19th European Trend Day
Inspired by Nature: The Next Economy Is Based on Biology
Inspired by Nature: The Next Economy Is Based on Biology
Climate neutrality, zero waste, circular economy: the goals are set. The solutions, however, are less certain. The developments of the bioeconomy offer some. They are based on renewable materials and fuels. Many revolutionary technologies are on the verge of a breakthrough, and some are even on the verge of commercialisation: animal-free meat, biofuels, and leather made from mushrooms. Nature is increasingly serving as a model for design, construction and production.
Digitalisation is followed by the age of biologisation. The change in values is already taking place in many people's minds. With urban gardens and green building fronts, we are bringing the wilderness back into the cities and exploring the social life of plants or the communication of animals. We grant basic rights to bodies of water and make the earth a co-owner of global companies.
At the 19th European Trend Day, we show how the understanding of nature and our relationship with it are changing and where social and entrepreneurial potentials lie. We present the latest findings from research and the most exciting start-ups in the bioeconomy. And we discuss questions like:
- Which industries will biotechnology revolutionise?
- Which findings from the research labs are ready for the market?
- What are the rules of the game and who are the pioneers of the bio-based economy?
- From rewilding to construction botany: How will our cities change?
- Will we still distinguish between artificial and natural in the future?
The European Trend Day will be held in German and English (with simultaneous translation).
Hashtag: #trendday2023
We Are at The Beginning of The Age of Biology
Vegan leather from mushrooms, plastic-eating bacteria or data storage in plant DNA: The future belongs to biology. The new bioeconomy is estimated to reach a volume of several trillion dollars in the next ten years. And that would only be the beginning. A new illustration from the GDI shows the potential of the bioeconomy.
Speakers
Author of "Ways of Being – Animals, Plants, Machines: The Search for a Planetary Intelligence". Bridle’s writing on literature, culture and networks has appeared in magazines and newspapers including "Wired", "The Atlantic", "New Statesman", "The Guardian", and the "Financial Times". They are considered a thought leader and critic of the digital technological future. Their artworks have been commissioned by galleries and institutions and exhibited worldwide and on the internet.
Raskin and the Earth Species Project team are using AI to decode non-human communication with the goal of transforming our relationship with the rest of nature. He is also co-founder of the Center for Humane Technology, co-host for the popular podcast Your Undivided Attention, and a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global AI Council. He helped found Mozilla Labs and was a subject and co-creator of the Emmy-award winning documentary "The Social Dilemma".
Lawton has more than 30 years of international experience working with leading organizations focused on sustainable development and nature conservation. She held senior roles with Forum for the Future, The B Team, International Union for Conservation of Nature, the Nature Conservancy of Canada and the Jane Goodall Institute of Canada.
For the past five years, Agapakis has worked as the creative director of Ginkgo Bioworks, a pioneering synthetic biology company based in Boston. The company specialises in the genetic engineering of bacteria for industrial applications. New materials are to be produced with the help of synthetic cells. Gingko Bioworks has been listed on the stock exchange as an «organism company» since 2021.
ToftH is a research institute that combines philosophy, art and tech. The institute conducts philosophical-conceptual research for tech innovation companies, and is also an academy as well as an art producing and exhibiting platform. Its focus is on the difference today makes with respect to yesterday: what about contemporary technology is so new/different that it requires yet to be invented ways of thinking? Previously, Rees was William Dawson Chair at McGill University; Reid Hoffman Professor of Humanities at Parsons; and Director at the Los Angeles based Berggruen Institute.
Grow Your Own Cloud is a green biotech company developing regenerative data solutions through DNA data storage in Plants. The company thus works with data as a material and nature as a technology. As an independent creative and futurist, Clarke consults and develops work for corporate clients, as well as institutions such as the UN and EU. His creative work has been recognised and exhibited internationally, most notably SXSW, and Ars Electronica.
Carole Collet
Professor in Design for Sustainable Futures
Central Saint Martins UAL in London
Great Britain
Website
Collet is co-director of the Living Systems Lab, a research group dedicated to the exploration of living systems for the pursuit of new ecological knowledge in the creative sector. She is also Director of Maison/0, a platform for regenerative luxury. Collet has collaborated with LVMH, as well as Fendi and the Imperial College London to prototype a like for like alternative lab-grown fur fibre for luxury.
During his professional career, which now spans over 30 years, Schepers specialised in rewilding large landscapes (in particular in Africa, Europe and Central Asia), where nature and wildlife can bounce back and where people can enjoy and benefit. From 2000 to 2014, Schepers was responsible for international conservation programmes at WWF Netherlands. Many of the experiences he built up from across the world have been used to design and develop Rewilding Europe.
Ferdinand Ludwig
Architect and Professor of Green Technologies in Landscape Architecture
Technical University of Munich
Germany
Website
Ludwig's research focuses on architectural concepts in which plants play a key role. Their functional and creative integration provides answers to the burning ecological questions of our time, such as adapting to climate change. In 2007, Ludwig founded the research area of architectural botany at the University of Stuttgart.
Kauffman invests in planetary health through his animist investment studio Ground Effect. He aims to steer capital and support cultural interventions that shift the worldview around nature. His growing emphasis is on supporting biodiversity, and advocating for the diverse intelligences of the more-than-human world.
Markus Arnoldini researches how the ecology of the gut microbiota and the physiology of the host influence each other. He was previously trained in evolutionary microbiology and quantitative biology at ETH Zurich and UC San Diego.
The Villars Institute is a nonprofit foundation based in the Swiss Alps dedicated to accelerating the transition to net zero emissions and a healthier planet through intergenerational collaboration and systems leadership. The GDI has invited three Villars Fellows to participate in the Trend Day and share their thoughts and key learnings about the potential of biology for the economy and society.
Karin Frick is Principal Researcher at the Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute. As an economist, she researches trends and countertrends in business, society and consumption. Frick has held various positions in which she worked on future-related topics, innovation and change in people and markets. She was editor-in-chief of the well-known quarterly publication GDI IMPULS and managing director of the Swiss Society for Futures Studies (swissfuture).
Moderation
Tama Vakeesan hosts various programs on Radio SRF1 and is one of the most popular presenters in Switzerland. Her career began at the youth station Joiz, and she gained additional experience at live events, on television, online and on the radio.
Media partner
