Looking back from the future – projects for CO₂ reduction beyond symptom control

THE INITIAL SITUATION The ecological crisis is not an isolated challenge. Stunted soils and changing seasons drive crop failures, crop failures drive migration, migration exacerbates political tensions, tensions block cooperation. Each crisis intensifies the next – and increases the cost of change. The main question is: How much time do we have left? We are running out of time and money. At the same time, the city of Zurich is developing prototypes for a CO₂-neutral district: more greenery, permeable surfaces, sharing services. All these measures are not wrong. But they start where change is most convenient – not where it has the most effect or is most necessary. CO₂ is not our only problem. What really needs to change – our professions, our consumer behaviour, the way we live together and much more. – All this remains untouched. Why? Because it's uncomfortable. These would not be simple solutions, but those that would have a deep reach. But systemic ideas that we know are closer to the roots exist and have been tested. None of these ideas would be chosen in the current pilot district. And yet experts from systems research and future work worldwide agree that exactly such approaches are necessary. This gap between what is needed and what seems feasible is not a coincidence – it is a symptom of the problem itself. The biologist and systems researcher Gregory Bateson described this dynamic as early as 1970: A society under ecological pressure instinctively looks for measures that make the pressure more bearable – rather than those that change its causes. OUR PROPOSAL – A LOOK BACK FROM THE FUTURE: We propose three workshops starting with a method from futurology: Pre-Hindsight – a look back from a future that has not yet happened. Instead of asking "What can we do differently from tomorrow?", we ask: "What would we wish we had done differently – if it's already too late?" Anyone who imagines that the catastrophe (whatever it looks like) has already happened – that biodiversity has collapsed despite net-zero targets, that social communities have continued to disintegrate despite super-neighbourhoods – will see possible courses of action that previously seemed unrealistic. The barrier of what seems "possible" and is perceived as necessary shifts because the perspective and thus the urgency is changed. THE IMPLEMENTATION: The workshops consist of three times three regularly recurring phases over a period of one year: Phase 1 – Broaden Perspective By means of pre-hindsight, the participants imagine themselves in a future in which the usual measures have failed. From this point they look back: What could we have done differently? What was conceivable, but was not dared? The goal: to find insights into new solutions that do not appear within the current logic of thought and project. Phase 2 – Mapping Narratives Neighbourhood residents explore the current situation of their neighbourhood together. Special attention will be paid to young people, pensioners and marginalised groups. The goal: to map the diversity of narratives and opinions on climate change in the pilot district. Phase 3 – Describe options for action The findings are condensed into concrete options for action and prioritized. The result is a documented catalogue of fundamental and implementable ideas, which will be further worked on with the city. RESULTS AND DELIVERABLES 1. Catalogue of radical options for action: Documented ideas that go beyond symptom control, with assessment of feasibility and impact levers 2. Process documentation: Method description and findings from the pre-hindsight process, usable for further measures 3. Public presentation: Closing event in the neighbourhood where the results will be shared and discussed 4. Recommendation paper: Short report for the city administration with concrete next steps BUDGET FRAMEWORK [Total budget: CHF 35,000.00] • Facilitation and project management: CHF 18,000.00 (3 cycles x 6 sessions) • Room, food, material: CHF 9,000.00 CHF (CHF 500 / session) • Documentation and communication: CHF 6,000.00 (CHF 333 / session) • Closing event (incl. preparation): CHF 2,000.00

Methods from the areas: Systemic Pedagogy; Contact pedagogy; experiential education; Theatre Pedagogy; transformative pedagogy; Gestalt pedagogy; Free Play Pedagogy; Timeline; Philosophizing with children; Flourishing; Environmental Education; Structural constellations; Writing process support; NLP; life coaching; mediation; GRP; Value work; Gratitude & Mindfulness; Movement Pedagogy; Painting Pedagogy; Wilderness Education; Hypnosystemics; Future Workshop; Design Thinking; Future Authoring; strategic short-term intervention; New Games; Assessment scenarios; Grit; Psychomotatics; hospice work; etc.

We are an organization (e.g. association, foundation, educational institution, NGO)

The team: Guided by experts in sense-making and experienced facilitators who can work with uncertainty, tension and uncomfort without smoothing out or glossing over both. Facilitation: Sense-Making Collective // Facilitation: Sense-Making Collective // Scientific support: Fritz-Schubert Institute // Possible partners: Cantonal School Wiedikon, Rebhügel Secondary School, Bühl Primary School, Seniorama im Tiergarten

I/we implement the idea independently

Depends on number of participants