SECURITY POLICY WORKSHOP

Between 2019 and 2022, the Group dealt with Security Policy Workshop" series of eventsas a co-operation between the Goethe University Frankfurt am Mainthe Darmstadt Schader Foundation and SW&D, with the questions "How do security policy laypersons view the issues of German security policy?", "What fears do they harbour, what opportunities do they see?", "How do they argue?" and finally: "What do security policy experts in science and practice learn from this?".

2019 saw the creation of the Dialogue workshop "What security policy do we want?" already involved an intensive exchange between security policy experts and citizens on fundamental questions of security policy. The exchange in 2020 then focused on strategy development on the specific security policy question "What kind of European defence cooperation makes sense for Germany?" The dialogue on the desired security policy of the future and the question "What issues should a new federal government tackle?" took place online in July 2021 at the Intermediate workshop.

For 2021, a Security policy simulation game planned by the cooperation partners. Over the course of two days, interested citizens, from schoolchildren to retirees, took on the role of ministers and state secretaries and made decisions in line with their roles in a specific scenario. They were supported by experts from science and political practice. Due to the pandemic, this was finalised in 2022. With the expertise gained from previous information sessions, the participants were able to make well-founded decisions and thus understand the complexity of political structures, processes and contexts (without the risk of real consequences) and the mentors had the opportunity to recognise "blind spots" and be shown new perspectives by "outsiders".

The exchange on an equal footing with one another emphasises the need for such an exchange in political practice. Political science has an important role to play here as a mediator of information for everyone in order to be able to conduct a discussion based on facts and thus help shape decision-making processes.