Council for Economic Democracy of MEHR Festival 2026

The MEHR Festival 2026, organised by the Otto Brenner Stiftung, a foundation of the IG Metall metalworkers’ union, will be held from Tuesday 16th June to Friday 19th June at Frankfurt am Maim. The four day festival aims to develop the theory and practice of building workers’ power.

The festival seeks to do this through organising its events in four councils: the Council for Digitalization, the Migration Council, the Council for the New Frankfurt and the Economic Democracy Council.

The Council for Economic Democracy, which will be held on Wednesday 17th June and Thursday 18th June at either Kunstverein Familie Montez or Die Käs (depending on the event in the Council’s programme), will feature contributions from Justus Henze (communia), Rabea Baerfelde (Centre for Social Critique, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin), Vanessa Barth (IG Metall, Grundsatz), and Tom Krebs (University of Mannheim). Topics will include pathways toward an active industrial policy, a democratically governed energy transition, expanded workplace co-determination, and democratic planning. The session provides space to discuss strategies as well as current and future projects.

A summary of the Council can be found below:

“We want to live in a society that is social, safe, peaceful, sustainable and democratic. But how can this be achieved if central future decisions are made by a few – by people and companies that benefit economically when social security, ecological transformation or democratic control are weakened?

The democratization of the economy is the fundamental goal of the trade union movement and more relevant today than ever.

Ideas for Economic Democracy

On the first day of the Council, experts will discuss an active industrial policy, a democratically managed energy transition, for an expansion of operational co-determination and democratic planning and for the democratization of regional value creation.

On the second day, the debate continues in open Fishbowls formats, where all participants are invited to actively participate through discussing contradictions, their own experiences and ideas.

But we do not stop at the exchange: together we will develop trend-setting ideas and discuss concrete steps on how to achieve them. Following the festival, we will continue to develop the ideas and projects in cooperation.”

You can find out more about the Council for Economic Democracy and its program here.

You can find out more about MEHR Festival 2026 here.