ZEIT · RÄUME

With ZEIT · RÄUME, we want to fill this gap. Our aim is to place time at the center as an independent political resource, comparable to education, capital, or infrastructure. Time policy means not only reducing inequalities, but also unlocking potential: for economic dynamism, social resilience, and individual freedom.

A smart, forward-looking time policy considers opportunities and responsibilities together. It asks: How can people regain more influence over their lifetime? What institutional conditions are needed to balance gainful employment, care work, social engagement, and leisure time? And how can digital technologies and organizational innovations actually create freedom instead of consuming it?

Time is not just a private commodity. It is a location factor. Companies that offer time sovereignty are more attractive to skilled workers. Societies that take time justice seriously are more resilient in crises. States that shape time policy create the basis for innovation.

Zeit ist nicht nur ein privates Gut. Sie ist ein Standortfaktor. Unternehmen, die Zeitsouveränität bieten, sind attraktiver für Fachkräfte. Gesellschaften, die Zeitgerechtigkeit ernst nehmen, sind resilienter in Krisen. Staaten, die Zeitpolitik gestalten, schaffen die Grundlage für Innovation.

The ZEIT · RÄUME project has three main goals:

1. To make time poverty visible. We want to show how differently time is distributed and how strongly it determines opportunities and quality of life.
2. To understand time prosperity as a social resource. Time should no longer be treated solely as a question of efficiency or compatibility, but must become a core issue of political governance.
3. Providing impetus for a sustainable time policy. We are opening up spaces for debate that go beyond sectoral logic and consider time in connection with justice, freedom, innovative strength, and prosperity.

We bring together stakeholders from politics, science, business, and society. Our events not only serve to present new ideas, but also as forums for discussion, where ideas can be further developed and fed into the political discourse. In this way, ZEIT · RÄUME becomes a platform that translates insights into options for action.

At the same time, we are gathering qualitative insights into the everyday lives of people who experience time scarcity particularly acutely. Using time diaries, interviews, and photo reports, we document their perspectives: How does time become condensed in everyday life? What opportunities are missing? And where do opportunities nevertheless arise? The diaries show that time poverty is not an individual failure, but a structural issue – and give the debate a human face.