Contributions
Four policy briefs, several workshops and two high-profile speeches conclude the more than two-years transnational dialogue process at eye level with young, promising thinkers from Greece, Portugal, Italy, France, Spain and Germany.
Dialogue on Europe: Final results of the Thinking Labs published Civil society experts and practitioners wrote policy briefs on migration, populism, social cohesion and sustainable growth
Over the course of the last two years, civil society experts and practitioners from across Europe gathered in four DIALOGUE ON EUROPE Thinking Labs to deliver fresh ideas and to independently elaborate concrete policy recommendations on four European key areas: Migration & Integration, Populism, Social Cohesion, and Sustainable Growth. Discover the summary of their proposals and the full-length policy briefs below.
In the febrile contemporary political climates of many Western democracies, journalists have been increasingly seen as part of the political story rather than simply its narrators. Insurgent ‘populist’ political movements have placed major media organisations at the centre of their anti-establishment critique, while opposing forces have posited ‘media complicity’ in the promotion of divisive discourses and populist misinformation. All the while, traditional media organisations are being rocked by deep structural and technological change that is fundamentally shifting the practice of journalism and changing their relationship with an increasingly sceptical and polarised public.
While much has been written and discussed about the media’s role in the ‘populist turn’ in Western democracies, the actual experience of journalists in responding to these turbulent political times has been little explored. The following analysis, therefore, aims to foreground the perspectives of print, broadcast, and online journalists working in the UK – and to contrast these against the experiences of the German media, through a case study prepared by Das Progressive Zentrum in Berlin.
In selecting these countries, we assess how the evolution of journalism practice has played out in two quite distinct media and political systems, particularly through a focus on two unique recent operating contexts: the European Referendum in the UK and the refugee and migrant crisis in Germany. We explore the extent to which traditional norms of journalistic practice share natural affinities with populist politics and discourses, and ask in what ways can journalists be better supported and equipped to critically engage with divisive political movements in the digital age.
Download the Executive Summary here
Das Progressive Zentrum, in partnership with the think tank Demos from Great Britain and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, is exploring the role that traditional media play in both the legitimization and discreditation of populist parties in Germany and the UK. In addition, the influence which organizational decisions of media platforms may have on the public perception of news is analyzed.
On Thursday, September 8, 6.30-8.30 pm, Das Progressive Zentrum in cooperation with the Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) hosted a roundtable discussion on the App Economy in Germany. The occasion was the publication of PPI’s latest study “The App Economy in Europe: Leading Countries and Cities”.
On 28 June 2016 German Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, together with the German Federal Minister of State for Europe, Michael Roth, officially launched the DIALOGUE ON EUROPE-project at the Europasaal of the German Federal Foreign Office in Berlin.
After successful Town Hall Meetings in Athens, Lisbon, Rome and Marseilles the fifth and last event within the Dialogue on Europe took place in Madrid, on 16 June 2016. Once again representatives from civil society, NGOs, local initiatives, startups, think tanks, the cultural sector and from the media gathered to discuss the most pressing challenges Spain and Europe are currently facing and exchanged ideas about how to work towards a strengthened and progressive Europe.
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After successful Town Hall Meetings in Athens, Lisbon and Rome the fourth event within the Dialogue on Europe took place in Marseilles, on 26 May 2016. Once again representatives from civil society, NGOs, local initiatives, startups, think tanks, the cultural sector and from the media gathered to discuss the most pressing challenges France and Europe are currently facing and exchange ideas about how to work towards a strengthened and progressive Europe.
The first stops of our Dialogue on Europe in Athens and Lisbon were now followed up by a Town Hall Meeting in Rome on 5 April 2016. Once again, we invited representatives from civil society, NGOs, local initiatives, startups, think tanks, the cultural sector and from the media to gather and discuss the most urgent challenges Italy and Europe have to face presently, such as the reduction of youth unemployment or the refugee crisis.
On March 7, our Dialogue on Europe made its second stop in Lisbon, Portugal. Now, the Politico wrote about Michael Roth‘s “discreet and unconventional tour (…) to connect directly with citizens”.
After its successful start in Athens, the “Dialogue on Europe” made its second stop in Lisbon, where the second #EuropeanTownHall Meeting took place on 7 March 2016.
In the past weeks, the think tank Das Progressive Zentrum has not just been thinking but also doing. And we have been doing an awful lot! We have been expanding and renovating our offices on Werftstraße, located in the heart of political Berlin and just a stone’s throw from the Federal Ministry of the Interior, from the Federal Chancellery, central station and Schloss Bellevue, official residence of the President of Germany.
On December 7, the opening event of our project “Dialogue on Europe” took place in Athens. Multipliers from Greek civil society came together to participate in workshops on common challenges in Europe, and to discuss these with Michael Roth, Minister of State for Europe at the German Federal Foreign Office.
After one year of project work, we were able to publicly present today at a press media breakfast, the results of the party reform project of the Heinrich Böll Foundation, the Konrad Adenauer Foundation and Das Progressive Zentrum.
On July 6 and 7, Das Progressive Zentrum participated in the conference “Progressive Politics in Fragmented Times” in Oxford, UK, hosted by the Policy Network, the Foundation for European Progressive Studies FEPS and Renner-Institut. Together with participants from all across Europe, we engaged in discussions about new impulses for contemporary centre-left politics. The debate focussed on Labour’s future in Great Britain, an update for oldfashioned left-right narratives and the search for innovative ideas for party democracy, matching our project efforts in reforming German party organisations as well as the research on right-wing populism together with the Institut für Europäische Politik (IEP).
Despite suspicion, the nudge theory may have a place in the process of party reform