European Forum Alpbach (EFA)

Since 1945, every summer, the small Tyrolean village of Alpbach becomes for a few weeks one of the most intellectually dense places in Europe. It is here that the European Forum Alpbach brings together young people from around the world with the most influential minds in politics, economics, science, and culture, in a format that blends high-level conferences, interactive seminars, and informal dialogue in an Alpine setting deliberately removed from the capitals of power. The founding idea is that of cross-pollination: not disciplinary silos, but conversations that cross boundaries between fields of knowledge, nationalities, and generations. The Forum is not a startup in the conventional sense, but it is an organisation that has embraced the logic of institutional innovation to maintain its relevance in a profoundly changed geopolitical context. The presence of figures such as EU Commissioner Jessika Roswall among participants signals that Alpbach is still, eighty years after its founding, a place where the conversations that matter actually happen. The model is based on partnerships with companies, institutions, and foundations that fund young people's participation through scholarships, making the Forum accessible regardless of participants' nationality or income. In a Europe traversed by geopolitical tensions, populisms, and cultural fragmentation, a physical and institutional space dedicated to intergenerational and interdisciplinary dialogue has a function that goes beyond the event: it is infrastructure for European culture.