FutureScape Kick-off Workshop
Empowering Europe Through Bold Leadership

The work of the Alfred Landecker Foundation is based on the historical understanding that strong institutions are what ultimately protect the rule of law, and the rights of minorities - as neither of them are self-evident nor self-sustaining. The lessons of the Holocaust remind us that democratic breakdown is often enabled not only by extremists, but also by institutional inertia, and a lack of responsible leadership. These insights are not confined to days of remembrance; they are urgently relevant to contemporary governance.

Against this backdrop, we have launched a new partnership with the German Marshall Fund of the United States: FutureScape: Empowering Europe Through Bold Leadership. The initiative brings together emerging leaders from Germany and across Europe to strengthen decision-making capacity within democratic institutions and to equip participants with the skills, networks, and practical tools needed to navigate institutional constraints and political pressure.

The kick-off workshop held in Copenhagen, convened leaders from politics, public administration, civil society, academia, and the security community. Discussions focused on three pivotal policy areas: defence and security, migration, and innovation. All of them touch on on the broader question of how democratic systems can remain effective and trustworthy under conditions of growing external and internal strain.

The rapidly evolving geopolitical situation around Greenland served as a concrete case study for debating strategic responsibility and European agency. The workshop featured contributions from, among others, Lotte Machon, State Secretary for Foreign Policy of Denmark, and Jens Heinrich, Head of Greenland’s Representation in Copenhagen and Danish experts like Peter Ernstved Rasmussen (Journalist & media entrepreneur / OLFI), Nicolaj Geller Christensen (CEO, Digital Hub Denmark), Carolin Hjort Rapp (Researcher, University of Copenhagen) as well as retired US General Curtis M. Scaparrotti with a transatlantic lense on the current challenges.

The sessions were moderated by Sudha David-Wilp (GMF) and Silke Muelherr, Co-CEO of the Alfred Landecker Foundation.

Across the different thematic sessions, several insights kept re-emerging:

Security and democratic resilience

Effective security policy depends not only on military capabilities and functioning procedures, but also on education, public awareness, and societal engagement. Democratic resilience cannot be delegated entirely to the state; it requires citizens who understand their own role and responsibility in sustaining democratic systems.

Innovation, risk, and institutional culture

New ideas struggle to take hold in overly risk-averse environments. Participants discussed the need to rethink bureaucratic frameworks and to consciously allow for experimentation and learning. Openness to cooperation with industry and civil society can provide important impulses for renewal within the public sector.

Migration and democratic legitimacy

Migration remains one of the most politically charged issues across Europe. The discussions highlighted the importance of addressing challenges that are deeply felt by citizens across Europe while resisting the temptation to let fringe actors dictate the agenda. Ultimately, democratic credibility depends less on rhetoric than on whether citizens perceive tangible improvements in their everyday lives.

The FutureScape kick-off underscored a central concern: when democracies fail to solve basic, practical problems, public trust erodes, along with support for democratic norms themselves. Strengthening institutional capacity, ethical leadership, and long-term networks of trust is therefore not only a policy challenge, but a responsibility toward history.

The conversations in Copenhagen marked the beginning of a longer process aimed at empowering a new generation of European leaders to act with courage, integrity, and strategic vision in defence of democracy.