Under the warm summer sun of June 2026, the “Future Imaginaries of Migration” project opened its journey with the first of four Future Labs in Berlin. Bringing together more than 50 researchers, artists, civil society actors, and policy administrators, the Lab set out to explore one of the defining questions of our time: what role can migration play in responding to the interconnected challenges of the future? This first gathering focused on aging societies and migration, inviting participants to look beyond today’s headlines and debates and imagine the possibilities of tomorrow.
Rather than opening in a conference room, the Future Lab began where the city itself could speak: on the streets of Kreuzberg. Long known as a multicultural district shaped by its diverse citizens and their protests and struggles, the neighborhood is a place where migration is not an abstract concept but a lived reality, visible in the rhythms of everyday life and woven into the identity of the district itself. Kreuzberg also serves as the setting for “Gurbet Is a Home Now”, a documentary by artist Pınar Öğrenci that follows the lives of former guest workers who made the neighborhood their home during the 1980s and 1990s. Following a short screening that bridged the past with the present, Pınar Öğrenci led the group on “Berlin Is a Home Now”, a walking tour through Kreuzberg. As participants moved through the neighborhood, discussions unfolded about memory and identity, the everyday experiences of Turkish and Kurdish migrants in Berlin, and the countless ways migration has shaped the city’s cultural and social landscape.
Artist Pınar Öğrenci led participants on a walking tour through Kreuzberg
The second day of the Future Lab shifted to the German Center for Integration and Migration Research (DeZIM), where participants engaged in an intensive day of future scenario exploration, dialogue, and collaborative foresight.
Setting the scene, Dr. Naika Foroutan, Professor of Social Sciences at Humboldt University of Berlin and Director of DeZIM, introduced what she described as Germany’s current paradox: an economy increasingly dependent on migration alongside growing anti-immigrant attitudes. She argued that population aging is far more than a demographic trend. It is a profound societal transformation that raises fundamental questions about labor markets, care systems, social cohesion, and the future of democracy. The discussion then turned towards the role of imagination in shaping the future. Through an artistic intervention, visual artist Nicolas Malevé prompted critical reflection on AI’s inability to accurately represent visions of the future, its blind spots, and the many questions that remain unanswered as societies increasingly incorporate these technologies into everyday life, hoping to find answers to questions they themselves cannot (yet) answer.
Dr. Naika Forountan provides framing on Germany for the Future Lab
The group then moved on to the core work of the Lab, with Lara El Mekaui (Toronto Metropolitan University) and Marcus Engler (DeZIM) introducing the participants to four plausible scenarios for Germany in 2050:
- Scenario 1: Automation Republic is a world in which automation reduces labor demand faster than demographic aging progresses. AI-managed healthcare, robotic logistics, autonomous transport, and semi-automated eldercare become widespread, leading to a sharp decline in employment opportunities and triggering profound political and social shifts amid demographic pressure and institutional strain.
- Scenario 2: Utility First depicts a Germany that, despite advances in automation and AI, remains structurally dependent on large-scale immigration. The state prioritises extensive recruitment systems targeting workers outside Europe, in a context of intensifying global competition for migrant labor among aging societies.
- Scenario 3: Radical Inclusivity, where economic reliance on migration becomes widely acknowledged, while effective integration policies reduce anxieties about social cohesion. Younger generations grow up in a more consistently multicultural society, and Germany develops one of the most comprehensive integration infrastructures, embedded within stronger international cooperation on migration governance and asylum standards.
- Scenario 4: Beyond Growth, which describes a deliberate departure from a growth-centred economic model. Germany embraces automation and AI to reduce working hours, while limiting environmentally destructive production. Slower economic growth and reduced consumption are accepted in exchange for greater social stability and lower labor pressure.
Participants explored four possible futures for Germany in 2050
Participants were divided into four scenario groups. Facilitators guided the process by exploring and expanding each future world through multiple dimensions, including economy and work, society, values and social norms, and technology, as well as the underlying assumptions and beliefs shaping each scenario. A “wild card” element was introduced as a shock, in which an extreme climate event was used to surface vulnerabilities. Participants were then invited to shift from scenario exploration to futures-building through the three-horizons framework. They developed and shared a range of possible futures, complemented by vision statements that outlined concrete pathways toward more desirable outcomes.
“Bringing together very different types of knowledge, geographic contexts, and personal perspectives is at the heart of our exploration of possible future scenarios. Together, we construct and critically examine what we can envision as alternatives to the present – and what could one day become the future” – Bernadette Klausberger, project curator of the Berlin Future Lab.
The Lab fostered a dialogue among participants from different fields
On Day 3, the ideas produced in the lab by researchers, artists, and civil society representatives were shared publicly with more than 100 Berliners in an intergenerational fishbowl discussion called “Why Migration?”, held at Futurium, a space designed for exploring future imaginaries. Participants, both young and old, first got to know one another and began to share their initial perspectives on the future through the card set “The Oracle Speaks”, designed and facilitated by artists Cana Bilir-Meier and Chana Boekle. Introduced to two scenarios, Automation Republic and Utility First, participants were provided with insights from experts to further develop their thoughts. They then engaged in a collective fishbowl discussion on the challenges and potentials of migration in Germany’s aging society. The conversation brought together a wide range of voices, including migrants involved in grassroots community initiatives, people with concerns about how fair and just the future will be, older participants who have long advocated for the rights of marginalized groups, and teenagers growing up surrounded by migration and diversity. As one of the younger participants shared: “The future must be inclusive. Growing up in a city like Berlin, I cannot imagine – and I don’t want to imagine that either – a future without people coming from very different backgrounds, that’s what makes Berlin Berlin!”
“Why Migration” – an intergenerational fishbowl dialogue in Futurium
We need to imagine the future before we can move toward it. Grounded in this belief, the “Future Imaginaries of Migration” project brings together cutting-edge migration research with creative methods from the arts, futures studies, and AI-powered tools. It seeks to generate ideas that go beyond today’s assumptions and open up possibilities for a more inclusive and equitable future for all. The project will continue with Future Labs in Accra (led by researcher Mary Setrana from University of Ghana/Centre for Migration Studies), in Singapore (led by researcher Brenda Yeoh from University of Singapore, Asia Research Institute), and Toronto (led by researcher Anna Triandafyllidou from Global Migration Institute/TMU). In the next editions we will explore key migration-related themes such as climate change, globalizing cities, and placeless work. More information and process documentation available on https://www.futureimaginaries.org/.
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Partners include:
- CERC Migration, Toronto Metropolitan University
- Aga Khan Museum Toronto
- German Centre for Integration and Migration Research (DeZIM)
- Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore
- Centre for Migration Studies, University of Ghana
- Goethe-Institut
- Futurium (Berlin, Germany)
Funding:
The “Future Imaginaries of Migration” project is supported by a Partnership Development Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).
Migration Matters’ participation in the project was made possible by funding from the Robert Bosch Stiftung.
Photo credit: Niklas Hlawatsch/ Fuchs Teufel Bild