Bertelsmann Stiftung "Democracy"

Anchoring citizen participation in Europe - at the local level

Tue, 26 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0200

Why is citizen participation important and why does it need an institutional framework? Our event revolving around these topics was met with great interest across Europe: more than 120 registered participants from 27 countries and 70 regions, cities and municipalities attended the event. This event is part of the initiative "A new chapter for participatory democracy" of the Bertelsmann Foundation and the European Committee of the Regions.

EU needs to be more ambitious with citizen participation

Wed, 06 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0200

The EU institutions are continuing their effort to advance citizen participation. In May 2023, the first generation of European Citizens’ Panels announced by the Commission President von der Leyen finished their work. The team of the EU Democracy Reform Observatory, a joint collaborative project with the European Policy Centre in Brussels, followed the work of the panels to see what became of the Commission’s ambition to set up regular panels and summarised their observations in the paper titled ‘Assessing the European Citizens' Panels: Greater Ambition Needed’.

Learning from Canada: Insights for German integration policy

Tue, 29 Aug 2023 00:00:00 +0200

SHORTCUT 11 – August 2023

Wed, 23 Aug 2023 09:31:33 +0200

Assessing the European Citizens’ Panels: Greater ambition needed

Strengthening European democracy at grassroots level: More competences for citizen participation

Mon, 03 Jul 2023 00:00:00 +0200

What do Zagreb (Croatia), Brussels (Belgium), Madrid (Spain), the Gemeente Middelburg (Netherlands), Roskovec (Albania) and Budapest (Hungary) have in common? They all want to strengthen the involvement of their citizens in political decisions about Europe. On June 16 and 23 2023, the Bertelsmann Foundation and the Committee of the Regions, together with more than 60 regions and cities from all over Europe, launched the first modules of their joint initiative 'A new chapter for participatory democracy'. The goal: capacity building on methods of citizen participation and competencies for quality implementation.

Europe's Democracy - Crisis or Renewal?

Tue, 13 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0200

Democracy does not have it easy in Europe: it has to cope with major challenges of climate change and digitalisation, ensure freedom, sufficient participation and good life for citizens, and respond to security threat of the war in the immediate vicinity. Democracy in Europe has to deal with all of it while, in the meantime, the faith in the ability of democratic politics to act is declining. For the final round table in the series ‘Demokratie im Stresstest’ we invited Anna Lührmann, member of the German Bundestag and Minister of State for Climate and Europe at the Federal Foreign Office, and Tanja Börzel, professor at Freie Universität Berlin to discuss how democracy in Europe deals with this uneasy conundrum.

Tackling democracy challenges: round table with the Speaker of the Swedish Riksdag Andreas Norlén

Wed, 31 May 2023 00:00:00 +0200

Democracies have to deal with more and bigger challenges. How polarisation, disinformation and citizen alienation challenge democracies in Europe and what could be done nationally and transnationally? The Speaker of the Swedish Riksdag and the delegation of the main parliamentary fractions were on an official visit in Berlin and joined our round table to discuss these questions with members of academic community, think tanks and civil society.

Roundtable with the EU Commission Vice President Věra Jourová

Fri, 12 May 2023 00:00:00 +0200

Democracy in Europe is under pressure and needs to be protected. In a few days, the European Commission will present concrete measures to protect democracy. In Berlin, we discussed the EU Commission's "Defence of Democracy Package" with the EU Commission Vice President Věra Jourová and representatives of think tanks, civil society, media and politics.

Two Birds with one Drone: How Technological Cooperation in Europe can Target the Twin Transition and Regional Cohesion

Mon, 24 Apr 2023 00:00:00 +0200

Recent prescriptions for an updated EU Cohesion Policy recommend giving it new purpose and a meaningful position in the EU’s quest for strategic autonomy, all while preserving its core promise of economic development and convergence. Our new study shows the technological DNA of European regions in critical green and digital technologies and reveals untapped potential for regions of varying economic development to collaborate so that all regions can benefit.

Event "Leveraging Twin Transition Technology for Regional Cohesion in Europe”

Thu, 06 Apr 2023 00:00:00 +0200

This year has seen renewed debate on the future of Cohesion Policy in the European Union. At the same time, Europe is undergoing a digital and green transition for which European regions are not equally prepared. A new study by Bertelsmann Stiftung identifies new opportunities to spur innovation that are relevant for the twin transition while fostering cohesion at the same time.