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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.
Twenty-five organizations, including the Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung and its project partner, Das Progressive Zentrum, are inviting the progressive community in Europe and North America to join the online summit and co-create a vision of solidarity, well-being and new democratic legitimacy for the post-COVID-19 world. The Progressive Governance Digital Summit 2020 aims to create an empowering moment that will lay the foundation of a new culture of governance.
From 15 to 19 June up to 100 speakers will come together and discuss shared visions of what a post-pandemic world should look like. Among the confirmed are:
- Olaf Scholz, Federal Minister of Finance and Vice-Chancellor of Germany
- Neera Tanden, President of the Center for American Progress
- Hubertus Heil, Federal Minister of Labour and Social Affairs of Germany
- Dani Rodrik, Ford Foundation Professor of International Political Economy at Harvard University
- Yascha Mounk, Author of "The People vs Democracy", Associate Professor at the Johns Hopkins University
- Maja Göpel, Secretary-General of the German Advisory Council on Global Change
The Themes of the Progressive Governance Digital Summit
There is currently great uncertainty about the social, economic and political consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. A return to “normality” as we know it appears unlikely. It is clear that the dynamics of the crisis will create a different world with different futures for individuals, communities and places.
This crisis has revealed the structural weaknesses in our societies. As we move from crisis management to rebuilding the economy and society, momentum for change is growing. Until now, solutions to the crisis have been national instead of inter- or transnational, which has hindered much needed cooperation.
For progressives, this is the moment to come together and discuss shared visions of what a post-Covid-19 world should and could look like. The summit’s partners believe that it is imperative for progressives to promote international solidarity in times of crisis: how to achieve it will be the central objective of #PGS20.
Solidarity will also be the normative guideline for the breakout sessions, workshops and leader’s panels of #PGS20, in order to prioritise common solutions to the crisis. Further, the aim is to support the most weak and vulnerable and their communities at the local, national and global level.
To address these issues, each session of the Progressive Governance Digital Summit will focus on one of the four themes:
1.“Transformation”: Creating a sustainable recovery & just transition agenda
- Renewing the parameters of innovative, carbon-neutral, digital and globalised economies that foster welfare, social equity and social mobility
2. “Democracy”: Winning the struggle for liberal democracy
- Rebalancing the responsibilities between the state and society with the aim of empowering civil society, promoting social cohesion and innovating the democratic system
3. “Leadership”: Building capacities for progressives to govern
- Imagining a narrative for an inclusive vision of the future, winning the public argument and developing strategies for progressives to govern
4. “Europe+”: Making a progressive case for Europe & new multilateralism
- Keeping Europe and its friends close together, whilst shaping values and institutions in times of geopolitical shifts
Dominic Schwickert is the Managing Director at the Berlin think tank Das Progressive Zentrum, which is co-hosting the event. According to him the motivation for this year’s Progressive Governance Digital Summit is: “Our goal is to send a signal to progressives worldwide that there is an energetic progressive response to the social and economic consequences of COVID-19 and an alternative to another populist backlash.”
Registration for the Progressive Governance Digital Summit
In the first 24 hours after the registration opened, nearly 600 people filled out the registration form. They come from 47 countries and work in political parties, parliaments, ministries, academia, civil society and media.
Applicants are invited to register on the Progressive Governance Digital Summit 2020’s website. To offer participants a real summit experience, the event is cooperating with one of Germany's leading providers of digital event platforms. To receive an access link, please register via this webpage. After your registration has been checked and confirmed, you will be able to access the Progressive Governance Digital Summit event platform with your internet browser or a smartphone app.
Progressive Governance Legacy
Progressive Governance conferences and summits have been held worldwide since 1999: from Santiago to London, Oslo, Dublin, Copenhagen, Amsterdam and Stockholm to Berlin. The cross-border dialogue series was founded by the British think tank “Policy Network”.
From the beginning, the purpose has been to gather leading as well as up-and-coming academics, activists and political decision-makers to initiate a conversation about next-generation thinking among centre-left parties & movements.
The Progressive Governance series aims at offering an intellectual ferment and cross-fertilisation for a renewal of the progressive governing philosophy and political agenda across the world.