Once a year, the nonprofit "Lebendige Stadt" Foundation organises a symposium focusing on topical issues relating to the cities. Future issues, approaches to solving current problems, and the result of the surveys conducted by the Foundation are discussed by representatives from the worlds of culture, politics, business and society. These fruitful discussions are made available to a wide specialist readership through the "Lebendige Stadt" journal.

In the nonprofit "Lebendige Stadt" Foundation, state minister presidents, government ministers, lord mayors, CEOs, scientists and leading cultural figures work together to maintain and promote the vibrancy of European cities. As part of this endeavor, the Foundation supports "best practice" models, presents an annual Foundation Award and organizes forums for the exchange of ideas and experience between the involved parties. The well-known projects of the Foundation include the illumination of the Rhine bank in Cologne, the revitalization of Hamburg's "Jungfernstieg" boulevard and the redevelopment of the church courtyard of the Nikolaikirche in Leipzig, where the peaceful revolution of the former GDR began.

Speakers
Hatice Akyün, Journalist and publicist

Peter Altmaier MDB, Parliamentary Secretary of State at the Federal Ministry of the Interior

Dr. Daniel Arnold, CEO of Deutsche Reihenhaus

Sebastian Bock, Pupil, winner of "Youth Debates", NRW

Prof. Dr. Karlheinz Brandenburg, Director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Media Technology

Stefan Brendgen, Managing Director of Allianz Real Estate Germany and Board member of Allianz Real Estate

Drs. H.M.F. Bruls, Mayor of Venlo, Netherlands

Heinz Buschkowsky, District Mayor of Berlin-Neukölln

Morten Carlsson, CEO of PROCON MultiMedia AG

Ferdos Forudastan, Author, publicist, freelance journalist and lecturer at various institutes
including the Institute of Journalism at Dortmund University

Dr. Uwe Franke, CEO of Deutsche BP and initiator of the "Charter of Diversity of German Companies"

Dr. Roland Gerschermann, Managing Director, FAZ newspaper,
member of the Foundation Board "Lebendige Stadt"

Dr. Ralph Giordano, Publicist

Dr. Frank Hanser, Managing Director, DSK Deutsche Stadt- und Grundstücksentwicklungsgesellschaft

Burkhard Jung, Lord Mayor of Leipzig, member of the Foundation Board, "Lebendige Stadt"

Suffragan Dr. Heiner Koch, Archbishopric of Cologne

Nina-Carolin Krumnau, Pupil, runner-up of "Youth Debates", NRW

Prof. Dr. Norbert Lammert MDB, President of the German Bundestag

Dr. Franziska Lehmann, Co-partner of Proloco - the example of Munich

Lutz Lienenkamper, Minister of Construction and Transport, North Rhine-Westphalia

Dr. Eva Lohse, Lord Mayor of Ludwigshafen

Herbert Mai, Board member of Fraport, Executive Director Labor Relations, Ambassador of the corporate "Success Factor Family" program

Dr. Andreas Mattner, Chairman of the Executive Board, "Lebendige Stadt" Foundation

Dr. Elisabeth Merk, Urban Planning Officer, Munich

Hildegard Müller, Former Minister of State of the Federal Chancellor, Chairwoman of the
Central Management Board of the German Energy and Water Association (BDEW), member of the Board of Trustees of the "Lebendige Stadt" Foundation

Konstantin Neven Dumont, Member of the Management Board of the M. DuMont Schauberg Group

Alexander Otto, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, "Lebendige Stadt" Foundation

Dr. Wolfgang Reiniger, Lord Mayor of Essen, member of the Foundation Board "Lebendige Stadt"

Dipl.-Ing. Thomas Reiter, Member of the Executive Board and responsible for space research and development at the German Aerospace Center (DLR), (astronaut)

Alan Rudge, Councillor for Human Resources and Equality, Birmingham, England

Dr. Jürgen Rüttgers, Minister President of North Rhine-Westphalia

Wolfgang Schmitz, Director of WDR Radio

Fritz Schramma, Lord Mayor of Cologne, member of the Board of Trustees of the "Lebendige Stadt" Foundation

Hermann Graf Von Der Schulenburg, CEO of Deutsche Bahn Stadtverkehr

Dr. Wolfgang Schuster, Lord Mayor of Stuttgart, member of the Foundation Board "Lebendige Stadt"

Mike Storey, Lord Mayor of Liverpool

Bernd Streitberger, Alderman, City of Cologne

Wolfgang Tiefensee, German Federal Minister of Transport, Building and Urban Affairs

Dr. Michael Vesper, Executive Director, German Olympic Sports Federation

Margit Vollmert, Director, Caparol ColorDesignStudio

Heinz-Joachim Weber, Production Director of the Westdeutscher Rundfunk broadcasting company

Andreas Wente, CEO Philips Deutschland GmbH, Director of the Lighting DACH division

Andreas Wiedemann, Principal of the "In der Alten Forst" school

Dr. Andre Zeug, CEO of DB Station & Service AG

Fee
The charge of 175 € plus VAT includes the conference fee for both days as well as the price of the award ceremony and the Cathedral Play on Wednesday and the evening event on Thursday. There are no reductions for non-attendance at any of the events during the conference.