Historians may in some distant future declare hurricane "Katrina" to be the turning point for the fossil economy. In Germany and many other European states environmental policy has moved from the fringes into the very centre of mainstream politics. Since the warm winter 2006 / 2007, climate change is not only discussed on the political and economic pages of newspapers but on the cultural pages and in the do-it-yourself sections.

It is thus high time for some basic reflections on the ecological challenge and its implications for human society.

In the new series of lectures "Vordenken" - Thinking ahead, the Wuppertal Institute and the Heinrich Böll Foundation will invite thinkers on man and society (philosophers, sociologists, economists) to share their reflections on the ecological challenge 35 years after the publication of the "Limits to Growth" with their audience.