The state of the world is worrying, and faced with challenges like wars and populism, democracies are in peril. We need active social engagement with innovative people and creative ideas to impact, protect, and progress our democracies positively.
IF YOU HAVE AN IDEA TO STRENGTHEN DEMOCRACY AND PROMOTE SOCIAL JUSTICE - APPLY TODAY!
Whether you want to start a non-profit organization, develop an app, set up a journalistic project, or pursue a project of an entirely different kind, there are no limits to your creativity.
The Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung's Progressive Democracy Lab will support you in this with professional coaching so that you can turn your ideas into reality.
Whether you’re still at school, a trainee, a student, or already involved in a career and family life, the Lab is flexible enough to combine participation with other commitments.
Apply individually or with a team of colleagues, friends or schoolmates.
You can find out how to do this under »Application«. Fill in the application form but also think about additional ways to describe your project and yourself/ yourselves. Let your creativity and drive shine through!
Participation in the Progressive Democracy Lab will involve on-site meetings in Berlin, as well as coaching and development phases in which you will receive digital support. We will cover your travel and accommodation costs.
We will start with selected teams and individuals who will have the opportunity to present and discuss their ideas in person in Berlin. Together with our experts, we will select five teams who, under professional guidance, can develop their ideas further during a six-month coaching phase. The results will be presented at a public event as part of the FES' anniversary celebrations in May 2025. Projects will be assessed by a jury, which will award 5000 euros in prize money for the most promising idea to enable its implementation after the participation in the Progressive Democracy Lab.
The Progressive Democracy Lab is a project within the framework of the FES' anniversary, »100 years of FES«. The aim is to turn young people's ideas into reality. Together with external experts, our innovation coaches will support you in the (further) development and realization of your ideas. We select ideas whose implementation will contribute to solving pressing social challenges in Germany, Europe, or other countries and regions of the world.
Our mission is to create a network of young people worldwide in order to facilitate mutual exchange and implement your ideas with the greatest possible added value.
Contact: Annika Arnold, Rebecca Demars and Robert Philipps l progressive-democracy-lab(at)fes.de
Progressive Democracy Lab refers to your involvement during the entire period, from your application in April 2024 to the awarding of the prize for the most promising idea in May 2025. We start with up to 20 selected ideas from teams and individuals, whom we shall invite to our kick-off event in Berlin in September 2024. The subsequent incubator includes coaching five selected teams or individuals to implement their ideas from November 2024 to March 2025.
Our aim is to strengthen democracies worldwide by promoting innovative ideas and contributing to solving pressing social challenges, whether in the form of a local neighbourhood project, a global digital idea, or anything in between.
If you are between 18 and 35 years of age and have an idea about how to strengthen democracy and enhance social justice, feel free to apply. There are no other specific requirements.
You can submit your idea alone, in pairs, or as part of a larger team. Furthermore, there’s no upper limit, so you could also apply as part of an entire organization or school class. For practical reasons, however, the work phases of the Progressive Democracy Lab groups shall be limited to a maximum of five people.
Of course. That would be in line with our networking concept.
Please submit your application in English as this will also be the working language of the Progressive Democracy Lab .
You should be able to communicate and present your idea in English. The primary working language will be English, as we want to invite ideas from people worldwide. If some members of your team speak little English, but other members who speak it well, we are always open to creative solutions.
You must complete the application form and think about additional ways to present your project. We encourage you to send in e.g. short videos, more detailed written descriptions, a comic strip depicting the story behind the project, etc. - there are no limits to your creativity!
All you have to do is send us your application digitally, by email. Please make sure that the email attachment is no larger than 35 MB. If you would like to submit a larger file, please let us know when you send us the completed application form and we will help you with this.
We’ll let you know by May, 27th 2024 whether you have been shortlisted and thus will be invited to our kick-off event in Berlin in September 2024. The selection for the incubator will take place on-site, on the day of the event. The five most promising ideas will be further developed in the incubator from November 2024 to March 2025.
Work in the incubator is designed so it can be combined with your job, school, studies, training or family commitments. You can flexibly organise most of the work phases and adapt them to your needs.
To begin with, we will shortlist up to 20 ideas, which will be presented at a marketplace of ideas in Berlin in September. Five of these preselected ideas will be selected for further development in the incubator.
We invite one to two persons for each idea to the first presence meeting in Berlin. So if you submit an idea as a team, one to two persons from your team will be invited to present the idea in Berlin. For subsequent meetings in the coaching phase (incubator), up to three people may attend.
What is important is that your project contributes to a democratic and progressive society and to social justice. The idea should be innovative and feasible.
We offer you support from professional coaches who are experts in innovation development, agile working and project management. We will also help you with expertise tailored to your project and establish a network with you – among yourselves and with FES partners – that you can draw on in your future work.
If you are awarded the prize for the most promising idea, you can use the 5000 euro prize money to develop your idea further and turn it into reality. But all the selected ideas will have potential, so even if you are not awarded the prize, it doesn’t mean your idea is no good. We aim to develop all ideas to the point at which they can conceivably be turned into reality. Regardless of who wins the prize money, you can continue to use the newly established network and the knowledge you gain through the incubator to take your idea further.
The Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) is the oldest political foundation in Germany, with a rich tradition dating back to 1925. Today, it remains loyal to the legacy of its namesake and campaigns for the core ideas and values of Social Democracy: freedom, justice and solidarity. It has close ties to free trade unions.
FES promotes the advancement of Social Democracy, in particular with:
You can read more about the FES' mission here.