The committee of eminent personalities convened in Bregenz Festival House in 2017. By means of local projects, exchange between the experts and the population of Vorarlberg is promoted. 

Jakob von Uexküll established the World Future Council in 2007. With this move, the donor of the “alternative Nobel Prize” created a committee which constantly campaigns for a sustainable, equal and peaceful future. The topics covered range from the consolidation of renewable sources of energy, commitment to the rights of children through to working towards a world free of hunger. To this end, the organisation searches for examples of “best policy”, works out solutions of its own, and communicates them to the world of politics.

The 50 members of the committee are experts from the fields of politics, science, economics and culture from all over the world. The more well-known members of the Council include the British behaviour researcher Jane Goodall, DBE, the German scientist Prof. Dr Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker, the American actor Daryl Hannah and the expert for children’s rights Dr Auma Obama from Kenya.

The annual World Future Forum is the main address for the exchange. It will be held in Austria for the first time next year, with members of the Council convening in Bregenz Festival House between 29 March and 2 April 2017. The main topics will be climate change and renewable sources of energy, peace and disarmament, children’s rights and sustainable agriculture.

Alexandra Wandel, the Director of the World Future Council, praised the commitment of the Festival House, the city of Bregenz and the federal state of Vorarlberg: “Here, we are meeting people who are just as passionate about the responsible shaping of the future as we are.” Mayor Markus Linhart also emphasises this line: “The World Future Council concerns itself with the issues faced by future generations at global level. We are already realising a lot of these issues locally.” This makes the city the perfect location for the World Future Forum.

For Gerhard Stübe, Director of Kongresskultur Bregenz, the network of international experts with local initiatives is of particular importance: “This means that the World Future Forum is acting as a stimulus for the entire region.” The planned features include projects with schools in Bregenz and public events with the members of the Council.

The World Future Forum is being hosted as a Green Meeting in the Festival House and subject to stringent ecological criteria. The event is enjoying the support of the state capital of Bregenz, the federal state of Vorarlberg, the Austrian Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management as well as private sponsors such as the Hilti Foundation and the illwerke vkw Group.