The 2021 German Election brought a decisive vote for change: Merkel’s center-right party lost points, while the Social Democrats and the Greens made meaningful gains. But what are the implications? In this new episode of the “Talking Progress” podcast, Ricarda Lang, Jeremy Cliffe, and Tobias Dürr discuss how a new social-green-liberal coalition can be successful.

Under the shadow of the Covid-19 pandemic, the beginning of the 2020s has also been politically marked by generation-defining elections. Less than one year after Joe Biden’s historic victory in the United States and half a year before France heads to the polls, Germany voted for change: Merkel’s center-right party lost points, while the Social Democrats and the Greens made meaningful gains. Ricarda Lang, Jeremy Cliffe, and Tobias Dürr discuss the implications.

Germany has voted for change. But will the result from the 2021 German Election deliver progress? Join newly elected Green Member of Parliament Ricarda Lang, Jeremy Cliffe, and Tobias Dürr as they dissect the election results, explore the different coalition options, and what it all means for progressives in Germany, Europe and North America.

From 9-11 June the progressive community came together for the 2021 Progressive Governance Digital Summit (PGS21) to debate how to make the 2020s a decade of progress. With the pandemic warranting bold action, speakers and participants focused on how to seize the current momentum to implement progressive change.

How can governments and the progressive community shape the 2020s as a decade of progress, defining a political settlement with citizens anchored in social and global justice?

The online summit hosted more than 30 sessions and focused on transformation, democracy, progressive leadership, and Europe’s role in a multilateral world from from 09 to 11 June 2021. Olaf Scholz, Margrethe Vestager, Nadia Calviño, Ardalan Shekarabi, Robert Habeck, Jagmeet Singh, Leonore Gewessler and up to 75 other speakers from Europe and North America participated in the event.

This policy paper concludes the #Tech4Society innovation series, putting forward policy recommendations designed to ensure that technological change will not be an end in itself — and that actors from civil society, politics, business, and academia will be able to develop a European model of value creation based on co-creation instead.

How can a value-based approach to technological change promote economic, social, and ecological progress? How can the public and the private sector harness new technologies to boost innovation and provide social benefits to society at large? At the #Tech4Society Policy Paper Launch on 16 December 2020, we discussed these and other questions with Julia Borggräfe, Joanna Bryson, Thomas Ramge and Rasmus Rothe.

In this workshop, we sought to explore ways of how new technologies can address some of the key societal challenges in health and the world of work and discussed with participants solutions for providing the political framework for scaling up technologies that work for the benefit of society.

With these surveys, the University of Konstanz and Das Progressive Zentrum are contributing to a better understanding of the social and political consequences of the Corona crisis. In the studies, the researchers analyze the topics of solidarity with European neighbors, working from home, trust in politics, crisis management and the health care system.

In this workshop, we explored what the future of government and a modern state may look like and how new technologies can empower citizens to foster trust, transparency, and social cohesion.

Together with leading experts and policymakers, we explored what is necessary to build an economy that is conducive to linking new technologies with sustainable and inclusive growth.

Revisit the highlights of the Progressive Governance Digital Summit 2020, including remarks by Madeleine Albright, Lodewijk Asscher, Annalena Baerbock, Nadia Calviño, Anneliese Dodds, Anke Hassel, Matthew Goodwin, Joschka Fischer, Heiko Maas, Mariana Mazzucato, Dani Rodrik, Olaf Scholz, Matthew Taylor, Adam Tooze, Catherine E. de Vries.

The online summit will host more than 30 sessions and focus on transformation, democracy, progressive leadership and Europe’s role in a multilateral world. Olaf Scholz, Neera Tanden, Maja Göpel, Hubertus Heil, Dani Rodrik and up to 100 other speakers from Europe and North America will participate in the event. It will take place from 15 to 19 June 2020.

Be part of our first out of three workshops of the #Tech4Society innovation series! We will explore how to restart the economy after the lockdown and how to steer technological change with inclusive and sustainable growth.

In our workshop on data rights policymakers, activists, and citizen engagement groups came together to discuss their personal thoughts and feelings on data rights and data ownership. Understanding and dealing with the challenges around data rights calls for a comprehensive social perspective on data. One of the main findings was that new regulatory frameworks need to be evolved in order to implement the requests for more agency over how data about us is used and more insight into how automated decisions are made about us.

After innovating its governing structure, Das Progressive Zentrum is now led by an extended executive team, which is comprised of the Executive Director as well as three Heads of Programmes, the Head of Office and the Head of Communications.

Please join us for a workshop on the topic of data rights. The Open Data Institute and the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce will first present their research project on data rights in the UK, followed by a response from Adriana Groh, Director Prototype Fund at the Open Knowledge Foundation. Together we shall then look to understand the wider public debate on data rights in Germany and locate any research or engagement gaps, to then assess potential areas of collaboration.

The challenge of putting climate action and sustainability at the centre of politics is huge. Even though the need for a comprehensive transformation is unquestionable and public support enormous, there is no consensus on how to get there. Crucial for progressive climate politics is the reform of economic and social institutions as well as the collaboration of social movements with different backgrounds and objectives.

The paper shows how we can remain capable of acting in times of technological change. For this purpose, the authors have chosen a three-dimensional approach, which comprises society as a whole, the economic system as well as the individual.