Protecting and strengthening democracy

Democracy is facing major challenges worldwide: The violent advance of autocratic powers is calling into question fundamental rights of freedom and codetermination. The Climate Crisis demands cross-border cooperation. The coronavirus pandemic has put democratic processes under pressure. Digitalisation offers new opportunities and dangers for opinion-forming processes and participation. Democracies around the world face the task of becoming as inclusive as possible and being open to young people in particular. Democracies around the world need to find answers and grow in this process.

The tenth edition of the Global Forum on Modern Direct Democracy, 21-25 September 2022 took place in Lucerne, Switzerland. Together with our partner organisation Democracy International, the City of Lucerne and numerous other partners, over 500 experts from all over the world joined us for the five-day forum with the purpose to protect and strengthen democracy. 

More about the history and the future of the Global Forum (in german)

Two Fotogalleries of the Global Forum: 

FOTOGALLERY 1 + FOTOGALLERY 2

DAS GLOBAL FORUM in der SRF TAGESSCHAU

Click here to learn more about the TV comment (24.09.1022) of the Global Forum with Bruno Kaufmann

Knowledge transfer, exchange and insights

In the last days before a voting Sunday in Switzerland, the Global Forum is a sign of cooperation between people, organisations, communities, cities and states that are committed to codetermination and co-responsibility of citizens. A sign for the further democratisation of democracy and against populist, illiberal and authoritarian tendencies worldwide. More than 400 participants from all over the world will contribute to the exchange of ideas, the transfer of knowledge, networking and the search for solutions. At the same time, they will gain an insight into the processes surrounding one of the four annual voting days in Switzerland, on which important decisions are taken by the electorate.

The Global Forum events in Lucerne are complemented by study visits and events in other parts of Switzerland.

How can we move our democracies forward? The focus is on four thematic tracks:

• Track 1: By the many - How to democratize democracy in the 21st century
• Track 2: Fixing the climate through democracy – solutions and obstacles
• Track 3 : Democratic inclusion and infrastructure
• Track 4: Beyond borders – Building transnational democracy