Global risks – global communities. During four Sunday matinees spread over a period of four months (December 2009 through March 2010) international representatives of science, culture, politics and civil society were discussing the biggest challenges of our time:

In which way can the global climate change be used as an impetus for global modernization? Which changes of course and agreements on an international level do we need in order to achieve sustainable living conditions for the world community? How can we ensure an unhindered access to new knowledge that will secure our existence? Many experts agree that politics and civil society have to become more active in order to secure acceptable conditions for future generations.

We are already faced with severe cases of injustice as a result of the climate change. The first to suffer from the effects of global warming are those who are least able to adjust to new environmental conditions. Entire rural communities in Africa are being uprooted due to ecological disasters, drought and water shortage, resulting in "economic migration" towards Europe. However, the environment is not the only resource that is in danger. The increasing privatization and patenting of knowledge can hinder fundamental developments in society. Robert B. Laughlin, winner of the Nobel prize, states: "Our society is sequestering knowledge more extensively, rapidly and thoroughly than any before it in history." According to him "broad areas of two sciences, physics and biology, are now off limits to public discourse". This is another problem for which Europe needs to find solutions.

We were welcoming the following experts (among others): Ulrich Beck, sociologist and author of the book "Weltrisikogesellschaft", the environmental activist Sunita Narain, Ottmar Edenhofer and Saleemul Huq from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Johannes Wallacher, moral philosopher and globalization expert, Jörg Hacker, microbiologist and president of the Robert Koch-Institut, Hermann Scheer, general chairman of the Council for Renewable Energy and member of the German Bundestag (parliament), Koko Warner, expert in climate change and environment-related migration, Cem Özdemir, federal chairman of the German green party (Bündis90/Grüne), Robert B.Laughlin, professor of physics at Stanford University, Phillipe Boncour, politics expert and head of the International Dialogue on Migration, Margit Osterloh, professor at the Institute of Organization and Administrative Science of the Eidgenössische Universität Zürich as well as Robin Bronen, expert in indigenous peoples and forced migration (Inuit).

The discussion panels were led by editors of the Süddeutsche Zeitung.

Project partners: Munich Re Foundation, Münchener Kammerspiele, Süddeutsche Zeitung

Project location: Kammerspiele München