Research “made in Hamburg” at Berlin’s Futurium

4 December 2025, by Stephanie Janssen

Photo: Jan Windszus

Companies, consumption, climate policy – how far have social processes progressed in terms of climate protection?

Effective immediately, Berlin’s Futurium museum features an exhibit showcasing Hamburg-based climate research. In the game, visitors can estimate for themselves how far society has come in terms of climate protection. Once they’ve set all the dials to what they guess to be the right levels, they can hit the “finished” button. Green lights then show how effectively certain areas are supporting climate protection – and how others are slowing it down.  

Around the globe, ten disparate processes have to all be on course to meet our climate targets. These include consumption patterns, the UN’s climate policy, knowledge production, company strategies, social movements and protests, national climate policies, the media, and climate lawsuits.

The experts at the University of Hamburg’s Cluster of Excellence CLICCS provide regular updates on these key processes. Are they currently supporting climate protection, and are they effective enough? After all, the climate targets will only be reached if enough countries succeed in reducing their greenhouse-gas emissions to “net zero” by 2050. If that happens, global warming through 2100 could be limited to 1.5 or 2 degrees Celsius.

At the Futurium, located next door to Berlin’s Main Station, visitors will find a range of other interactive exhibits to explore. They show what our world might look like in the near future – addressing aspects from smart technologies to sustainable lifestyles. In this setting, CLICCS fits right in; the Cluster of Excellence pursues research into which future developments are plausible, and which desirable climate futures are actually realistic, always in dialogue with society.  

“We helped prepare the Futurium exhibit because we feel it’s interesting to explore complex topics in a game-like way,” says Professor Anita Engels. “We show the various processes that would all need to support the climate transformation – and answer the question of whether or not they’re currently doing so. Sometimes pushing a button can lead to new insights. We want to spark new discussions on how those processes that are lagging behind can be accelerated – another topic we’re investigating in Hamburg.” Engels is one of the editors of the Hamburg Climate Futures Outlooks, a series of essential studies conducted by CLICCS that provides the research basis for the game.