The year 2024 is a year of democracy in many respects: almost half of the world's population will be called to the ballot box to elect their parliaments and governments. In Brandenburg, elections for local parliaments, the state parliament and the European Parliament are coming up. Following the revelations about a far-right meeting in Potsdam, several million people in Germany took to the streets in the first few weeks of the year in favour of democracy and its fundamental values. The University of Applied Sciences Potsdam also joined various alliances for tolerance and diversity in the wake of these developments. The issue of democracy has taken on an acute urgency in a very short space of time.

At the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam, a self-organised group of lecturers and students has come together to explicitly place the summer semester 2024 under the motto #Democracy! The themed semester invites all members of the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam to engage with democracy, diversity and openness as part of teaching and research activities and free events.

The activities include, for example, Democratic Drinks, a series of lectures and discussions that invites people to engage in open dialogue at the university on current topics relating to democracy. On the 29^th of May 2024, all members of the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam are invited to get involved in a day of action on democracy with creative input and are encouraged to make active use of their right to vote. A democracy needs democrats! On the 20^th and 21^st of July 2024, the results from courses and events will be brought together and presented across the university as part of the Werkschau, the annual exhibition at the Department of Design. Over the course of the semester, workshops will be offered for students on the design of spaces for dialogue and discourse.

Participation in the thematic focus is voluntary for everyone and should serve as a platform for inter- and transdisciplinary dialogue and, above all, be fun. The central question is: How can we protect and further develop the free democratic basic order in the face of various crises and strengthen our own democratic culture together?

More information on the themed semester can be found on this website: 
https://fh-potsdam.de/demokratiesemester

The organising team includes:

• Lale von Baudissin
• Prof. Dr. Marian D?rk
• Prof. Holger Jahn
• Dr. Jasmin Jossin
• Corinna Gerloff
• Emilia Knabe
• Prof. Dr. Friederike Lorenz-Sinai
• Prof. Dr Antje Michel
• Prof. Myriel Milicevic
• Stefan Raich
• Jannik Schl¨¹ter
• Katja Stephan
• Elise Werner
• Wenke Wulf
• Ulrike Weichelt
• Prof. Dr. Ulrike Wuttke