On September 1, 2026, the Leibniz Association celebrated the 20th anniversary of its Europe Office in Brussels. Under the Leibniz motto “Theoria cum Praxi,” the event honored two decades of successfully connecting Leibniz research with Europe.
Following a keynote address by Irene Bertschek (Commission of Experts for Research and Innovation – EFI; ZEW), which focused on the EFI’s recommendations for an ambitious research and innovation policy to strengthen Europe’s competitiveness and sovereignty, representatives from research, industry, and the European Parliament discussed the tension between competitiveness and social sustainability.
PRIF also took part in the celebrations at the Representation of the State of Baden-Württemberg to the EU. Yvonne Blum and Laura Friedrich presented the institute’s research and knowledge transfer activities at the poster exhibition held as part of the networking reception. PRIF is a regular guest in Brussels with its “Crisis Talks” dialogue series. The series addresses how the EU deals with crises and what we have learned from previous crisis situations. PRIF coordinates the Leibniz Research Network “Environmental Crises – Crisis Environments,” which organizes the science-policy series in cooperation with the Representation of the State of Hesse to the EU, the Research Center Normative Orders at Goethe University, and the Leibniz Europe Office in Brussels.