Zukunftszentrum presents: 

Shift Change – The Future on Shaky Ground
Market for Useful Knowledge and Non-Knowledge, License No. 15

Around 300 metres from the neues theater runs the ‘Hallesche Störung’ (Halle Fault), also known as the ‘Marktplatzverwerfung’ (Market Square Fault). Different layers of rock meet at this fault line. It was here that salt once rose to the surface, laying the foundations for the city’s wealth.

The history of Halle (Saale) is also characterised by ruptures and profound changes. Landscapes, industries, political systems and ways of life have become layered one on top of the other over the course of time, much like geological strata. Following the upheavals of 1989, work, neighbourhoods and people's lives were transformed here, as they were everywhere in eastern Germany. Every change left its mark – some visible, others hidden.

The market explores the framework for our future with the title ‘Shift Change – The Future on Shaky Ground’. Which experiences and memories are passed on? What underlying tensions and conflicts are at play? Which changes are already on the horizon?

90 experts from everyday life, academia, culture and business share their knowledge. 180 one-to-one conversations connect people from different walks of life – a solicitor specialising in insolvency law explains what options are available when the burden of debt becomes too great; an urban planner discusses construction site logistics; a nurse describes how shift work shapes his family’s life; and a literary scholar talks about the risks of nostalgia.
 

The Market for Useful Knowledge and Non-Knowledge is an extraordinary discussion format organised by the Mobile Academy Berlin. Since 2004, it has taken place 35 times across 13 countries – most recently in Mülheim (Ruhr), Frankfurt (Main), Milan and now in Halle (Saale). For one evening, the neues theater is transformed into a place of exchange – becoming an integrated hub that combines a marketplace, exchange, and advice centre.