Two intense days at Vienna City Hall in October – and exactly the kind of European gathering we need more of: people from politics, institutions, #civictech, media and campaigning coming together not simply to talk about communication, but to rethink how democracy communicates, listens and builds trust.
I had the privilege of leading two conversations that could hardly have been more different – and yet were deeply connected.
“WHAT WOULD MONNET SAY? Modern Political Communication Through a Historic Lens” with Jean-Marc Lieberherr Monnet-Marc Lieberherr Monnet.
What can we learn from Jean Monnet about persuasion, trust and political leadership today? Perhaps that lasting political change is not built through the loudest message, but through clarity, patience, common ground and the ability to turn complexity into collective action.
📱 And then: “THE FUTURE OF SOCIAL MEDIA” with Prof. Dr. Anna Zeiter, LL.M., CEO of #W Social.
Can we imagine social media differently? Platforms designed not only to maximise attention and outrage, but to enable real people, trusted information and constructive dialogue? And what role can #Europe play in creating that alternative?
For me, these two conversations came together in one fundamental question:
𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘰 𝘸𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 — 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘥𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘶𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮?
That question followed me through so many inspiring conversations in Vienna. A huge thank you to Josef Lentsch Lentsch and the #Partisan team for creating this remarkable European meeting place — and for bringing together such an extraordinary community.
Wonderful to connect, reconnect and exchange ideas with Benjamin Laepple Florent Barre Hendrik Nahr, Alicia Combaz, Robert Hinsch Omri Preiss, Jennifer Nadel FRSA, Patrizia Isabelle Nanz, Johannes Thun-Hohenstein, Andreas Grassl, Remy Bajolet, Robert O’Meara, Eske Vinther-Jensen, Alberto Alemanno, Mathias Lipp-Rosenthal and Soroosh Mashal
So many perspectives. So many ideas. And above all, a strong sense that Europe has no shortage of people willing to rethink how democracy, technology and communication can work together.
I’m leaving Vienna with a notebook full of ideas — and with even more conviction that the next chapter of revitalizing the political sphere must be about #listening as much as speaking, participation as much as persuasion, and #agency as much as action.
Thank you, Vienna. Thank you, Political Communication Summit. See you in Berlin 🚀🇪🇺
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