Welcoming culture as an economic factor: Dr. Kapteina discusses with

On November 26, 2025, Benedikt Kapteina took part in the anniversary conference
"10 years - How did we do it? Welcoming culture as an economic factor". The all-day event took place at the Bilderberg Bellevue Hotel Dresden and was organized by Wirtschaft für ein weltoffenes Sachsen e.V. in cooperation with the IQ Network Saxony.

The conference combined a review of a decade of living a welcoming culture with a forward-looking debate on securing international skilled workers, labor market integration, diversity and democratic framework conditions for economic development in Saxony. The starting point was the question of what lessons can be learned from the experiences since 2015 for a crisis-proof, innovative and socially integrated economy.

Dr. Kapteina's participation built on the long-standing collaboration between the chair and its research and the association. This cooperation includes an ongoing exchange on issues of responsible corporate governance, scientific impetus for practical formats and dialog between business, civil society and research. The anniversary conference thus provided another opportunity to continue this knowledge transfer in a targeted manner.

Dr. Kapteina contributed perspectives from his research on Corporate Democratic Action (CDA) to the discussion. The CDA approach examines how and under what conditions companies can contribute to strengthening democratic values, social integration and democratic resilience beyond traditional interest representation. Against the backdrop of regional skills shortages and social polarization, the extent to which a welcoming culture is not only a social but also a democratic and local political task for companies was discussed.

Dr. Kapteina continued: "The association plays a central role in the dialog between business, civil society and politics. For years, it has been a role model for how welcoming culture can be shaped strategically, credibly and effectively, not only regionally, but also with an impact on national and international debates.
Personally, I am very pleased that I was able to work with the association as part of my research during my doctorate and that I can continue this exchange to this day."

The conference program included impulses from science, business and politics, practical examples and panels on labour market integration and diversity strategies, networking formats and a future impulse under the title "2035 - Diversity as Strength". The participating experts included Dirk Werner, Senior Economist at the Institute of German Business, Dagmar Neukirch, State Secretary at the Saxon State Ministry for Social Affairs, Dirk Panter, Saxon State Minister for Economic Affairs, Labor, Energy and Climate Protection, and Raj Kollmorgen, Professor of Social Sciences at Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences.

Dr. Kapteina is a postdoctoral researcher at the Chair of Business Administration, in particular Responsible Management, at the International Institute (IHI) Zittau of the TUD Dresden University of Technology. In research and teaching, the chair deals with the social and political responsibility contexts of entrepreneurial action and regularly works together with practice partners from business and civil society.

The conference made it clear that a welcoming culture can only act as an economic factor in the long term if economic capabilities, social integration and democratic stability are considered and shaped together. The existing cooperation between science and practice provides a solid basis for further joint activities.