Berlin is planning Q Berlin Questions conference
- Some 400 guests from around the world expected in Berlin from 19-20 October
- Key questions on work, governance, cultural identity, social justice, and urbanisation to be discussed
- Intensive anchoring in the city: conference turns all of Berlin into a stage
Berlin, 7 August 2017 visitBerlin has initiated a new kind of conference that aims to provide interested participants with orientation in an increasingly complex world. Key questions on work, governance, cultural identity, social justice, and urbanisation will be discussed. Some 400 guests from around the world are being invited to this year's first Q Berlin Questions conference. On the second day, the conference will become a "marathon" with up to 1,000 Berliners joining the discussion.
At the conference, to take place 19-20 October 2017 at the Schiller Theater, participants will engage five areas of global change through presentations, talks, discussions, activities, and performances.
"Q Berlin Questions is not a gathering of academics. It is instead meant to bring together people to discuss the key questions facing today's world in general terms", says Burkhard Kieker, CEO of visitBerlin. "The goal of Q is to provide orientation."
More than twenty international top speakers will provide the fodder for discussion, sharing their experiences and ideas and offering different perspectives on the global questions of the day. Speakers include Dutch star architect Rem Koolhaas, Chinese multimedia artist Cao Fei,and politician Hlomela Bucwa, the youngest member of the Democratic Alliance in South Africa.
The Schiller Theater will specially set up for Q by Indian architect and lecturer at the Technical University of Berlin, Anupama Kundoo.
Anchoring in the city
A special feature of Q: the conference will cover the entire city and make Berlin a stage. Q will also address current questions from the perspective of the host city Berlin. On-site investigation around Berlin is therefore part of the conference agenda. In this way, participants will experience the challenges and opportunities of Berlin as exemplary of those facing many other major cities.
For example, participants will be invited to dine privately with leading Berlin personages from society, business, and science. Excursions to the city's neighbourhoods will relate to the topics addressed at Q Berlin Questions. In addition, a "marathon" will give locals a chance to participate in the conference and actively shape the discussion.
Further refinement to Berlin's brand profile in the meetings industry
The international Q Berlin Questions conference has been commissioned by the City of Berlin. With Q, the German capital seeks to position itself even more clearly as a place of tolerance and open and honest dialogue about the important questions of the present and its consequences. Q is intended to strengthen Berlin's role as a venue for innovative conferences.
Q Berlin Questions is an initiative of visitBerlin. A curator team under the guidance of Michael Schindhelm will design the conference agenda. The organiser is Curages Conference Management GmbH, Berlin, which has already had a lot of experience organising TED conferences.
