Zhao Cheng

Project Coordinator

Zhao joined the CSCP in 2021 and the Sustainable Infrastructure, Products and Services Team in 2024.

Her core competencies and interests encompass circular economy, capacity building, digitalisation, and innovation for sustainability. With her master’s degree in Futures Studies at the Freie Universtität Berlin, Zhao has expertise in futures research and foresight.

During her studies, she explored how futures research engages with different modes of probable, possible, and desirable futures to equip decision makers with orientation knowledge for informed and future-robust decisions. Methodologically, she specializes in scenario techniques, participatory methods, and Delphi. At CSCP, Zhao aspires to explore how images of future can be created and used to drive sustainable transformation on systemic, organizational, and individual levels. She aims to empower individuals and organizations to envision alternative futures, identify blind spots and open up perceptions of possibilities towards sustainability.

Building on her experience from the Design Thinking program at Hasso-Plattner Institute, Zhao advocates for applying those approaches that emphasize System Thinking, interdisciplinary collaboration and a growth mindset to exploring innovative pathways and developing tangible solutions together with CSCP clients and partners. Zhao believes that a successful transformation journey towards sustainability starts with methodologically guided futures thinking and progresses with innovative and collaborative futures making.

In her previous career, Zhao excelled as an executive acquisition consultant, focusing on IT, digitalisation, and manufacturing. After gaining extensive experience in addressing business challenges for MNCs, SMEs and startups across diverse industries like telco, software, robotics, and consumer goods from a human resources perspective, she dedicates herself to pursuing a sustainable future through a holistic and systemic approach.

In addition to the Futures Studies, Zhao holds a master’s degree in Comparative German Studies from the Universität Heidelberg with a professional profile in business communication. She speaks fluent Chinese, German and English.

Zhao is a Chinese national.