The seven professors of Freie Universität appointed as experts by Chancellor Merkel will be involved with all three main areas of discussion: What resources will we have? How will we learn? How do we want to live together? Six working groups have been established to deal with each of these three core questions. The experts from Freie Universität Berlin are participating in 7 of the 18 working groups. In total, 120 experts from academia, industry, and business have been appointed.

Freie Universität's law professor Dr. Christian Calliess has been appointed to the working group “Nachhaltiges Wirtschaften und Wachstum” (Sustainable Economic Management and Growth). “I want to help maintain as much individual political freedom and choice as possible for my children and for future generations. They should be able to experience an environment that has not been irreversibly predetermined by decisions taken by previous generations,” says Calliess. “We must ensure that in matters involving fundamental legislative decisions, the concerns of future generations are heard. This applies, for instance, to the conservation of our natural resources, but equally to choosing paths of technological development or to the level of government debt.”

American professor Dr. Miranda Schreurs is the director of the Environmental Policy Research Centre at Freie Universität Berlin and has been appointed to the working group “Nachhaltiges Wirtschaften und Wachstum.” She sees this as a “great opportunity” for collaboration. “In this dialogue on Germany’s future, it is essential that we focus more on questions regarding environmental policy and resources.”

Freie Universität Berlin participating in the Zukunftsdialog:

1. Working Group “Nachhaltiges Wirtschaften und Wachstum” (Sustainable Economic Management and Growth):

• Dr. Miranda Schreurs, Political Science: Director of the Environmental Policy Research Center, Email: miranda.schreurs@fu-berlin.de 
• Dr. Christian Calliess, Law: public law, European law, environmental law, Email: c.calliess@fu-berlin.de  

2. Working Group “Zukunft der Arbeit” (The Future of Work):

• Dr. Ronnie Schöb, Economics: finance, specializing in international financial policy, Email: ronnie.schoeb@fu-berlin.de

3. Working Group “Wohlstand, Lebensqualität und Fortschritt” (Prosperity, Quality of Life, and Progress):

• Dr. Andreas Knabe, Economics: labor market and social policy, Email: andreas.knabe@fu-berlin.de

4. Working Group “Gemeinsinn und soziale Kompetenzen” (Community Spirit and Social Responsibility)

• Dr. Heather Cameron, Education: specializing in inclusive education, physical activity, and sports, Email: cameron@zedat.fu-berlin.de

5. Working Group “Deutschlands Selbstbild” (Germany’s Self-Image)

• Dr. Thomas Risse, Political Science: Director of the Center Transnational Relations, Foreign and Security Policy, Email: atasp@fu-berlin.de

6.  Working Group “Kriminalität und Sicherheit” (Crime and Security)

• Dr. Herbert Scheithauer, Psychology: Division of Developmental Science and Applied Developmental Psychology, Email: hscheit@zedat.fu-berlin.de