Future Dialogue starts on October 26th in Berlin

October 22, 2009

Mastering the most urgent challenges of the 21st century will require close cooperation between the scientific community, governments and business. For this reason, the Max Planck Society and Siemens have invited prominent scientists, policymakers and business leaders from around the world to Berlin to take part in the Future Dialogue conference. The aim of the event, which is being organized in cooperation with The Economist, is to provide answers to the question: How can science, business and governments cooperate to solve the problems caused by climate change, shifting demographics and increasing urbanization?

At the Future Dialogue conference, leading scientists and political and economic decision-makers will join a select international audience to discuss current constraints to cooperation between the scientific community, business and governments. During various panel sessions, participants will explore new ways to foster cooperation and consider what kind of framework governments and society must provide to facilitate this process. More than 300 senior business leaders, scientists and policymakers are expected to participate, including Dennis L. Meadows, co-author of The Limits to Growth; Joschka Fischer, Germany’s former Minister of Foreign Affairs; Lord Nicholas Stern, who examines climate change from an economic point of view; Khaled Awad, Director of Masdar City, a planned "zero-emissions" city; and U.S. star architect and urban planner Daniel Libeskind. The opening address will be delivered by Meadows, who is also from the U.S.