In times of complexity, fragmentation and rapid change, the most valuable currency isn’t data, technology or capital — it’s meaningful conversation. Not small talk. Not panel-noise. Not corporate statements.

Because transformation does not begin with a strategy document. It begins with people meeting, listening, challenging, connecting — and deciding to co-create the future together. So we need to create platforms, safe spaces where people from different backgrounds, sectors and perspectives can come together and talk tacheles: with clarity, courage AND curiosity. Where WE contribute. Where WE learn. And where WE see the sparks that become real impact.

Below are three recent experienced and facilitated examples of such “Conversations that matter” — platforms that show what’s possible when dialogue is designed with purpose and humanity.

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1. neext Europe — When Innovation Meets Real Talk

This week in Berlin, I joined the neext Europe pilot — and left energised from a Club House Edition dedicated to new connections, allied forces, and honest conversations about the future of adaptive cities. 

This year’s theme, „Adaptive City“, set the stage for exploring how cities can evolve in real time – responding to social needs, environmental pressures, and shifting expectations of urban life:
1. How do we adapt to what already exists?
2. How do we design mobility around people, not machines?
3. And what does success look like in a world where traditional growth models no longer hold?

The format opened space for courageous reflections and the key takeaways from this edition include:

🗝️ Growth that compromises wellbeing or inclusion is not progress — and never sustainable. Success feels different today, and for many, increasingly out of reach — cities must adapt to this reality.

🗝️ Retrofitting is the fastest route to both climate resilience and economic stability. Biobased construction is a major step forward, yet still slowed by outdated regulations and hesitant markets.

🗝️ Mobility must be tech-enabled, but above all, human-centered. People don’t choose cars — they choose comfort, safety, and control.

After an intimate, energizing gathering on-site that rather felt like a kitchen talk brought together leaders from urban development & community building, architecture & design, mobility & technology to discuss Europe’s future with unusual honesty, openness and pragmatism.

• No echo chambers.
• No hiding behind roles.
• No fear of disagreement.

Instead: a curated space where ideas meet reality, where perspectives collide productively, and where collaboration becomes the next logical step. neext shows what Europe needs more than anything right now: spaces for courageous, future-oriented conversations leading us beyond the beaten path into what might comes next!

🔗 https://neext.dreso.com
Kudos to Götz Schönfeld and the neext Europe team around Jana Nadda Arnet & Lukas Berner.

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2. Black Coffee — Diplomacy & Journalism and Thinking aloud

Have you ever experienced a Black Coffee session at the Waldorf Astoria hosted by the Divan Centre, a young think tank in Berlin? Through events and studies, the Divan Centre addresses geopolitical issues and contributes to mutual understanding between the Arab and European worlds. Kudos to Director Lorans Hennawi and spiritus rector and moderator Ewald König.

I have attended many — the most recent ones with Joschka Fischer, former Foreign Minister and Vice Chancellor of Germany. Fischer, one of the most influential political figures of the Green Party, shared his insights on key questions of international politics — particularly on the situation in the Middle East — and offered reflections on the geopolitical challenges of our time. Or with Ole Diehl, Vice President of the German Federal Intelligence Service (BND) since 2022. Between 2019 and 2021 he was the German Ambassador in Bagdad, Iraq. Previously, he had been Head of the Central Europe Division in the Federal Foreign Office, and later Consul General in Mazar-e Sharif, Afghanistan. Each time I leave reminded that transformation starts with listening across cultures, across political lines, across identities. Black Coffee creates the rare kind of atmosphere where:

• difficult topics feel discussable,
• diverse viewpoints feel welcome,
• and diplomacy is practiced not as theory, but as lived experience.

Participants include diplomats, including ambassadors, representatives of think tanks and foundations, decision-makers from the political sphere, and correspondents from leading German and foreign media outlets. The distinguished speakers open up conversations on current political, diplomatic, economic, and social international issues, particularly in European and Arab societies, taking into account the heterogeneity of societies on both sides.

As the Chatham House Rule applies to most events, the content discussed may be reported on, but without naming sources or quoting individuals. This confidential setting promotes the open exchange of opinions and ideas, a “safe space” providing not exactly comfort, but respect, depth and the courage to think aloud and be open to learn from each other.

🔗 https://divancentre.org/en/black-coffee
Kudos to Director Lorans Hennawi and SPIRUS Rector Ewald König.

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3. The Partners — Building the Future Through Collaboration

The Partners is a curated network of complemented expertise, strategic advisors offering individualised, structured, and creative support, helping you develop ideas, initiatives, or projects and discuss and coordinate them with your stakeholders — both existing and new. The diverse network of thought leaders and changemakers who are committed to making a difference.

With thematic working groups, policy dialogues and agenda setting communication, the network creates a trusted environment where leaders can align on priorities — and actually act on them.

What I value most?
The blend of analysis and humanity.
The understanding that transformation requires both facts and trust.

🔗 https://www.thepartners.io
Kudos to founder Michael Wedell and all the Partners contributing.

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Why These Conversations Matter — For All of Us

Across these three platforms, one insight keeps repeating:

The future doesn’t emerge from PowerPoints.
It emerges from people — in conversation, in connection, in co-creation.

When leaders talk honestly…
When perspectives are welcomed, not filtered…
When courage outweighs caution…
When new alliances form based on a shared mission…

Transformation stops being a buzzword and dialogue becomes progress.
It becomes a process. A practice. A commitment.
Innovation becomes shared responsibility for a future that is co-created — not negotiated.

This is the philosophy we live at Brand & Places:
Miteinander. Füreinander. Und nie ohne die Menschen, die davon betroffen sind.