Futures Library
A new pop-up event aims to inspire optimism about the future during Climate Week Zurich and the Net Zero Day. Selected ‘curators’ from the ETH Zurich community will recommend books, and some will read from them on the spot.
Future thinking
The Futures Library will be hosted in the main ETH building during external page Climate Week Zurich and the Net Zero Day. As a joint project between the ETH Library, ETH Sustainability and external page Kühne Wicki, this small pop-up library will create spaces for societal future thinking from 4 to 8 May 2026.
Excerpts on the future
The Futures Library is curated by around 70 selected individuals from the wider ETH community – ranging from students to prominent alumni. They have all recommended books that inspire a sense of anticipation for the future. Through short excerpts – ‘passages’ – the curators explain how these works have inspired them. The recommendations include classics by well-known thought leaders as well as surprising new discoveries, scientific literature and fiction – a cornucopia of inspiration.
Sustainability of Knowledge
Fake news, ‘alternative realities’, machine-generated fantasy texts and accounts of events that never actually took place – changes in technology, politics and society are increasingly calling the integrity of knowledge into question. This makes reliable sources all the more important. Academic libraries play a central role in the ‘sustainability of knowledge’ – that is, the long-term preservation, accessibility and further development of knowledge.
Lunchtime readings
The pop-up library will be complemented by four moderated lunchtime readings:
Monday, 4 May 2026, 13:00–14:00 (North Hall E of the ETH Main Building)
Dr Elli Mosayebi, Professor in the Department of Architecture (DE)
Moderator: Senem Wicki, kühne wicki
Tuesday, 5 May 2026, 13:00–14:00 (North Hall E of the ETH Main Building)
Dr Emily Cross, Professor in the Department of Humanities, Social Sciences and Political Science at ETH Zurich (EN)Moderator: Dr Claudia Zingerli, ETH Sustainability
Thursday, 7 May 2026, 13:00–14:00 (ETH Main Building, D7.2)
Dr Adolf Muschg, Professor Emeritus at the Department of Humanities, Social Sciences and Political Science (DE)
Moderator: Dr Tobias Amslinger, ETH Library
Friday, 8 May 2026, 13:00–14:00 (ETH Main Building, E1.1)
Dr h.c. Lukas Bärfuss, author and dramaturg, member of the Board of Trustees of the Max Frisch Foundation (DE)
Moderator: Smilla Diener, kühne wicki
Site map
Partners
The Futures Library at ETH Zurich is organised by the ETH Library, ETH Sustainability and external page Kühne Wicki. It is supported by the Swiss Academy of Humanities and Social Sciences (external page SAGW) and the Swiss Academic Society for Environmental Research and Ecology (external page saguf). It is also part of the external page SAGW Rectoverso event series ‘Futures’, SAGW 2025–2026. The Futures Library takes place as part of external page Climate Week Zurich and ETH Zurich’s Net Zero Day.