For the third time, the Goethe-Institut is bringing leading personalities and innovative ideas from around the world together to discuss the pressing issues of our society. Voices from culture, science, politics and economics are set to debate generational issues in many areas of life in the upcoming digital edition.
Such as on the “Temperature Rising” panel, where Tobias Reuss, head of the sustainability strategy at the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand, will meet Indian climate scientist Navroz K. Dubash and Chlöe Swarbrick, a young Member of Parliament from the Green Party, from Auckland, New Zealand (17.6. at 13.15 CEST, time subject to change).
For Volkswagen, as a globally active company, responsibility means: “We want to become net-zero climate-neutral by 2050. At the same time, as the Volkswagen brand, we stand for making new technologies available to everyone and for the freedom of individual mobility. Around the world, the car – especially in rural areas – remains synonymous with self-determination for millions of people. Bringing climate protection and mobility together is Volkswagen’s responsibility. Which is why we are reducing the CO2 emissions of our cars through the entire lifecycle of the supply chain to recycling, and are going down the route of shared mobility in urban areas in particular,” said Reuss.
Volkswagen has supported and been part of Kultursymposium Weimar since its inception. At the last Kultursymposium in 2019, for example, Hiltrud D. Werner, member of the Group Management Board, was on the panel “Gender & Tech”, and Volkswagen futurologist Wolfgang Müller-Pietralla was part of the round table on “Euphoria over technology vs. fear of the future”.
Johannes Ebert, CEO and Secretary General of the Goethe-Institut, emphasised the importance of a pluralistic debate with global social relevance: “The 2021 Kultursymposium Weimar on the topic of ‘Generations’ gives us the opportunity once again to look at a globally relevant issue from an international perspective. The format of the digital festival allows open, constructive, and at times quite critical, exchange across borders. It is very important to me that in addition to culture, science, politics and media, voices from the economy are also involved in the debate on what the world of tomorrow should look like. I’m delighted that Volkswagen has been involved in Kultursymposium Weimar from the outset and is also supporting the current edition.”
The 2021 Kultursymposium Weimar gets underway at 13.00 CEST on Wednesday, 16th June. Over 60 speakers and artists from more than 25 countries will be involved in the discussions, including from Australia, China, Colombia, Denmark, Egypt, Germany, Great Britain, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, the Philippines, Romania, Switzerland, South Africa, South Korea and the USA.
Benita von Maltzahn, head of Volkswagen’s cultural commitment, lent her support to the collaboration with the Goethe-Institut: “The open discussion of future issues is more important than ever for our society. Continuous lively communication is particularly necessary between generations; because together we need to ensure that the world remains worth living in and sustainable.”
Link to the event and access to additional information on the Kultursymposium Weimar: www.goethe.de/kultursymposium.