Welz, Juliane
Zeitschriftenaufsatz
Journal Article
2021 KI-Ethik und Neuroethik fördern relationalen KI-Diskurs
Weh, Ludwig; Soetebeer, Magdalena
Aufsatz in Buch
Book Article
2021 Digitale Affinität und Einsatz von digitalen Technologien im Wein- und Obstbau in Mitteldeutschland
Knitsch, Valentin; Welz, Juliane
Bericht
Report
2021 EXPerimentierfeld zur datengetRiebenen VErnetzung und DigitaliSierung in der LandwirtSchaft (EXPRESS)
Römer, Ingolf; Schieck, Martin; Mollenhauer, Hannes; Graß, Rikard; Krug, Silvia; Welz, Juliane; Knitsch, Valentin
Konferenzbeitrag
Conference Paper
2021 Identifying future trends by podcast mining: An explorative approach for Web-based horizon scanning
Welz, Juliane; Riemer, Annamaria; Döbel, Inga; Dakkak, Nora; Schwartzenberg, Anna Sophie von
Zeitschriftenaufsatz
Journal Article
2021 How Are Urban Green Spaces and Residential Development Related? A Synopsis of Multi-Perspective Analyses for Leipzig, Germany
Schwarz, Nina; Haase, Annegret; Haase, Dagmar; Kabisch, Nadja; Kabisch, Sigrun; Liebelt, Veronika; Rink, Dieter; Strohbach, Michael W.; Welz, Juliane; Wolff, Manuel
Zeitschriftenaufsatz
Journal Article
2020 Wasserstressmonitoring durch digitale Technologien
Welz, Juliane
Vortrag
Presentation
2020 Business Model Patterns of IOT Platforms in the B2B Context
Markfort, Lino; Kögler, Philipp; Arzt, Alexander; Gebauer, Heiko
Konferenzbeitrag
Conference Paper
2020 2030 Datenbasierte Wertschöpfung in Deutschland. Drei Zukunftsszenarien
Döbel, Inga; Knitsch, Valentin; Riemer, Annamaria
Bericht
Report
2020 City Vision Leipzig 2050
Bericht
Report
2020 Ein visionäres Zielbild für Obst- und Weinbau
Welz, Juliane; Knitsch, Valentin; Riemer, Annamaria
Bericht
Report
2020 Einzelhandel. Leid- oder Leitfunktion in Klein- und Mittelstädten?
Korzer, Tanja; Kosinski, Jörg; Weidner, Silke
Aufsatz in Buch
Book Article
2019 Drei Zukunftsszenarien. Additive Fertigung im Jahr 2025 in Deutschland
Riemer, Annamaria; Döbel, Inga; Welz, Juliane; Knitsch, Valentin; Bergmann, André; Giebitz, Danny; Schüll, Elmar
Buch
Book
2019 Foresight Fraunhofer
Ganz, Walter; Hermann, Sibylle; Ardilio, Antonino; Keicher, Lukas; Schletz, Alexander; Schirrmeister, Elna; Meissner, Svetlana; Maloca, Spomenka; Moller, Björn; Jovanovic, Milos; Schulte, Anna Julia; Grüne, Matthias; Bantes, René; Welz, Juliane; Riemer, Annamaria; Döbel, Inga
Studie
Study
2019 Foresight Fraunhofer
Studie
Study
2018 Resilience, adaptation and transformation: Conceptual and empirical insights from two case studies in Germany and Chile
Kuhlicke, Christian; Krellenberg, Kerstin; Welz, Juliane
Aufsatz in Buch
Book Article
2018 Maschinelles Lernen. Eine Analyse zu Kompetenzen, Forschung und Anwendung
Döbel, Inga; Leis, M.; Molina Vogelsang, Manuel; Neustroev, D.; Petzka, Henning; Riemer, A.; Rüping, Stefan; Voß, Angelika; Wegele, M.; Welz, Juliane
Studie
Study
2018 Adapting built-up areas to climate change. Assessment of effects and feasibility of adaptation measures on heat hazard
Welz, Juliane; Hertel, Daniel; Krellenberg, Kerstin; Schlink, Uwe
Aufsatz in Buch
Book Article
2018 Künstliche Intelligenz - Eine Einordnung
Posselt, Thorsten; Döbel, Inga; Molina Vogelsang, Manuel; Preissler, Steffen; Riemer, Annamaria; Welz, Juliane
Zeitschriftenaufsatz
Journal Article
2017 Urban vulnerability and the contribution of socio-environmental fragmentation: Theoretical and methodological pathways
Krellenberg, Kerstin; Welz, Juliane; Link, Felipe; Barth, Katrin
Zeitschriftenaufsatz
Journal Article
2017 Zuzugsmagnet Grossstadt - Profile aktueller Zuwanderer. Das Beispiel Leipzig
Welz, Juliane; Haase, Annegret; Kabisch, Sigrun
Zeitschriftenaufsatz
Journal Article
2017 Energiekosten und Wohnstandortentscheidungen: Neue Treiber für sozialräumliche Segregationsprozesse?
Welz, Juliane; Großmann, Katrin
Aufsatz in Buch
Book Article
2017 Assessing urban vulnerability in the context of flood and heat hazard: Pathways and challenges for indicator-based analysis
Krellenberg, Kerstin; Welz, Juliane
Zeitschriftenaufsatz
Journal Article
2017 Cambio climático, vulnerabilidad urbana y adaptación a nivel municipal. Santiago de Chile y otras ciudades de América Latina
Sammelband
Anthology
2016 Wege zur Stärkung der wirtschaftlichen Verwertung aus der Wissenschaft
Lehmann, Harald; Schmitz, Velina; Kehrer, Julian; Preissler, Steffen; Preissler, Anzhela; Riemer, Annamaria; Rockel, Jens; Zirkova, Inga
Studie
Study
2015 D4.18 Potential transfers to other political and societal sectors
Zirkova, Inga; Riemer, Annamaria; Winkler, Jördis; Schüll, Elmar; Zechenter, Elisabeth
Bericht
Report
2015 Shaping the future of sustainable forest management
Sotirov, M.; Hoogstra-Klein, M.; Trubins, R.; Schüll, E.; Riemer, Annamaria; Orazio, C.; Cordero, R.; Sallnäss, O.; Eriksson, O.
Zeitschriftenaufsatz
Journal Article
2014 Innovative financing instruments for eco-innovation in Central Europe: Policy recommendations
Rockel, Jens; Bürger, Robin; Riemer, Annamaria; Keppler, Lisa
Bericht
Report
2013 Impact of selected structural factors on the forest-based sector in the European Union
Riemer, Annamaria; Betuch, Helene-Olesja; Zirkova, Inga; Winkler, Jördis; Wappler, Stefan; Storch, Sabine
Studie
Study
2009 Erneuerbare Energien in Rumänien. Orientierungshilfe für kleine und mittlere Unternehmen
Trommler, M.; Riemer, Annamaria; Müller-Albinsky, M.
Studie
Study
Diese Liste ist ein Auszug aus der Publikationsplattform Fraunhofer-Publica

This list has been generated from the publication platform Fraunhofer-Publica
Foresight Fraunhofer: Future topics with relevance to application-oriented research
Artificial Intelligence (AI) in a corporate context: literature analysis and thesis paper (in German)
Three future scenarios. Additive production in Germany in 2025. (in German)
2030 Data-based value creation in Germany. Three future scenarios (in German)
EXPRESS-Brochure: Knowledge Flows and Information Requirements for the Digital Transformation in Fruit and Wine Growing (in German)
EXPRESS-Brochure: Digital Affinity and Use of Digital Technologies in Wine and Fruit Growing in Mid-Germany (in German)

Staff

Staff of the Unit

Research Assistants:

  • Henriette Humprecht
  • Theo Lentzen
  • Marcus Moos
  • Jonathan Seifert
  • Leonie von Lieben
  • Lukas Wittmann