Magdalena Soetebeer

As a trained communication designer and futurist, I work at the intersection of strategic foresight, futures literacy, software development, and science communication at Schaltzeit, a Berlin-based foresight company.

My particular interest lies in critical futures studies and in the question of how futures research can become relevant beyond academia and professional foresight communities. I am especially interested in how we communicate about futures: whose images of the future become visible, which assumptions and worldviews they carry, and how alternative futures can be made accessible, discussable, and open to critique.

A central concern of my work is to make the value of futures research tangible for society and democratic practice. I understand democracy, at its core, as a collective process of negotiating and shaping shared futures. Futures literacy and critical engagement with images of the future can therefore help broaden the space of what people consider possible, question dominant narratives, and strengthen their capacity to participate in shaping change.

I hold a Bachelor’s degree in Communication Design from THWS and a Master’s degree in Futures Studies from Freie Universität Berlin. I have also completed advanced training in Design Thinking at the Hasso Plattner Institute and in facilitating future workshops at the Robert Jungk Library for Future Studies.