The Next Renaissance

Next worlds and futures have always been imaged – what if imaging my future is more reinventing our future, a common world – driven by people who voluntary leave their comfort zones and own worlds in a new radical way to solve challenges and create solutions for the world they want to live in – now? Inclusion and trans-disciplinarity are not suitcase words, it is the contrary: they are becoming a necessity for solutions of wicked, hyper complex problems. We have the cherry; we have the cake. We have the chicken; we have the egg. Well, we need all of them! This chapter highlight initiatives – beyond borders, beyond the lines, beyond what we believe, beyond what we expect. And the good news: it is so good to be on the edge to reinvent the routine.

Change is happening over time and it does so in specific spaces – we all know iconic places of revolutions – but what if the societal concept of space is changing all together? These are the fundamental shifts a Renaissance is about – with the central perspective and two-dimensional surface, in the 21rst century with augmented, extended and hybrid realities. The concept of space is revolutionized – obviously by digitisation, but also – too often overlooked – by civil and societal trends. This chapter highlights some of the powerful makers of novel space the currently emerging resilient Europe might and will be built on.

Worlds are built on agreements: formal ones as manifested in organisations, social ones as known from habits and do’s & don´ts – and of course informal ones, to outsiders, hidden rules being the most powerful. Those rules change with time – nothing new. But what if these agreements, across Society as a whole, are floating – and Society is in search for its agreement on how to agree? The setting of rules is unsettled and a deep feeling of mistrust in organisations is growing, the sense of belonging lost – despite even increasing wealth and social security?! This chapter spotlights agreements, rules, values and organisations at stake in this multi-dimensional change. It brings out which thought models and visions can step in to give people – back again – guiding ideas or even tools to actively shape future – and not just endure the future.