German industrial SMEs are confronted with a number of strategic uncertainties. In uncertain planning contexts, it is necessary to consider various possible development paths. Working with scenarios offers various added values here:

• Scenarios make it possible to think in terms of alternative future developments in order to deal with complex uncertainties
• They promote the targeted and conscious opening of future thinking
• Scenarios are used to think through possible, plausible and desirable or undesirable development directions
• After discussing various scenarios, it is often easier to categorise individual current events in a medium to long-term future context
• Scenarios also promote (strategic) sensitisation to surprising events and developments
• Last but not least, they are also a means of strategic planning to make the opportunities and risks of the future tangible today, which also enables the derivation of consistent measures and courses of action for future strategies
• New innovation and design potential can be identified based on the discussions of the scenarios
• The overarching goal of all futurology is to create the ability to act in different contexts

Categorisation of the scenarios

The scenarios developed in the project are to be interpreted in an action-orientated manner. The aim is to identify potential and challenges for German industrial SMEs in all scenarios, which will then enable further strategic considerations. The futures described in the scenarios are to be understood as plausible, but at the same time also as sharpened thought patterns or thought experiments, which should enable the identification of new options. It is important for the categorisation of the project results: The scenarios identified in the process are not forecasts of future developments. They also do not represent target images or horizons of expectation in the sense of an association or an interest group, but are plausible and conceivable model descriptions of future developments identified with an open mind.

As these are not forecasts, the future will probably not look exactly as described in the scenarios. Scenarios are not mutually exclusive images of the future; rather, the reality of the 2030s could also consist of elements from different scenarios. These scenarios should therefore also be understood as future scenarios that are representative of similar developments. Due to the pointed and excerpt-like description, scenarios also deliberately avoid completeness - which is why they should be seen as offers for further discussions and offers to think about the future.