Hertie School faculty members take part in the Federal Government's '2nd International German Forum'
Hertie School Faculty members have been invited to participate in the "2nd International German Forum”, which is part of the Federal Governments initiative “National Dialogue on Germany’s Future”. Helmut K. Anheier, President of the School, Johanna Mair, Professor for Organisation, Management and Leadership, and Fellow Sabine Junginger, were part of the conference in the Federal Chancellery on 19 and 20 January. Together with 120 international experts, they were given the opportunity to present their ideas for the social, political and educational challenges Germany will face over the next few years to Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Johanna Mair moderated one of the working groups on social innovation and presented her ideas in the plenary. Videos of the different sessions can be found on the Federal Chancellery's website.
The conference that was designed to be a platform for dialogue on relevant issues that will shape Germany’s future, focused on innovations for wellbeing, prosperity and progress. Experts from 30 countries represented the academic community, the private sector, politics, and civil society. Chancellor Merkel praised the presented initiatives and projects and advocated the founding of a "network for global learning" with special focus on digitalisation.
One of the presented projects was the Kenyan non-profit technology business Ushahidi, which develops free open source software, as well as hardware for users who live in areas of the world without internet access and or a stable electricity system. Ushahidi was first identified as a governance innovation in the Hertie School’s Governance Report 2013, where its potential was analysed and discussed.
Reports about the conference were published by ZDF heute, Spiegel Online, and Deutsche Welle.
More information about the conference and the “National Dialogue on Germany’s Future” can be found on the Federal Government’s website.