Seminars

IAF Seminars 2024

Populists seem to be on the rise around the world and their opponents from different political camps seem to have difficulties to find the right antidote to fight that new (?) political force. Some place their bet on facts to fight lies, others on copying some of the populist features or trying to tackle what is perceived as the underlying causes that play into the hands of populists. But what is populism and why is it so dangerous for liberal open societies? What do populists have in common? This seminar is meant to analyse populism with regard to various criteria that are relevant to get a deeper understanding of its nature and, based on the results, to find ways and measures of how liberals could deal with this political enemy.

The seminar aims to fulfil the following objectives:

• to establish a thorough theoretical understanding of liberalism and of populism
• to develop tools and senses that help to detect populism
• to develop strategies and measures to counter populists
• to develop guidelines and strategies that can be disseminated in the respective
• organizations/parties

The seminar mainly aims at liberal thinkers and political strategists from political parties, think tanks and NGOs who are currently facing populist forces in their respective countries.

Do women lead differently, should they? Are they better leaders? How can women achieve leadership positions and how can they inspire other women to aspire the same? Are there female strengths that are often being ignored - and often by the women themselves? What keeps women from persuing their political goals and leadership aspirations? This Seminar wants to explore and train strengths and skills and help participants to discover impedient beliefs and hidden powers.

Female Leaders and Women with Political Aspirations from Political Parties and NGOs.

Refreshed ways to create a liberal environment in training sessions and events, where an audience is able to participate fully and think well for themselves by innovative, relevant and fun facilitation methodologies leading to interactive events and learning sessions. Understanding of programme development to improve organising, scripting, designing and implementing innovative sessions and events in their organisations. Individual skills development by improving the understanding of themselves as facilitators, while enhancing their unique communication, listening, language and leadership skills.

Representatives of liberal NGOs, Political Parties and Think Tanks who are actively involved with, or responsible for the design, planning and implementation of training and development sessions, or events. The seminar is best suited to individuals who have some level of experience in training or event scripting and planning.

In order to be successful political parties need - in addition to their political competences - well-formulated strategies. Hence, strategic planning is a key competence for political parties and their leadership personnel. Strategy development cannot be delegated or outsourced. Strategy elements from other successful political players cannot just be copied. Own competences in strategic planning are needed and this hands on workshop will provide political leaders with processes, tools and concepts to develop their own unique strategies.

Leadership personnel of political parties and party experts who work on party strategy.

Digitalisation has opened huge opportunities: cheap access to the means of communication, technology and services. But there is also a dark side to the story: Digitalization has given rise to new and powerful threats to democratic processes, human rights, privacy and the rule of law. And the solutions to these and more challenges (net neutrality, hybrid warfare, surveillance etc.) are far from obvious from a liberal perspective. Hence, it is on us to strike a balance between recognizing the positive disruptions of an Internet age and the concerns for its impact on inclusive liberal democracies.
How can liberal principles like the rule of law be realised in the digital world? (How) can new technologies help to guarantee basic rights, protect privacy and property, or establish security and transparency? Should we regulate AI - and if so, how?
Liberals experts from all over the world will discuss the urgent topics of our times - ranging from the market powers of big tech and the problem of disinformation to the future of democracy in the age of big data.

Liberal politicians and policy makers, social media content producers, bloggers, journalists, liberal internet and security experts, educationalists who can bring substantial knowledge of liberal values and principles to this exchange.

Networking is more than a buzzword or the size of the data base - it is a strategic task to increase the impact of one’s organisation and work. How can we establish and maintain meaningful contact and cooperation to various persons, partners and organisations? How can we connect the networks we built with each other? This workshop will explore a number of tools, events and strategic elements on how to start and grow networks as well as how to keep them active.

Networkers from liberal organisations including local colleagues from FNF.

Environmental Protection from Climate Change to Energy Policy

Almost no single political topic has drawn as much attention as climate change. And rightfully so. Yet, despite this attention, the political discourse has remained surprisingly stagnant when it comes to solutions: Most of often than not very basic interventions and command-and-control mechanisms are proposed. This seminar aims to expand the tool-kit of liberal public policy makers and therefore takes a holistic perspective on environmental policies from a theoretical perspective, their practical application and context, and their limitations.

This seminar targets think tanks, public policy institutes, political particles, academia, as well as environmental activists. Ideally, participants have backgrounds or good grasps of political economy, economics, or environmental studies.

Leadership, Strategy and Policy-Making

Liberal NGOs today are in the midst of rapid changes in the world - a young millennial population with a different DNA than their predecessors, greater political instability and shrinking spaces to operate, the ever-changing donor interests, and growing competition for attention across social media. In order to survive in a volatile and uncertain world and at the same time making an impact in their field of work, these organisations need to adapt constantly. They need to have a unique offer to the world and to be able to communicate adequately to their stakeholders and the public. And they have to constantly innovate in order to achieve more with less. At the heart of these unique and innovative NGOs and Think Tanks are powerful teams with a shared purpose, a compelling vision for the future and a clear strategy for delivery. During the seminar, we will take a deep dive into what it takes to set up organisations of this kind. Participants will get to know different ways through which they can increase the capacity, sustainability and impact of their organisations, will reflect on their organisation’s purpose and vision, and explore concepts of leadership and outreach. Taking the time to work with this process regularly enables NGOs and Think Tanks to become internally and externally aligned, strategy-focused organisations.

During the course of the seminar, participants will continuously be engaged in two streams of learning:

• A focus on the skills and knowledge required to build and grow robust, responsive and relevant NGOs and Think Tanks with an impact in their field of work
• A focus on themselves, their own self-awareness, leadership and role in the organisation and team.

This seminar is ideally suited for representatives of liberal NGOs - such as economic Think Tanks, Human Rights Defenders etc. - who work in close cooperation with the Friedrich Naumann Foundation in their respective countries or regions. Potential participants should ideally hold a leadership or management position in their organisation, and have the ability to determine or impact on the strategic direction of their organisation.

How to Deal with a Changing World Order

The World of 2022 and 2023 has showed us that a lot of the achievements of the so-called “Liberal World Order” can be undone in no time. Globalization, free trade, and (most heartbreakingly) peace have all literally become under attack in recent time. And the implications of this are all just to be unpacked. This seminar will dive into international power politics from all perspectives (from supply chains or currency wars to military spending) and develop answers to these challenges.

This seminar targets think tanks, public intellectuals, and political strategists that are liberal-minded. Participants should have a good grasp of geopolitics, political economy, and international institutions.

The protection of human and civil rights is not an exclusive task for lawyers and activists but for all citizens and especially functionaries from politics, business, media and society. This seminar will provide the basics of the legal framework and instruments and highlight the most important areas where human rights violations occur, sometimes unnoticed. The second part will be dedicated to develop and discuss policy approaches towards the promotion of a broader understanding of and respect for human rights in the different areas.

Representatives from political parties, the economic sector, NGOs and media.

Response to common criticisms of free markets and their underlying foundation: economic freedom. Focus will be on the environment that markets and entrepreneurs require in order to function in an optimum manner and on policies that might help to open and develop markets, with a focus on good governance, free trade, legal measures (including anti-trust measures, if deemed necessary), privatization and deregulation. Special questions will be how to help people develop an entrepreneurial spirit and a willingness to take risks. What kinds of incentives encourage entrepreneurship? Are subsidies for start-ups a good or a bad idea? And we will examine economic policies in light of the COVID-19 situation/aftermath: Could measures like national industrial policies help to overcome problems economies face around the world?

Young leaders in positions of responsibility from political parties, the legal profession, civic initiatives, the media and the civil administration as well as entrepreneurs or representatives of business associations who are liberal in outlook and have a basic knowledge of what liberalism is.

What are the (new) developments that will or already do affect societies, politics, economies, and the way people live, work and cooperate? How can liberals deal with future disruptions and challenges, and convince others - especially when they look for opportunities where others only see threats and risks. How can liberal philosophy give guidelines and assistance to analyse the situation and develop solutions? What can we learn from great thinkers to cope with the challenges of our time? By deepening the understanding of liberal thinkers and applying their thoughts on contemporary and future challenges for our societies this workshop is meant to develop liberal ideas further and connect these ideas to the roots of liberalism. At the same time it aims at connecting liberal thinkers around the globe to grow liberal networks stronger and to promote liberalism as the profound philosophy based on values and principles that has not lost any of its relevance.

With so many urgent issues that pose threats to liberal societies around the world, it seems crucial for liberals to go back to the drawing board. And this is exactly what this seminar is about: Taking a breath and bringing liberal intellectuals from all over the world together to reflect on and update liberal ideas and policies.

Intellectuals from think tanks, political parties or youth organisations, NGOs, Academia, Journalists, Blogger.

Many have entitled the media as the „fourth power“ to keep checks and balances in a democracy. The picture of a „watch dog“ seems to get cracks. Media are under pressure from politicians who undermine the reputation of the established media by accusing them of lying or taking sides with the political opponent, or by harassing journalists and news organisations/companies, openly threatening them with imprisonment or killing. With the internet a whole new world of access to information (true and false) has opened up and classical media came under economic pressure as well - while it is expensive to maintain quality journalism less people are willing to pay for it when they can get information in the web for free. Quality journalism also takes time for proper research - but with social media and millions of „citizen journalists“ it is way more difficult to be the first to break the news and having it checked properly, to grow and keep an audience, and to convince with quality journalism when big parts of the audience seem to be only interested in what confirms their already existing beliefs and opinion.

What can liberals do to support independent media and journalists under pressure?

Journalists, Blogger, Media Entrepreneurs, Liberal Activists and Politicians.

How to Shape Narratives and Amplify Impact?

This intensive workshop will focus on the following areas and skills: Strategically drafting and driving core messages that reach the right audience exactly the way they should. Dealing with the media and journalists by establishing a sincere working relationship. Choosing the best channel for each message and the right message for each audience. We will not only present practical tools but will also give all participants enough time and opportunity to put them into practice.

Leaders and Spokespersons from political parties.