Food colouring often contains animal products such as insect shells. The Danish start-up Chromologics shows that there is another way. Its pigment ‘ChromoRed’ is produced exclusively in the laboratory with the help of a filamentous fungus. This saves agricultural land and is therefore not only more animal-friendly, but also more sustainable.

Why are forecasts so difficult? Why is it the case that even experts can usually only speculate about which needs will determine consumer behaviour in the coming years? One of the biggest challenges is that developments do not unfold in a linear direction, rather grow in several directions. If you want to understand a trend, you have to look at both sides of the coin. The trend and its counter-trend. But the data is usually incomplete. Does the same consumer follow several, sometimes contradictory trends? A vegan who loves fast fashion? Or are we observing an increasing polarisation between consumption styles? For example, between the affluent and the poor?

Whenever people want to improve something, they first make it more complicated. Leidy Klotz explains why less would be more in a video clip. The author of Subtract and speaker at the 18th European Trend Day shows that this newly discovered psychological phenomenon applies to many situations.

Florian Wagner, author and proponent of the FIRE movement (Financial Independence, Retire Early), wants to retire at the age of 40. How does he want to achieve this and what comes after that? Read now the pre-interview for the 18th European Trend Day.

Frugal innovation is in fashion. Start-ups are popping up all over the world. It is not easy to keep track of them all. The ‘Frugal Innovation Map’ helps.

Aus beschränkten Mitteln mehr herauszuholen, das ist frugale Innovation – Thema des diesjährigen GDI-Trendtages. Ein treffendes Beispiel dafür ist Paul Benoîts Idee, die Abwärme von Computern als Heizung zu nutzen. In einem Beitrag von arte beschreibt er das Konzept.

Due to the COVID-19 crisis, many companies were instructed to make structural changes. This led to a new business model: B2B sharing. Navi Radjou, speaker at the GDI Trend Day, describes this new type of sharing economy in his report ‘The B2B Sharing Revolution’.

The Austrian graphic designer and typographer lives and works in New York. Sagmeister has created CD cover designs for Lou Reed, the Rolling Stones and David Byrne, among others. In the pre-interview for the 18th European Trend Day, he talks to us about happiness, beauty and design.

A new network analysis from the GDI shows that frugal innovation has so far been a blind spot in the innovation network. Today, innovation tends to be understood in the context of complex technical developments – namely, more is more. The fact that innovation can also mean simplicity, low-tech and ‘more from less’ does not yet seem to be present in most people’s minds.

Electric cars, home automation, civilian space travel: the innovations of the past few years have been aimed at improving our lives, but they consume enormous amounts of resources to do so. Frugal innovations are quite different. How? We explain in this video – and at the upcoming European Trend Day.

«Die Veränderungen in der Mobilität werden vor allem durch dasVerhalten der Menschen angestossen», sagt GDI-Forscherin Marta Kwiatkowski im SBB-Podcast «New Mobility Planet». Gleichzeitig könne sich die Gesellschaft aber auch unglaublich schnell verändern.

"We can't have infinite growth on a finite planet." With this statement, economic anthropologist Jason Hickel makes an urgent plea for system change in a video. At the GDI Trend Day on March 9 2022, he will describe alternatives to our current economic system.