The World Capital Institute and The New Club of Paris Joint Annual International Conference 2026
Upcoming conference in Frankfurt focusing on the three themes of: Design, Democracy, Diplomacy
Goethe University Frankfurt, 8-9 October 2026
To mark the fact that Frankfurt is this year’s ‘World Design Capital’, as well as this year’s International Book Fair, three leading institutions have come together to organize a groundbreaking conference under the title ‘Democracy – Diplomacy – Design’. The conference will feature an equal mix of contributors and speakers from academia, politics and business.
Program
The outline of the initial program is summarized below: Wednesday 7th October:
Afternoon Visit to local Industrial Park.
Day 1. 8th. Oct.
Welcome and Opening Address.
9:00 - 9:30 am (UCT): Welcome and Aims of Conference
WCI / NCP/ Goethe University Convenors
Keynote Event
9:30 - 11:00 am (UTC): World Café
Anja Puntari
Break
Keynote and Panel
11:30 - 12:30 (UTC): Urban Design for the Climate Crisis
Prof. Flurina Schneider, Goethe University.
Panel Chair: Cathy Garner.
Lunch and Poster Presentations
Afternoon Opening Session and Panel
14:00 - 15:00 (UTC): End of Cities, End of the World or the end of Capitalism?
Prof. Javier Carrillo.
Panel Chair: Guenter Koch.
Break
Panel Discussion
15:30 - 17:00 (UTC): Futurizing Intellectual Capital
Lina Uziene and Sladjana Cabrillo.
Panel Chair: TBC.
Keynote and Panel Session
17:30 - 19:00 (UTC): Location Based Solutions for the Climate Crisis Dr Blanca Garcia WCI
Panel: Heike Zimmermann-Timm Stefan Güldenberg.
Day 2. 9th. Oct.
Welcome and Opening Address.
9:00 - 9:30 am (UCT): Welcome and Recap from First Day
WCI / NCP/ Goethe University Convenors.
Keynote Address and Panel Session
9:30 - 11:00 am (UCT): Science Diplomacy Keynote Speakers and Panel Session
Panel Chair: Stefan Güldenberg
9:30 - 11:00 am (UCT): AI from social perspective, in emerging economies
Prof. Eliut Flores, University of Puerto Rico.
Pannel Discussion
11:30 - 12:30 am (UCT): Democracy “Aesthetics of Democracy “ University of Frankfurt The Citizen University
Panel Chair: Guenter Koch.
11:30 - 12:30 am (UCT): NCP Special Session Common Good Günther Szogs Session until 14:00.
Coordinators: Günther Szogs Waltraut Ritter.
Lunch / Poster Presentations
Afternoon Session
14:00 - 16:00 am (UCT): NCP General Assembly
Panel Chair: Stefan Güldenberg.
Learnings and Next Steps
17:00 - 17:30 am (UCT): Conference Recap and Future Events
Stefan Güldenberg, Heike Zimmermann-Timm, Cathy Garner.
Evening Session
For questions or to get in touch please contact us by e-mail guenterkochat@gmail.com
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