We warmly invite you to participate in our international co-creative workshop on Friday, December 15, 2023 from 11 to 4 The hybrid workshop in English will take place at the Adam von Trott Foundation, Imshausen , Im Trottenpark 1, 36179 Bebra and online via Zoom and is aimed at actors from politics, education, culture and civil society, young scientists and alumni of our educational work. It is carried out in cooperation with the „Partnership for Democracy“ in the Hersfeld-Rotenburg district.

Introduction

Citizens in Germany and across the world are experiencing the world today as a time of upheaval that is triggering feelings of fear, uncertainty and powerlessness: Faced by social division, inequality, the rise of extremism, and an increasing polarisation of public and media discourses as well as new wars, an ongoing pandemic, and the climate crisis at a global level, young people in particular are questioning the values and governance of liberal democracy that they have inherited by the post-WW2 world order. According to recent surveys, almost three quarters of people in Germany no longer have confidence in the futur. Worldwide, more than 80 per cent of 16-25-year-olds are pessimistic about the future and 75 per cent consider it frightening in view of climate Fear and hopelessness threaten to turn defeatism into a self-fulfilling

Yet creative courage, international understanding and a clear focus on the values for the common good are needed more than ever, both in times of geopolitical upheavals such as the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine or the new escalation of violence in the Middle East, and also in the face of wider trends such as increasing extremism, migration, or digitalisation and AI. The Adam von Trott Foundation, Imshausen highlights this need for a new focus on democratic values with its international co-creative workshop "Polycrisis and Transformation: Values Orientation for a Democratic Awakening". The workshop builds on the historical legacy of Adam von Trott, whose resistance against the terror regime of National Socialism was crucially motivated by his search for international understanding and a new democratic beginning after the Second World War. The workshop is organised in cooperation with the “Partnership for Democracy” in the district of Hersfeld-Rotenburg. It is co-funded by the Belgian Futur 21 Foundation as part of our international project "Crossing Borders - Strengthening Europe”.

Aim and Format

The workshop convenes actors and multipliers from academia, education, politics and civil society into a co-creative dialogue in order to develop principles for a consensus on values for a future-oriented democracy that is equipped to tackle the transformation required in the face of the current polycrisis.

The workshop starts with an introductory panel that opens up different perspectives on the current polycrisis and possible paths for civil engagement.

The panel members will then lead interactive work phases with the support of the organisation team that will involve all participants of the workshop.

The specific topics of the workshop will be set in a peer-led, interactive, and collaborative process with all participants ( climate justice, migration, geopolitical upheavals, political radicalisation etc.).

Small groups are then formed according to the selected topics. They meet in hybrid breakout sessions each of which is moderated by one of the panelists. Starting from their specific topic, the small groups set out to discuss value orientations that offer the greatest potential for socially inclusive, solution-oriented civic and political dialogue and understanding.

They will then discuss those values with reference to specific challenges of the polycrisis such as social division, antisemitism and racism, polarisation in social media or historical revisionism in order to formulate criteria for deriving recommendations for action.

Finally, interactive and collaborative methods and tools are used for a joint reflection: The participants prioritise the catalogue of values developed in the small groups and collaboratively develop a manifesto of values that can serve as a guideline for political and civic dialogue with people from different opinions and backgrounds as well as personal civic engagement and education in various subject areas.

The co-creative workshop will be held in hybrid form in English. Workshop participants can choose to take part in person or digitally via Zoom.