The Aspen Institute

What is the Global Changemakers Workshop? 

The Global Changemakers Workshop Series has been a cornerstone of the Aspen Institute International Partners’ efforts to empower the next generation of leaders to focus on the challenges to democracy. Thanks to our generous trustee, Leonard Lauder, and drawing inspiration from the Aspen Institute’s rich history, the Global Changemakers Workshop became a reality in 2023 with the inaugural edition held in Berlin, co-hosted by Aspen Institute Germany.

The Workshop gathers a cohort of 25-35 year old young professionals from a variety of sectors around the world. Through nonpartisan dialogue, the Workshop inspires leads to take action and promote a free, just, and equitable democratic society. 

There are two primary goals for the Workshop:

1. To build a globally minded cohort that is energized by collective reflections that leads to change in their lives that they take back to their local communities.
2. Create a unique space for diverse, international voices around a topic of critical importance as it relates to shared democratic values.

2023 Workshop: Democracy Forward: Inspiring Change in Today’s World

For the inaugural edition of the Global Changemakers Workshop in 2023, the Institute’s oldest partner, Aspen Institute Germany, co-hosted the workshop in Berlin. Aspen Germany represents a key transatlantic relationship that was formed post World War II to safeguard democratic values and foster dialogue. To authentically engage leaders of today, our efforts brought together 40 young leaders aged approximately 25-35 yrs old. 13 Partners and 1 Initiative nominated Changemakers, each reaching different sectors across tech, civil society, the public sector, law, and more. The result was an impressive representation of 21 countries at the workshop.

Using democracy as the guiding topic, International Partners asked their young leaders key questions on the largest challenges facing democracy today at the national, regional, and global levels. The workshop consisted of seminar sessions, a geopolitical simulation, and several cultural visits that promoted reflection on democracy, included key global speakers, and brought together select Aspen Institute leaders who are actively promoting democratic values in their work.

Workshop Recap: 

The 3.5 day workshop took place from November 30 – Dec 3, 2023 and included text-based philosophical seminars, a geopolitical simulation mimicking a preliminary exchange for the November 2024 G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, visits to significant cultural sites of Germany, and unique conversations with officials and experts.

Spotlight Conversations:

Some of the unique conversations from last year included a visit to the German Federal Foreign Office for an exclusive closed-door conversation and Q&A with Dr. Tobias Lidner, Minister of State on the German approach to foreign policy; a conversation with the President of the National Unity Platform (Ugandan political party), Bobi Wine, where Bobi recounted efforts to fight for democracy under an oppressive regime and his hope for the future generation; and a conversation with Cara Seeberg, Former President of Volt Berlin (German political party) as she offered her insight on the challenges of being a woman in politics, a young leader of a political party, and championing a new party to the public.

Leaders from Aspen Institute programs (Enterprise Development, Aspen Challenge, Aspen Digital, Stevens Initiative, and Aspen Institute Germany) engaged with participants and provided insight into their impact on promoting democratic values. These leaders later offered further opportunities for Changemakers to continue their engagement outside of the Workshop by sharing insights and offering connections to ongoing Aspen initiatives promoting democracy and addressing identified challenges.

Seminar Sessions:

Seminar Session 1 – December 1st: What is democracy and what has it become?

Seminar 1 laid the foundation for what democracy means as well as provoked reflection among changemakers’ values. It focused on classic philosophical texts that have shaped our perspectives of democratic values and structures today. 

Seminar Session 2 – December 1st: What are the challenges testing our systems?

Seminar 2 focused on the most prevalent worldwide challenges to democracy that changemakers identified prior to the workshop. These topics included loss of trust in institutions, global inequality, rise of autocracy, and mis- and disinformation.

Seminar Session 3 – December 3rd: Where do we go from here?

After discussing the foundational texts which have shaped our modern-day ideas of democracies in Seminar 1, the challenges facing our democratic systems in Seminar 2, Seminar 3 concluded with a meaningful conversation on navigating the our own understanding of democracy in the effort to rebuild and uphold globally sustainable and realistic democratic structures and ideals.

Geopolitical Simulation:

Additionally, participants engaged in a geopolitical simulation mimicking a preliminary exchange for the November 2024 G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro. In this simulation, they assumed the roles of G20 delegates and representatives from various “Engagement Groups” (i.e., civil society, media, academia, and the corporate sector). The goal was to collectively identify global challenges that demand both attention and action from the G20. This experience fueled their interest in sharing the most relevant takeaways with the Y20 delegates ahead of the Brazil convening.

Real Action and Connections:

Following the conclusion of the workshop, changemakers were connected to the Institute’s global network, enabling them to explore additional ways of getting involved in the Institute’s initiatives. Alongside this, there is now the first-ever global cohort of International Partner alumni that will continue to communicate through moderated channels, fostering connections among themselves through other Aspen and non-Aspen engagement.

Changemakers had the opportunity to share their insights from the Workshop with the Y20 delegates ahead of their convening and support recommendations for the upcoming communique as categorized by the Y20’s identified issue areas.

2024 Workshop: The Race to a Greener Future

We are very excited to announce the second edition of the Workshop which will take place in Warsaw, Poland with Aspen Central Europe as this year’s co-host from December 12-15, 2024.

Last year’s cohort identified several key challenges that are testing our democratic systems, one of them being environmental challenges. This year’s focus will tackle the questions and concerns around the world’s race to a greener future. The Workshop will balance and explore the ethical, geopolitical, and economic considerations as they relate to environmental sustainability and the procurement of critical minerals and rare earth metals.

The Workshop structure will include 3.5 days of text-based philosophical seminars and policy roundtable discussions, a workshop activity that builds on the existing skill set of the cohort and promotes deeper understanding of the topic, visits to significant cultural sites of Poland, and unique conversations with officials and experts of the subject-matter.