Greiner Talks with Christina von Messling

What does the everyday work of a futurologist look like? How optimistic can we be about the future? In an interview with Greiner Talks host Alexander Berth, Christina von Messling gives us an insight into her job and reveals why she is "realistically optimistic" about the future despite an often grim outlook.

Christina von Messling is a senior strategic foresight consultant at the Future Today Institute in New York City. She specialises in climate, entertainment and Europe, and starts each workday with thorough research. In doing so, she keeps an eye out for developments that haven't yet hit the mainstream. Does her job leave room for optimism? "Absolutely. We are very optimistic. We're optimistic realists." Most people want to see positive change, so as a futurologist, she points to plausible futures that inspire. Even though catastrophic scenarios have their place as well. “We decide what our future is going to be and it depends on our actions today what will happen in 2030.” - Futurologist Christina von Messling One grim scenario concerns climate change: According to the latest IPCC report, we will probably reach 1.5 degrees of warming by the early 2030s. Personally, this definitely scares her, as many measures are not taking effect fast enough. She emphasises that we still have to find solutions to many problems. But our future is in our own hands. Listen in now and learn more!