How can culture, politics and business work together to meet the challenges of the future? Will united Europe fall victim to individual national interests? Is the economy the silver bullet when it comes to solving global...

In the “From local to European” joint project, the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) and Bertelsmann Stiftung – together with 23 cooperation projects from 67 European cities and regions – conducted Citizens’ Dialogues with...

This report by the High Level Advisory Group of the Conference Observatory analyses the proceedings of the Conference on the Future of Europe in depth, offers recommendations on how to make the Conference a success, and sketches...

China is closely following Russia’s ongoing brutal war against Ukraine. The consequences it will draw from the war for its national policies will substantially impact the future of its already strained relationship with the...

Governing with flexible majorities expands the scope for political action. Despite this, the traffic light coalition continues to rely exclusively on rigid majorities, loyalty oaths and rigid coalition discipline. There are...

Participatory budgeting has a long, worldwide tradition. Administrations and politicians regularly make financial decisions and decide on the budget for the coming years. Participatory budgeting involves the population in...

Compared with other countries, and in particular other EU member states, Austria’s performance during the coronavirus crisis has not been unsuccessful. In terms of medical (e.g., infection and death rates) and economic indicators...

Belgium, even more than the rest of Europe, was hit very severely by the COVID-19 epidemic. The exact reasons for Europe’s poor performance will be debated for years to come, but available evidence already allows strong...

There is little question that the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in countries around the world, Canada included, operating in an environment of extreme uncertainty. In Canada, the pandemic not only unfolded heterogeneously across the...

Chile was going through a political and social crisis when the coronavirus pandemic hit the country. Since October 2019, massive peaceful demonstrations as well as acts of destruction targeting infrastructure had dominated the...