»Facing the Future« is a new fellowship programme based at the Institute for Human Sciences (IWM), developed in strategic partnership with ERSTE Foundation. Bringing together leading and emerging thinkers from across Europe and beyond, it creates space for fresh ideas on the future of liberal democracy, freedom, solidarity, belonging, and social cohesion. Through research, public discussion, and debate, the programme examines how liberal thought can be reimagined to address the most pressing political and social challenges of our time. The programme succeeds the acclaimed »Europe’s Futures« fellowship.

To mark the opening of the new fellowship year, the fellows will present their research in a series of public debates as part of the inaugural meeting, titled »Do ideas still matter in politics?«. The debates will examine the causes of the »turn toward illiberalism«, institutional responses to state capture and post-authoritarian renewal, and the historical roots of today’s crisis of the liberal world order.

For more information and registration details, please visit the individual event pages listed below:

Tuesday, 22 September 2026, 18:00

Trends in Regulating Big Tech: Geopolitics, Local Politics, and Money with James C. O’Brien and José Ignacio Torreblanca

Wednesday, 23 September 2026, 16:00

How Do Institutions Survive Politics? Maintenance, Redesign, and Contestation in Poland and Serbia with Anna Wojciuk and Gazela Pudar Draško

Thursday, 24 September 2026, 16:30

Was There a Place for Russia? 1991 and the Unravelling of the International Liberal Order with Sergey Radchenko and Thomas Gomart

Friday, 25 September 2026, 15:00

Furious Minds and Financial Crises: What Drives Illiberalism? with Laura K. Field and Moritz Schularick

Header Image: »Railway« © Magnific