"Strengthening the democratic muscle" - CPR Forum 2024

On 5 July 2024, around 50 representatives from business, academia and civil society gathered at the European Academy Berlin for the CPR Forum 2024 under the motto "Courage to take a stand: Why democracy needs companies - and vice versa!".  

Dr Johannes Bohnen opened the event by pointing out that companies must expand their concept of investment to include the public sphere, its institutions and public goods in order to remain successful in the long term. Prof. Dr Ludger Heidbrink from the University of Kiel emphasised the "system responsibility" of companies, which should go beyond risk prevention in order to support public services and public decision-making. Finally, Andrés González, founder of POLITIKUM, emphasised that CPR offers a valuable democratic promise in countries such as Ecuador, which suffer from political instability.

 Dr Benedikt D. S. Kapteina, postdoc at IHI, emphasised in particular the importance of companies in defending and strengthening democratic values. Their commitment to democracy is not only important for political stability, but also contributes to long-term resilience, he said, adding that further information on this year's CPR Forum can be found here.

Our sincere thanks go to the European Academy Berlin, POLITIKUM, the Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel and the sponsor Evonik for their decisive support.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)