Who cares, really? – A reflection on re:publica24

There seems to be little time left to say something worth reading about #rp24 – We have commented on what we did during the festival and discussed our highlights. Now, as a collective of feminist and critical futurists, we would like to share some thoughts: what did we like, what did we miss and what do we hope to see next year in the programme of one of the best #digitalsociety events in Europe.??

As a start, here’s what we did like:?

?? We loved the motto: #WHOCARES – Besides having many strands (we can’t avoid thinking about the care economy and the structural injustices surrounding it), this question is intrinsically linked to the construction of futures. If we consider collective futuring a critical act per se –and we at Futures Probes do– we necessarily have to have the willingness to change things and challenge the status quo. IOW: if nobody cares, who would consider social improvement anyway???

???? We were excited to see the strong presence of the gender issue both throughout the programme and among the audience. Don’t get us wrong, we are not surprised, re:publica has always been an event at the forefront of social movements in which dissent is celebrated, but we were very pleased to experience it. The gender shift is a #futures topic –some even consider it a megatrend– that we are particularly interested in and boy, do we hope that what is to come looks a lot like what we experienced last week at STATION Berlin.??

?? Finally, we were quite flashed by the high standard of the work reflected in the programme. We have said it and repeated it, but it was truly exhilarating to spend three days surrounded by such excellence.??

Let's continue with what we missed:?

?? In some talks and discussions –no, we won't spill the tea here by naming names–, we missed depth and, quite frankly, critical thinking. We understand that not everyone is in a position to stand up to the establishment in a forceful way at an event attended by more than 33k people. But to discuss the climate issues without mentioning the interest of certain industries in delaying the implementation of adaptation strategies in a suicidal race against humanity’s biggest emergency or to talk about shaping futures without acknowledging the inequality of power that makes what the imagination of some much closer to becoming a reality than that of others, does fall short and, honestly, saddens us.?????

To end, here’s what we hope to see at #rp25:?

?? Call us na?ve, but in 2025 we wish to see more provocation. re:publica is a unique space to learn about what is being done on the margins of innovation. In this sense, in illuminating the what, follow-up questions that make us reflect become a necessity: who is pursuing what strategies and why? Who is benefiting from the transformations that are taking place? Who is denouncing them and on what basis? In the case of re:publica, we are talking particularly about what is happening in the digital world, which, if it was once discernible from what is happening ‘offline’, is no longer the case. The steps we take “in the cloud” matter and impact beyond it. In 2025, we hope to leave the festival having learned not only what the protesters are saying, but what we can do as feminist futurists and as a team that –still?– has a lot of faith in the potential of collective social transformation.