Episode 1: Geoengineering

14 February, 7 pm / ETH Hönggerberg, bus station / Duration: approx. 2h

With temperatures rising, geoengineering has been both condemned and hailed as a possible solution. By releasing aerosols into the atmosphere temperatures dropped. However, the deployment of these technologies has also ignited tensions between neighboring states, as phenomena like acid rain, floods, and droughts are increasingly attributed to human intervention in the atmosphere.

In this episode, the Ministry for the Future undertakes the critical task of organizing an international conference on geoengineering. To lay the groundwork, Yram convenes a hearing at ETH Hönggerberg with prominent scientists and members of the Service Citoyen:ne: Prof. Thomas Stocker, climate physicists and key member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC); Prof. Claudia Mohr, head of the Atmospheric Chemistry Laboratory at the Paul Scherrer Institute and a leading expert in aerosol chemistry; and Dr. Sandro Vattioni, a scientist at ETH specialized in the climatic impacts of stratospheric solar climate intervention. With them, the “Ministry for the Future” evaluates the opportunities, weighs the risks, and outlines steps toward a globally agreed-upon framework for action.

Episode 2: Extinction

28 March, 7 pm / Central, in front of the Polybahn station next to the fountain / Duration: approx. 2h

We join underground networks, both social and biological. The Ministry achieved important successes, but political tensions between the carbon lobby and eco-activists still escalate around the central question: Which ends justify which means? Minister Yram ends up in the middle of it all. But the true protagonist is the 2nd largest carbon recycler and great ally against the climate crisis: Mycorrhizal fungal networks.  

What does it mean to lose a species? The minister calls for a basic orientation. Of all the worrisome developments related to climate change, biodiversity loss is by far the most irreversible. Therefore, protection should be non-negotiable. But not every species has the same lobby. Charismatic megafauna and over-ground life have caught the public attention in the last century and conservation efforts were mobilized. But what about the hidden agents? How do we protect what we don't see, and still hardly know?

Some call them the coral reefs of the soil, others speak of underground rainforests: Soil and the mycorrhizal fungal networks within contain unimaginable biodiversity, in fascinating systemic collaboration with entire ecosystems. Plants feed the fungal networks carbon in exchange for other nutrients — making the mycorrhizal networks central carbon recyclers.

But fractures in the fungi are appearing. Farming practices, habitat destruction, extreme temperature: All threaten mass underground extinctions.

Do fungi have a lobby, and if not: do they need one? What about Algae? Bacteria? What can politics do for fungi? Must we rethink farming and develop a new agroecology? Should forests be engineered — or even put on life support? What if fungi are granted the same conservation status as animals? A hearing on behalf of invisible and unknown diversity.

Episode 3: Nomadism

11 April, 7 pm / Rathausbrücke, bus station / Duration: approx. 2h

The Ministry addresses problems around the globe. But in this episode, the crisis unfolds right on its doorstep. In 2032 and 2033, Switzerland and much of the Alpine region were devastated by unprecedented 1,000-year floods. Hundreds of thousands were forced to evacuate their homes—including in Zurich. With such extreme events now appearing to be part of a new normal, the governments of the Alpine region have turned to the Ministry for the Future for guidance and consultation. How likely is another flood in 2034? Should flood risk maps determine where people are allowed to live? Could the future of residence in flood-prone areas involve seasonal migration, adopting a nomadic way of life? And if so, where should people relocate—to other parts of Switzerland, or to neighboring countries?

Among the speakers at the hearing are Dr. Federica Remondi, responsible for Swiss Re's global natural catastrophe risk assessment, in this role, she coordinates and mentors research activities and model developments in regards to hydro-meteorological extreme events, advancing Swiss Re's global flood models, David Kostenwein, coordinator of the Humanitarian Planning Hub at the Spatial Development and Urban Policy Research Group at ETH, and Dr. Yan Freihardt, a political scientist specializing in the effects of climate change on communities in Bangladesh. Additional experts will follow.

Episode 4: Foundation

25 April, 7 pm / Semper Sternwarte / Duration: approx. 2h

On January 20th, 2025, just hours after Donald Trump’s inauguration, he officially withdrew from the Paris Climate Agreement, the same international treaty that, in the fictional reality of the novel, leads to the foundation of a UN Agency on the very same year. Reality did not just catch up with science fiction, it has colonialized it. The future we once knew has disappeared. Or has it?

With the last episode we return to the present, to a moment right before the potential foundation of a Ministry for the Future. This present is not what the book envisioned. But one doesn’t need a time traveler to know: The second best time to act is now.

At the Semper Sternwarte, we bring together the experiences of the three previous episodes, activists, policy makers, entrepreneurs—and you. We will look back, ahead, and into the distance: What does it mean to take Robinson’s vision seriously? Is an international institution even the right tool for the task? Who wants to take up the spade and break the ground for a Ministry for the Future?