Richard von Weizsäcker Forum

    Festival of Ideas

    The world in conversation. You’re invited. Discover our public event.
     

    5 and 8 October 2026 in Berlin

    Richard von Weizsäcker Forum panel discussion
    Festival of Ideas, Weizsäcker Forum

    Academy Talks

    Eight talks, eight minutes each. Join us for back-to-back speakers as they provide insight into often overlooked aspects of complex topics. 

    Someone giving a presentation
    Festival of Ideas, Weizsäcker Forum

    Round Tables

    Experts are welcome to join round table discussions with our Richard von Weizsäcker Fellows.

    Richard von Weizsäcker Fellows at a round table discussion
    Festival of Ideas, Weizsäcker Forum

    Panel Discussions

    Our panels reframe hardened debates and offer insight from a variety of perspectives. 

    Richard von Weizsäcker Fellows on stage at a panel discussion

How can we build partnerships across borders and divides? This question guides this year’s Festival of Ideas at the Robert Bosch Academy.

The festival opens the Academy’s Richard von Weizsäcker Forum, welcoming the public to the Robert Bosch Stiftung at Französische Straße 32 in Berlin. Academy Talks, panel discussions, and round tables offer opportunities to engage directly with international experts. 

Under the theme Forging Partnerships and Building Alliances, join around 100 international leaders from politics, academia, culture, business, and civil society to challenge assumptions and explore cooperation across divides. We look forward to welcoming you.

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Keynote Address

The middle power moment: How are middle powers reshaping the global order?

Shashi Tharoor, Indian author, politician, and former diplomat, will deliver the keynote address, "The middle power moment: How are middle powers reshaping the global order?" 

As the global order becomes increasingly multipolar, India, and Europe are entering a new “middle power moment” – with greater space to exercise strategic agency and shape global outcomes. Following the keynote address by Shashi Tharoor, the fireside chat will explore India’s strategic autonomy and multi-alignment, Germany and Europe’s pursuit of greater strategic agency, and the potential for a more consequential India-Germany and India-EU partnership. The conversation will ask whether India and Europe can turn their complementary strengths into a new strategic compact, while contributing to a more representative and balanced international order.

Bernhard Straub, CEO of the Robert Bosch Stiftung, will provide opening welcome remarks. Senem Aydın-Düzgit, Professor of International Relations at Sabancı University and Director of the Istanbul Policy Center, will moderate the discussion.

Guests attending the keynote are invited to join our Richard von Weizsäcker Fellows for a reception afterwards.

Speakers

  • Dr. Shashi Tharoor at Kollam
    Shashi Tharoor

    Shashi Tharoor is an Indian author, politician, and former diplomat, and Member of Parliament for Thiruvananthapuram. He served as UN Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information and as India's Minister of State for External Affairs. He has written more than twenty books on India, history, and international affairs.

  • Senem Aydin_Düzgit
    Senem Aydın-Düzgit

    Senem Aydın-Düzgit is a Professor of International Relations at Sabancı University and Director of the Istanbul Policy Center in Istanbul. She was the Pierre Keller Visiting Professor of Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School in 2024–2025 and is a council member of the European Council on Foreign Relations. Her research covers identity and discourse in international politics, with a focus on European and Turkish foreign policy.

  • Dr. Bernhard Straub, CEO of the Robert Bosch Stiftung
    Bernhard Straub

    Bernhard Straub is the Chief Executive Officer of the Robert Bosch Stiftung, one of Europe's largest private foundations. He joined the foundation in 2021 after spending more than thirty years at the Robert Bosch Group, where he led the Electrical Drives division and held positions in India and Japan. He holds degrees in industrial engineering and information systems and a doctorate in the sociology of knowledge.