Changes in society, geopolitics and technology are exposing Western liberal democracies to increasing challenges. The global rise of autocracies casts the shadow of a resurgent competition between liberal and autocratic systems. It is foreseeable that the competition between systems will result in open conflict, which will also be fought out within our societies.
Agility – the ability of liberal democracy to react flexibly and promptly to growing challenges – will be a decisive factor for resilience in the competition between systems.
The “Agile Democracy” association aims to contribute to the future viability of democracy through knowledge transfer, committed discourse and the development of competence networks. The focus is on promoting civic engagement as the basis of democratic processes by building bridges between experts, institutions and citizens.
Event series “Forum for Future”
The Agile Democracy Association serves as a platform for organizing the hybrid event format “Forum for Future”. As a public event, it offers interested citizens and experts the opportunity to enter into a dialog on current social issues.
In addition to providing information via presentations, in which professionally engaged citizens can also participate as speakers, the focus is on open debate between speakers and the audience.
Parts of the event will be streamed live and offer viewers the opportunity to take part in the debates online. A further debate space will subsequently be created on social media platforms such as YouTube, where the recordings of the events will also encourage discourse.
Building on the debates, participants will be invited to workshops in smaller groups at the events to gather ideas for specific projects that will be continued after the events.
Great importance is attached to working in partnership with regional and supra-regional groups and organizations. Both sides can benefit from this networking by exchanging cross-regional expertise and ideas and knowledge from local civil society.
Forum Dresden
The Dresden Future Forum on May 10 and 11, 2024 in the Haus an der Kreuzkirche was the premiere. With a well-filled lecture program lasting into the evening hours, renowned speakers from different parts of Europe, a broad range of topics under the umbrella term “Value of Freedom” and an engaged audience, it was an encouraging start.
More information: https://zukunftsforum-dresden.eu
Forum Leipzig
On October 11 and 12, 2024, the 2nd event under the motto “Dictatorship vs. democracy” took place in Leipzig.
On Friday, October 11, the topic of “Media, autocracy and resilience” was addressed. This dealt with the question of how media function in dictatorships, how disinformation is countered in our media and which factors in media production influence social resilience. The role of gatekeeping in social media was also examined. A practical concept on how to get in touch with people, especially those with a different world view, was presented and discussed.
On Saturday, October 12, eyewitnesses with experience of dictatorship from different parts of Europe gave impressive testimonies. The examples of Georgia and Slovakia were used to show an autocratic playbook of how democracy can be completely undermined and eroded. The focus then turned to the question of what strengths democracies can offer to counter this.
More information: https://zukunftsforum-leipzig.eu
Forum Bonn
The next Future Forum will take place on September 6 and 7, 2025 at the Haus der evangelischen Kirche in Bonn. Topic: “Democracy in danger – we citizens take responsibility”. At this event, in addition to fishbowl discussion rounds, workshops will take on a broader scope. Anyone interested in working with us can contact us at the email address below.
More information: https://zukunftsforum-bonn.eu