About the foundation

Bodies and persons

Management

Prof Dr Ulrich Reinhardt

Scientific Director and Chairman of the Board of Trustees

Professor Dr Ulrich Reinhardt, born in 1970, is a futurologist and Scientific Director of the "Stiftung für Zukunftsfragen - eine Initiative von BAT". He also holds a professorship for Empirical Futures Studies at the Department of Economics at the West Coast University of Applied Sciences in Heide and is an adjunct professor at UNCW in the USA.

Dr Ulrich Reinhardt, born in 1970, is Scientific Director of the "Stiftung für Zukunftsfragen - eine Initiative von BAT". He also holds a professorship for Empirical Futures Research at the West Coast University of Applied Sciences in Heide and is an adjunct professor at UNCW in the USA.

In 1999, he completed his studies in educational science and psychology at the University of Hamburg and started as a doctoral student at the former "Leisure Research Institute". He then took on various roles at the institute before becoming a managing board member of the Foundation for Future Studies in 2007. He took over as Scientific Director at the beginning of 2011.

His research interests include social change, labour and European research as well as the leisure, consumer and tourism behaviour of Germans. He is the author of numerous publications, his most recent publications include "So tickt Deutschland" (2024), "German Mut statt German Angst - 44 Ideen für eine bessere Zukunft" (2023), "Europas Zukunft" (2019), "Die Zukunft des Konsums" (2019), "Schöne neue Arbeitswelt? What's coming, what's staying, what's going" (2018), "How Hamburg ticks - 77 questions for the future" (2016) "Future! Deutschland im Wandel - der Mensch im Mittelpunkt" (2015), "Schleswig-Holstein - heute und morgen" (2015), "Blickpunkt Zukunft" (2014), "Generationenvertrag statt Generationenverrat" (2013) and "United Dreams of Europe" (2011). He also publishes the annual "German Tourism Analysis" and the "Leisure Monitor".

Reinhardt is also the initiator and source of ideas for a large number of research projects and co-editor of the international journal "European Journal of Futures Research". He is also committed to transatlantic cooperation between Germany, Europe and America. He has been an honourable member of Atlantik-Brücke e.V. since 2023.

In his Future podcast "How Germany ticks" he talks about his current research, asks questions about the future and makes predictions. True to the foundation's principle: "The changing world - people at the centre".

In his private life, Reinhardt is happily married with two children.

"Future is origin" is a principle of the foundation, what do you mean by this?

Our research approach is based on time series and comparative values. This means that we ask a representative cross-section of the population the same questions over and over again, enabling us to create trends and reliable forecasts. One core result of our time series research is almost always repeated: people only change their behaviour very slowly and remain true to themselves. New opportunities do not automatically lead to a change in behaviour.

For over 30 years, the foundation's work focussed on Germany. What prompted you to break with this tradition and expand the field of research to Europe?

On the one hand, increasing globalisation and Europeanisation are having a much greater impact on life in Germany today than in the past. We want to take this development into account. On the other hand, I am a convinced European and believe in the necessity of a continent that is growing together.

Your predecessor - Professor Dr Horst W. Opaschowski - shaped the foundation for three decades. What recommendations did he give you along the way?

I had the great good fortune and also the honour of accompanying Professor Dr Opaschowski for over ten years and learning from him. During this time, he successively transferred research areas and responsibilities to me and at the same time always encouraged me to develop my own fields of research. The trust and knowledge that he transferred to me was an ideal starting opportunity to successfully continue my work at the Foundation.

Let's look to the future - where do you see the foundation in the future?

People will continue to be the focus of our research in the future - with their behaviour and all their needs, wishes, fears and hopes. The foundation committed itself to researching this and drawing the right conclusions from the findings over 30 years ago. We will remain true to this principle in the future.

We will maintain the traditional foundation fields such as leisure and tourism, education and labour as well as research into socio-demographic groups such as youth, women and senior citizens. At the same time, however, we will also investigate new topics. Based on our European research, for example, we will certainly venture overseas in the coming years and turn our attention to global comparative studies.

Photos

Executive Board and employees

Christian Merkel

Foundation for Future Issues

Head of Corporate and Regulatory Affairs BAT

Karin Schlömer

Executive Board
Foundation for Future Issues

Head of Corporate Affairs
BAT

Claudio-Alberto Dötsch

Management Board
Foundation for Future Issues

Head of Legal and External Affairs BAT

Ayaan Güls

Press spokeswoman

Foundation for Future Issues - a BAT initiative

Board of Trustees
Supervisory body and advisory board

In order to fulfil the Foundation's aim of acting as an interface between science, business, society and politics, the Board of Trustees is made up of representatives from the fields of media, social policy, ideology and education. The board acts both as a supervisory body and as an advisory group for the foundation's work.

Miriam Hiller

Head of Global Corporate Campaigning BAT

„Wir bei BAT übernehmen heute schon die Verantwortung für das Morgen: Durch unser gesellschaftliches Engagement schaffen wir Impulse, die nachhaltig wirken und den Weg in eine lebenswerte Zukunft ebnen. Unter dem Motto „A Better Tomorrow“ gestalten wir mutig und optimistisch innovative Lösungen, die langfristig positive Veränderungen bewirken. Es ist mir eine Freude, diese Zukunft aktiv mitzugestalten.“

Oliver Engels

Startup Mentor und CMO Churchill Recovery Soda

„Schon heute trägt freiwilliges Engagement dazu bei, das Morgen lebenswert zu erhalten. Nachhaltige Impulse entfalten Wirkung und öffnen neue Möglichkeitsräume für die Zukunft. Unter dem Leitgedanken „A Better Tomorrow“ entstehen visionäre Konzepte, die mutig und zuversichtlich umgesetzt werden. So gelingt die aktive Mitgestaltung einer besseren Welt von morgen.“

Dr Jürgen Großmann

Managers and entrepreneurs

"The machine that changed the world" - this is how the automobile was described by American authors 100 years after its invention in Germany. And indeed, it has changed our lives. Today, it is IT developments such as digitalisation and the internet that seem to have a greater influence on the future of humanity than conscious changes to our living conditions brought about by people themselves.

Given these challenges posed by technology, how can we organise the coexistence of people in the future? Will the erosion of the economic middle class continue, will the proletariat continue to grow, followed by the precarity of the educationally disadvantaged? What can be the glue that holds humanity in general, but also our nation, together?

I am interested in such issues at the Foundation for Future Studies."

Leif Lümkemann

Vice President Human Resources at NV Bekaert Rubber Reinforcement

"'The future is now': shaping the challenges of the future in the present - on the basis of facts, data and clear recommendations for action. Since its establishment, the Foundation for Future Issues has made a significant contribution to social dialogue. The foundation's purpose is of great practical relevance, particularly in terms of responsibility for HR strategy and corporate culture, and helps many decision-makers to harmonise the challenges of the future with forward-looking decisions."

Prof Dr Horst W. Opaschowski

Futurologist and consultant for business and politics, former Scientific Director of the Foundation for Future Studies

"Advise. Accompany. Expertise. As a scientist, I ensure the sustainable fulfilment of the foundation's purpose: Finding answers to open questions about the future and helping to solve future problems."