On February 8, 2024, the Chair of Innovation and Technology Management (iTM) and the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research(Fraunhofer ISI) are organizing the lecture and discussion round "Future of Food: Nutrition of the Future between Hunger, Innovation and (De-)Regulation" in the series "Focus: Future. Our life 2050".

The global population is growing steadily and with it the challenges in the area of nutrition. Advancing climate change is further exacerbating the situation. Extreme weather events such as heatwaves and droughts go hand in hand with this and increasingly lead to crop failures. Food security is taking center stage. Against the backdrop of climate change, population growth and rising prosperity, how can we achieve the UN's second sustainable development goal and ensure that everyone in the world has enough food without depleting our resources or harming the environment? Which foods do we need as basic supplies and which foods may be considered luxury goods in the future?

Both agriculture and the food industry are producing numerous innovations. One possibility is the genetic manipulation of food to make it more resilient and thus ensure harvest success. The latest successes in the field of genetic engineering promise to be able to achieve considerable changes through minimal intervention in the genome. Another example is the progressive use of digital technologies in agriculture to manage land more efficiently. At the same time, there is currently a rethink in (German) society; a growing number of people are increasingly eating a plant-based diet. In 2022, Germans ate less meat than they have in over 30 years. Alternative protein sources such as insects, plant-based meat substitutes and cultured meat are also entering the market.

What impact will the major challenges of our time have on future food security and how can we prepare for them? What impact will technological innovations such as 3D food printing or personalized nutrition have on the future of food? What principles do we use to regulate the food market? Do we need to rethink these in light of the growing world population?

We would like to discuss these and other questions in dialog with experts from science, business and society as well as our guests.

Here you can find a review of the last Fokus: Zukunft event.

The event will take place at Triangel Open Space (Kaiserstraße 93, 76133 Karlsruhe) and will start at 5:30 pm. Sparkling wine reception from 5:00 p.m. Admission is free.

The program

Introductory lecture

Prof. Dr. Marion A. Weissenberger-Eibl, Chair of iTM at KIT and Director of the Fraunhofer ISI

Keynote speeches & discussion

Marc Galley, Daniel Trippe, Co-Founders Vertical Farm Tech GmbH

Helena Keller, Team Leader Corporate Responsibility Schwarz Dienstleistungen

Dr. Bärbel Hüsing, Fraunhofer ISI

Lea Fliess, Managing Director Forum Moderne Landwirtschaft e.V.

Moderation

Dr. Malte Busch, Fraunhofer ISI