The conversation around climate change is shifting. While much of the global focus remains on mitigation, we are increasingly forced to confront a more immediate reality: adaptation.

According to the IPCC, we have officially moved beyond the “if” and into the “how.” Even under the most optimistic scenarios, the climate instability of the next decade demands what scientists call “Transformational Adaptation”, a total reimagining of our urban setting rather than just patching our wounds. 

Berlin is currently at a crossroads. We are facing a triple threat: intensifying urban heat islands, volatile groundwater levels, and a legacy of infrastructure built for a climate that no longer exists. 

By using a Futures Thinking approach, we moved away from abstract data and looked at the practical tensions of a changing city, when our guiding vision was to create scenarios for Berlin in 2036. We focused on three areas where the way forward is still taking shape:

• Intelligence that serves the people: We discussed “Planetary Intelligence,” but with a humble realization: data is only useful if it’s accessible. We explored how to make climate insights actionable for local neighborhoods, ensuring that intelligence doesn’t just stay in a lab but reaches the streets where it’s needed.
• The strength of our networks: Drawing on established research regarding social capital, our participants looked at how communities can support one another. We discussed “Climate First-Aid” and decentralized response networks, acknowledging that in times of crisis, the person living next door is often the first line of defense.
• A regenerative mindset: Finally, we looked at urban design. Moving from a city that “takes” to a city that “gives” is a long-term journey. We shared visions of a Berlin that slowly transforms its infrastructure into something more sponge-like and cooling, one building and one street at a time.

To make these complex shifts tangible, our participants moved from discussion to creation. By applying a futures thinking methodology, three groups co-created “Future Napkins”, speculative artifacts that represent what a resilient Berlin might actually look, feel, and taste like in 2036.  Here are the outcomes:

Our first group, Sense & Anticipate group focused on planetary intelligence. Their mantra was to create a world that said “Free the Data”. Their sketch envisioned a future where data isn’t something held by a distant government, but a shared community resource. The Artifact was The Carma Band, a wearable “Sensore” that tracks data and environmental stressors like heat and noise. For them, the Berlin tasted like freedom, strawberries and fresh local food, and smelled like a breath of fresh air, JUST FRESH PURE AIR! Their core value was:

“Sharing is Caring” signaling positive and aware data-sharing.

They envisioned a Berlin that fosters climate resilience by self-awareness of climate impact and leads to better resource allocation, and a society with no crime and high social impact through coordinated action, with high trust towards each other and love!

The Respond & Protect group focused on the human element of crisis. Their mantra was to create a world that said “This is the place I would live in”. They recognized that in a volatile climate, our clothing and our community networks must become more functional. The Artifact was a  Modular Utility Vest, a piece of “regional fashion” equipped with crisis info-sheets, emergency beacons, and snack pockets. For this group, their envisioned future of tasting of fresh produce from Hinterhof and with better air quality! Their must-haves were:

Proactivity, community, empathy and decentralized power. 

They envisioned a Berlin that fosters climate resilience by empowered individuals, who contribute to knowledge on how to respond and who are aware, and with tech-enabled alerts that support this. 

The Redesign & Evolve group looked at how we manage our resources when global systems become uncertain. Their mantra was to create a world that was “Independent But Still Connected”. The Artifact was a Handheld Empowerment Dashboard that tracks water consumption and “Real-time Overshoot” at a household level. Their Berlin tasted like local produce, and more specifically lemons like in sicily. And smelled like fresh air and sunscreen! 

Their must-haves in this scenario was:

Empowerment, and a dashboard showing the real-time overshoot for extended awareness.

They envisioned a Berlin that fosters climate resilience by awareness of resource consumption of individuals via their artefact and their suggested dashboard, access to sustainable solutions, and independence from global markets and uncertainties. 

When creating their Future Napkins, all three groups put community, nature and neighborhoods in the center of their creations ♥️, because as professionals from different fields we all acknowledged the power of collective action and that the change and envisioning could only happen by putting the nature, the communities and people in the center. 

While much of our workshop focused on regenerative growth, we also stress-tested a much darker “shadow” vision within the Sense & Anticipate cluster, the Data-Driven Republic (DDR). In this 2036 scenario, Berlin hasn’t adapted through community care, but through corporate surveillance and bureaucratic inertia. Participants imagined a city where the air no longer smells of fresh rain, but of “burning cables” and ozone, and the traditional Currywurst has been replaced by a flavorless “pulver” (powder). At the center of this dystopia is the Bionic ID a permanent chip implant in the hand that serves as a mandatory survival tool. While it promises seamless access to services, it represents a total loss of privacy, granting centralized authorities and private platform-owners unfiltered oversight of every citizen’s life. Populated by automated labor units and governed by a slow-moving bureaucracy that missed the window for meaningful change, this vision serves as a vital cautionary tale: it reminds us that without social equity, the very tools designed for our “protection” could easily become the mechanisms of our exclusion.

These sketches, done in the heat of discussion, capture the “Aha!” moments that data alone cannot. They show that adaptation is as much about creativity and connection as it is about infrastructure.  We want to extend a heartfelt thank you to all the participants who joined us at the roundtable. It is no small feat to step away from daily operations to engage in deep, futures-oriented thinking.Your willingness to challenge our trends, share your expertise, and “sketch the future” on a napkin is what makes this work possible.