With its regular fora held at Grand Resort Bad Ragaz in eastern Switzerland, the Max Schmidheiny Foundation aims at fostering constructive dialogue among the younger generation of outstanding entrepreneurs, politicians and representatives of academia and the civil society. Each forum is dedicated to a pressing issue that the participants discuss with select Swiss and global leaders.
The initiative is based on the belief that a free economic and social order can endure only if characterised by deep mutual appreciation and progressive cooperation between business, politics and society, and an open discussion on the fundamental issues of our time.
The Max Schmidheiny Foundation facilitates an emerging community of forum participants that is evolving into a thematically focused “think pool” of leaders across all walks of life. In line with Switzerland’s tradition of citizens’ direct involvement in politics, government, and the military, the Foundation sees the fora as a means to rejuvenate this idea of direct governance, and, in turn, to institutionalize a strategic discussion about the future of Switzerland among the younger generation of leaders. Thereby, the Max Schmidheiny Foundation would like to address a need for improving mutual understanding and coordination among the different societal spheres of influence, as well as for contributing more solution-oriented proposals to public debate.
This year’s Forum of the Max Schmidheiny Foundation was held on the topic of “Switzerland's Citizen State – Revisiting the Social Contract in Times of Uncertainty”. The Forum brought together around 50 personally invited participants from business, politics and society for an open discussion beyond the boundaries of party lines and daily politics.
This year’s Forum of the Max Schmidheiny Foundation was held on the topic of “Power Politics, Freedom and Security – Where does Switzerland stand in the future”. The Forum brought together around 50 personally invited participants from business, politics and societyfor an open discussion beyond the boundaries of party lines and daily politics. They were joined by distinguished leaders from Switzerland and abroad, including Dmitry Adamsky, Christoph Frei, President Dalia Grybauskaitė, Georg Häsler, Ambassador Christoph Heusgen, Philip Mosimann, Christoph A. Schaltegger and Constanze Stelzenmüller.
The Forum of the Max Schmidheiny Foundation brought together around 50 personally invited leaders from business, politics, and society. The event in Bad Ragaz was dedicated to an open dialogue on the topic of "Urbanization, Space and Society – How do we live in 20 years?" across party lines.
This year’s Forum of the Max Schmidheiny Foundation was held on the topic of “Shock Effects – Living and Learning in Freedom and Uncertainty”. In a two-part event, the Max Schmidheiny Foundation brought together participants from business, politics and society. The first part was held in person at the Grand Resort Bad Ragaz on 11 November 2020. The second part was, for the first time, held virtually on 17 February 2021. In an open discussion beyond the boundaries of party lines and daily politics, a group of around 50 personally invited participants discussed implications of the shock resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, options for action, learning processes, and social behavior appropriate to the new uncertainty. They were joined by distinguished leaders from Switzerland and abroad, including Anne Applebaum, Constanze Stelzenmüller, Dominic Barton, Raghuram Rajan and Marianne Janik.
The Forum of the Max Schmidheiny Foundation brought together 50 personally invited leaders from business, politics, and society. The event in Bad Ragaz was dedicated to an open dialogue on the topic of "Enlightenment - Smart Design for the 21st century" across party lines.
The Forum of the Max Schmidheiny Foundation brought together 45 personally invited leaders from business, politics, and society. The event in Bad Ragaz was dedicated to an open dialogue on the topic of "Identity and Leadership in Fragile Times" across party lines.
On 11 and 12 May 2017, the Max Schmidheiny Foundation held a forum on the topic of “Fit for the new world (dis)order?” that brought together a group of about 50 participants representing the younger generation of Switzerland’s top decision makers from business, politics, academia and civil society. National and international leaders – among them Dr. John Chipman, Radoslaw Sikorski, and Prof. Dr. Carlo Strenger – contributed their insights and perspectives in an intensive discussion off the record. Discussions at Grand Resort Bad Ragaz in Eastern Switzerland centered on the question of how Switzerland should make sense of the pervasive global political, economic and social uncertainties, and how the country should improve its fitness vis-à-vis the challenges and opportunities that are likely going to shape the international context in the years to come.
On 26 and 27 May 2016, the Max Schmidheiny Foundation held a forum on the topic of “The future of freedom” that brought together a group of more than 50 participants representing the younger generation of Switzerland’s top decision makers from business, politics, academia and civil society. National and international leaders – among them Prof. Dr. Hans Ulrich Gumbrecht, Veit Dengler, Johann Gevers, Dr. Adrian Künzi, Prof. Dr. Dirk Helbing, and Prof. Dr. Oliver Zimmer – contributed their insights and perspectives in an intensive discussion off the record. Discussions at Grand Resort Bad Ragaz in Eastern Switzerland centered on the question of how the resilience of our free and democratic institutional order can be strengthened in the face of a number of interfering shocks – from the reemergence of extremist ideologies to disruptive technological change, and an uncertain geopolitical outlook.
On 18 and 19 May 2015, the Max Schmidheiny Foundation held a forum on the topic of “Societal Innovation – beyond the obvious” that brought together a group of 40 participants representing the younger generation of Switzerland’s top decision makers from business, politics, academia and civil society. National and international leaders – among them Prof. Dr. Hermann Mettler, Thomas D. Meyer, Evgeny Morozov, Philip Mosimann, and Dr. David Skilling – contributed their insights and perspectives in an intensive discussion off the record. Discussions at Grand Resort Bad Ragaz in Eastern Switzerland centered on the question of how Switzerland – as a small state with an open, globally connected economy – could make better use of its scientific, economic, political and societal innovation capabilities.
On 27 and 28 February 2014, the Max Schmidheiny Foundation held a forum on the topic of “A global niche strategy for Switzerland in the 21st century” that brought together a group of 40 participants representing the younger generation of Switzerland’s top decision makers from business, politics, academia and civil society. National and international leaders – among them Ms. Barbara Kux, Mr. Siong Guan Lim, Prof. Dr. Herfried Münkler – contributed their insights and perspectives in an intensive discussion off the record. Discussions at Grand Resort Bad Ragaz in Eastern Switzerland centered around the changing and uncertain geopolitical and geo-economic environment and the corresponding strategic challenges and choices facing small states with open, globally connected economies.
On 15 and 16 October 2010, the Max Schmidheiny Foundation held a forum on the topic of “Switzerland’s Economic and Geopolitical Future – Values, Goals, Strategy” that brought together a group of 40 participants representing the younger generation of Switzerland’s top decision makers from business, politics, academia and civil society. At Grand Resort Bad Ragaz in Eastern Switzerland, they held an open, non-partisan debate on Switzerland’s future position in the world, with a special focus on the repercussions of the current geopolitical shift on Switzerland’s future position both as a small country with strong liberal traditions and as an open economy thriving as a nexus of interacting global value chains.
On 27 and 28 April 2010, the Max Schmidheiny Foundation held a forum in Bad Ragaz, Switzerland, on the topic of „Fundamental Values of Switzerland“ that brought together a group of 40 participants representing the younger generation of Switzerland’s top decision makers from business, politics, academia and civil society. Joined by distinguished Swiss and international leaders – among them Pascale Bruderer-Wyss, President of the Swiss National Assembly, Dr. Jean-Pierre Roth, former Chairman of the Swiss National Bank, the Sociologist Prof. Dr. Andreas Wimmer from UCLA, as well as Dr. Edmund Stoiber, former Prime Minister of Bavaria – they held an open, non-partisan debate with a special focus on Switzerland’s future position in the world.
On 23 June 2008, the Max Schmidheiny Foundation held a forum in Bad Ragaz, Switzerland, on the topic of „Consensus Democracy and Opposition – Perspectives on Economic Policy Making“ that brought together a group of 40 participants representing the younger generation of Switzerland’s top decision makers from business, politics, academia and civil society. Joined by distinguished Swiss and international leaders – among them former Swiss federal councillor Dr. Christoph Blocher as well as former Austrian chancellor and current head of the ÖVP parliamentary faction Dr. Wolfgang Schüssel – they discussed implications and perspectives of the Swiss People’s Party’s (Schweizerische Volkspartei, SVP) recently declared repositioning as an opposition force, breaking with Switzerland’s tradition of consensus government by all major parties. Marked by an open, non-partisan debate, the forum especially focussed on how this new situation in Swiss politics will influence economic policy making.
