On behalf of the state government of Lower Saxony, a team of experts chaired by Prof. Dietmar Harhoff, Ph.D., Director at the Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition, has developed options for action on how the federal state can respond to current major societal challenges. In the next few years, the course will be set for future developments.
Eleven renowned scientists had agreed to develop recommendations for the future. The commission took up its work as an independent and autonomous body of experts on 1 July 2019. The highly interdisciplinary panel identified five areas in which the state faces particular challenges, but that also affect other states and countries: (1) demographic developments, (2) climate change, (3) globalization, (4) digitalization, and (5) the preservation of social cohesion. Ten fields of action were examined along these challenges, within which general development trends as well as opportunities and risks for the state were identified.
These fields of action comprise the topics (1) demography and generations, (2) immigration and diversity, (3) work, employment and upskilling, (4) health and care, (5) landscape, energy and climate change, (6) agricultural and food economy, (7) mobility, (8) research and innovation, (9) high-tech strategy, robotics and AI, and (10) digitalization.
Finally, the commission presented particularly relevant options for action and core recommendations. These are intended to help ensure that the state can fully exploit its potential for a future-proof, successful development, and will be economically, socially, and ecologically sustainable in 2030.
The commission submitted the final report with its recommendations to the government of Lower Saxony on 25 March 2021. It is available online on the website of the state of Lower Saxony.