Neither would participants nor organisers have thought that this year’s edition of the Young Leaders of Europe would end guarded by the German motorway police, but so it happened: at the end of the week, late afternoon of June 26, participants “only” wanted to go from Krefeld to Duisburg, there to enjoy – as final programme – the “ExtraSchicht – Night of Industrial Culture”. Yet half way down the motorway, the bus gave up, and our group spent a good 30 minutes under a motorway bridge between graffitis and stinging nettles. Ultimately, a second bus came, and the German policemen securing the bus and its passengers on the hard shoulder of the motorway commented our group’s obviously excellent mood, “So you’re having fun, aren’t you?”

Yes, participants had fun – and not only on this evening but right from the start. Yet all of the 38 participants from politics, business, the media and NGOSs from Europe and its neighbouring countries to the south and east were also highly motivated and curious, on the one hand, and knowledgeable and experienced, on the other and took eagerly part in the series of lectures, debates and workshop formats. Right at the start at Heinz Nixdorf MuseumsForum in Paderborn they used the opportunity to talk to two heavy-weights of the business world, representatives of two global companies Claas and SAP, on the “risky business abroad” in countries where the existence of the rule of law is just as dubitable as is security. And “get rid of your ignorance”, as recommended by those two speakers, could go just as well for doing business abroad as for the Young Leaders for Europe event 2016.

Whether Europe was rather refuge or fortress was discussed with former EU commissioner for employment, social affairs and gender equality and former Greek minister for education, life-long learning and religious affairs, Anna Diamantoupolou, as well as with other experts on migration and integration.

And, above all, participants were affected by the Brexit referendum, which took place during this week, and its impact. In two rounds participants discussed causes and effects of the referendum for the UK as well as for Europe, and a World Café on the last day helped to shape participants’ ideas of the future of Europe.

These issues were supplemented by talks and debates on energy policy in Europe, its actors and their interests, on important players such as Russia and Turkey, as well as on the challenges of Islamist fundamentalism. Swiss journalist and war reporter Kurt Pelda backed his presentation with impressive materials from his recent documentary. The final highlight was a simulation game on how to deal with precarious governments … and the ExtraSchicht at the Gasometer Oberhausen and in the Duisburg North Landscape Park.

The Young Leaders for Europe-Team, for the first time, documented the event with daily “vlogs” (video blogs), short films that were to put participants and the overall atmosphere to the fore. For the playlist see here.

With the annual Young Leaders for Europe dialogue, the Heinz Nixdorf Stiftung and the Bertelsmann Stiftung want to give future decision-makers the space for an open discussion about strategies and options to improve Europe’s relations with its neighbours. Lectures, workshops, case studies, management games and different interactive formats serve to give participants impulses for their own work. In that, we cooperate with renowned speakers – decision-makers and experts – from politics, business, the media and the academe. Apart from deepening their professional knowledge, we offer participants the opportunity to develop their own network of professional and personal contacts.