Democracy is more than voting. Democracy means involving people in decision-making, including their points of view and harnessing their ideas for the common good. How can these basic principles contribute to the further development of our political system today, and safely steer it through current and future crises? We address these questions in the “Strengthening Democracy” study series with Julian Nida-Rümelin.

Improving society is possible at any age. With the Zugabe Prize, we honor founders 60plus every year. The award, which is endowed with 60,000 euros each, recognizes three individuals who have found solutions to the social challenges of our time using entrepreneurial means and successfully built up a company or social enterprise to do so.

Must people adapt to technology, or do we adapt technology to people? A rapidly digitalising society needs citizens who can competently use the opportunities of progress and master its risks. This also applies to older people. With the “Logged in!” week, we make visible the initiatives and actors who are advancing the digitalisation of older people. Together with local partners in various towns and cities, people over 50 are invited to discover their enthusiasm for surfing, blogging or gaming, and to immerse themselves in the digital worlds of older age.

The KörberHaus (Körber House) is a place for all generations and cultures. Together with the Bergedorf district office and eight other partners, we create a new meeting place in Hamburg-Bergedorf for greater togetherness and a vibrant civil society. By holding events at our new location, we bring people together, stimulate debates and promote voluntary involvement. And at the KörberHaus, we develop our operational projects in the areas of ageing and demography, which have a nationwide impact.

Andreas Bormann trifft Prominente, die sich mit Altersthemen beschäftigen – und über ihr eigenes Älterwerden nachdenken. Im KörberHaus in Hamburg-Bergedorf.

A new inter-generational music project at the KörberHaus in Bergedorf: In this music education project, participants work with the Bremen composer Mark Scheibe to create melodies and texts inspired by their own stories on the theme of “encounter”.

How can you make your own city demographically stable and age-friendly? The City Lab offers mayors and key players in the administration of demographic change and ageing an opportunity to participate in a three-part workshop series. In a small and exclusive circle, the City Lab focuses on experts, good practice, networking and collegial exchange.

The Körber Symposium on Demographic Change invites all those who bear responsibility for the issues of demographic change to be inspired to new ideas by national and international thought leaders and proven good practice projects. The project focuses on the opportunities of demographic change, and aims to contribute to ensuring that our communities will continue to be places worth living in in the future.

The Global University Leaders Council Hamburg brings the presidents of leading universities from all over the world together in Hamburg. The central concern is to consciously shape the process of global university development. The Council is a joint initiative of the German Rectors’ Conference, the Körber-Stiftung and the University of Hamburg.

The STEM Quality Initiative aims to support STEM initiatives in developing the quality of their programmes, and in this way to make STEM education even better.

In the Körber Future Dialogue, we discuss with citizens how they want to live with new technologies. In discussion rounds and interviews, we find out what they hope for from concrete innovations and what limits they would set. We use these insights to continue the dialogue on an equal footing with a broader public.

“The Berlin Pulse” is our annual foreign policy publication. It juxtaposes contributions by high-ranking international authors with a public opinion survey on the foreign policy views of the German population.

Since 1961 eminent international politicians and experts have met at the Bergedorf Round Table to discuss fundamental questions pertaining to German and European foreign and security policy in small and intimate groups.

With the Age & City Expedition, we invite you to explore age-friendliness beyond national borders. Mayors and demographers from municipal administrations travel to European towns and cities to learn about age strategies and age-friendly practices.

Together with the Hamburg Adult Education Centre, we organise the “Learning and more” educational programme for the over-sixties. It is not about the final certificate, but about learning for life - with new knowledge, in a small circle, with time for conversations and being together.

Think. Interpret. Discuss: The series brings demographic and ageing issues into public debate. Scientists present their answers to the major future questions of a long-life society. They discuss individual opportunities and political options for action with the audience.