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In 2020, the coronavirus pandemic made us more aware of our vulnerability – as a group, as a community, as citizens of Europe. This insight strengthens our solidarity with each other and our determination to find innovative solutions for challenges. The search for strategies...

In 2020, the coronavirus pandemic made us more aware of our vulnerability – as a group, as a community, as citizens of Europe. This insight strengthens our solidarity with each other and our determination to find innovative solutions for challenges. The search for strategies...

In Transnational Citizens' Dialogues, randomly selected citizens from different countries come together and exchange ideas.

French President Emmanuel Macron has dared to do something new. 150 randomly selected citizens met regularly over a period of a few months in a Citizens’ Assembly on the topic of climate change.

EU and OECD countries vary considerably in terms of their pre-crisis socioeconomic conditions. Their capacity for political reform also varies widely. These differences are likely to grow as the COVID-19 crisis continues.

Ireland has set an example for democratic innovation. The Irish Citizens’ Assembly shows that democracy can be reinvigorated if citizens get a greater say.

“Trust in social and political institutions” is one of nine dimensions underlying the Bertelsmann Stiftung’s empirical measure of social cohesion. Although the studies we have conducted in recent years have shown that social cohesion in Germany as a whole remains strong, an...

Since 2013, the Bertelsmann Stiftung has in numerous studies repeatedly examined the state of social cohesion, while seeking to determine which factors influence it. These efforts have included studies with a cross-national comparative focus, at the national level in Germany...

The topic of social cohesion has gained significantly in importance in recent years, while attracting increasing attention. Over the long term, the megatrends of globalization, digital transformation and demographic change are driving rapid, comprehensive and fundamental...

The third of October 2020 marked the 30th anniversary of German reunification. The debate over whether, and if so at what pace, a Germany that “belongs together is growing together” is just as old. Differences between the federal states of the former West Germany and the...