Our values are diverse – conservative, social democratic, green, liberal and more – but we all want to live in a free and democratic Europe. Therefore, we want politics in Europe to improve. Every year, this book presents 80 great political projects. We bring the work of courageous and creative politicians to the fore so that it may serve as a source of inspiration to others. The Founders and Partners of The Innovation in Politics Awards Dalia Bankauskaite, Malgorzata Bonikowska, Stephen Boucher, Helfried Carl, Alexander Dourchev, Juergen H. Gangoly, Daniel Heller, Jakob Huber, Fidelma Joyce, Patricia Kahane, Julia Kozak, Lena Morozova-Friha, Philippe Narval, Lisa Pelling, David Schoibl, Dominic Schwickert, Paul Sills, Martin Slater, Edward Strasser, Elke Zuckermann, Ronny Zuckermann ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Many individuals and organisations make The Innovation in Politics Last but not least, we want to thank all politicians who submitted Awards possible. They deserve our gratitude and their credit. their projects to the awards. They value our idea and they trust us – as we trust them! Thanks to the hospitality of the Mayor of Vienna, Michael Ludwig, we can celebrate the finalists of the Innovation in Politics Awards and Please accept our heartful thanks – and enjoy our joint success. their work at the Great Festival Hall of Vienna City Hall, in all its glory. Executive City Councillor of Vienna, Juergen Czernohorszky, invited The Founders and Partners of all finalists to present their exceptional political projects to the media, The Innovation in Politics Institute experts and politicians. Wolfgang Hofer, Erich Hampel and Mariella Schurz of the B&C Foundation decided to support our initiative from the early stages. The Federation of Austrian Industries helped us to improve the gathering of all finalists for a fruitful exchange. We want to thank all scouts all over Europe, who in 2018 identified more than 600 great political projects. 1,053 jurors from all countries of the Council of Europe applied a great effort to judge all submitted projects fair-minded, enabling us to present to you 80 selected finalists. We thank them for their crucial contribution, their responsibility and their time. Many thanks to all members of our team, our friends, and those who support our initiative with their excellent work: Elisabeth Bartovics, Elena Cerutti, Roberta Constantini, Alexander Czjzek, Bernhard Drumel, Paulina Fröhlich, Georg Gangoly, Dunja Ganser, Alban Genty, Alexandre Heully, Amadea Horvath, Margherita Pacileo, Anjuli Patel, Bettina Rausch, Maria-Elsa Salvo, Samuel Schaab, Support us: Anna Scislowska, Ventzislav Shabansky, Roman Snehotta, Markus Stefan, Beniamin Urbanek, Martin Wolfram, Michael @politicsawards Zerz and Zackory Maguire. /politicsawards The Innovation in Politics Institute Margaretenstrasse 70, 1050 Vienna, Austria innovationinpolitics.eu #IPAgala18 2 3 WELCOME TO THE INNOVATION IN POLITICS AWARDS! People say to me that they see our European democracies headed you are core members of this group. Your work is ground-breaking, downhill, resulting in less freedom for all of us and in a weak Europe. exemplary and it serves as a source of inspiration. My answer to that: Well, it’s up to us only. May you enjoy reading about this year´s 80 finalist projects, chosen Democratic politics in Europe has to improve. But how? In some by an ever larger hard working jury of 1.053 European citizens, as places it already works well. Every day, the brightest minds in politics much as we did! all over Europe – regardless of party affiliation – realise exemplary We believe that for us, and for our children, there is no alternative to initiatives and projects which improve the lives of their communities, a democratic Europe. Our core European values – democracy, social regions or countries. And by doing so, all our lives. balance, prosperity and human rights – depend on it. The Innovation in Politics Awards put liberal democracy center Have a very nice evening! stage. Even better, we put the people who work with and for liberal democracy center stage: Amazing political projects and the creative and courageous minds who have the will and energy to make them Edward Strasser become real. Founder, The Innovation in Politics Institute It’s a great job, and we are so glad to be doing it! Now in their second year, our Europe-wide Innovation in Politics Awards have grown and extended their reach and impact. They will continue to grow next year. Also, we have become a Europe-wide service organisation for politicians and political institutions. For specific topics and tasks, we connect those who want to improve the way politics are done with the insights of those who have found a way to do it. All of you who are here tonight – the fnalists of the Innovation in Politics Awards – 4 5 Innovation in Politics: a concept which, put into practice, means I believe that the Innovation in Politics Awards are a very important better governance, better public services and a better quality of life initiative, making me glad and proud to be associated with the for all of us. And which also means hope for our societies in difficult individuals and institutions who support it. times, when democracy throughout Europe – and in fact throughout the world – is threatened by citizens’ disillusionment and frustration with worn-out, "old-style" politics and politicians. Patricia Kahane Founder, The Innovation in Politics Institute I admit that I have been greatly worried by recent developments in a number of European countries whereby – after an unprecedented period of peace, prosperity and social progress – a return to darker times now suddenly appears possible. We also have to acknowledge that at least some of the public’s resentment which fuels these worrying developments is caused by real grievances and real shortcomings in the way our communities, regions and countries are run. The Innovation in Politics Awards aim to improve that – not with theoretical treatises or pretentious advice on how things should be run, but by shining the light on existing innovative projects that offer proven solutions to problems which many of us share. By calling political innovators before the curtain, The Innovation in Politics Awards not only honour their creativity and competence, but also encourage others to emulate them, and provide politicians throughout Europe with model solutions for improving their constituents’ lives. 6 7 The achievements of the European Union include over half a With this in mind, it is very important to us to support successfully century of peace, stability and prosperity. A thriving economy implemented projects and initiatives, and to pay tribute to them. provides the foundation for this – driven by the frameworks in We would like to express our sincere thanks to the Innovation in place in member states and Europe-wide, as well as by initiatives Politics Institute, which has established these awards, and to all undertaken by courageous and creative policy-makers who break those who submitted entries, whose commitment contributes to new ground. the implementation of new initiatives and ideas. From a long-term perspective, it is important to support an entrepreneurial environment that encourages cooperation across borders, and to attract the best talent in technology and Erich Hampel management. In addition, there must be room for creativity and Chairman of the Board, B&C Private Foundation innovation that bring benefits to citizens. The B&C Private Foundation is committed to these goals. B&C was founded in 2000 with the objective of supporting Austrian entrepreneurship over the long term. We have majority shareholdings in AMAG Austria Metall AG, Lenzing AG and Semperit AG Holding – all of them large Austrian industrial companies that are active globally – with the aim of permanently keeping the know-how and headquarters of these internationally competitive businesses in Austria. In this way we help to secure jobs and promote Austria as a business location. In addition, we support numerous initiatives that encourage entrepreneurship and innovation. 8 9 We are facing unprecedented political and economic uncertainty, The good news is that innovation in politics is already taking place – many of our post-World War II institutions are being challenged, the and solutions to tricky problems already exist! Across Europe, politi- economic order and trade order are unravelling and democracy is cians at all levels have implemented innovative, creative and effective increasingly being questioned. Even though we are living in complex initiatives. To share this knowledge is essential in "future-making" in and turbulent times, we must not forget that we are doing very well. which governments play a pivotal role. We are seeing growth and low unemployment rates, and thanks to The Innovation in Politics Institute, with its European Conference on the social market economy and liberal democracy, we are living in a Best Practice in Political Innovation, creates just this space – to listen, society with social peace. All this has also been made possible by to learn, to share and to discuss smart politics that contribute to the sound policy-making. well-being and resilience of our society and to protecting democracy. This position of strength gives us the free space to try out new We are pleased to be a partner! approaches. Therefore, this is just the right time to catch up and to re-imagining the role of government and our institutions, politics as well as our society. It is the right time to encourage political leaders, Georg Kapsch policy-makers and political minds to be courageous and innovative in President of the Federation of Austrian Industries their answers and offers to the legitimate concerns of their citizens. And it is the right time to strengthen democracy as a fundamental prerequisite for prosperity. Our daily close cooperation with politics and administration shows us that good political leadership and innovative policy-making are essential in times like these – because it is not just about working more effectively today, but above all about preparing society well for tomorrow.