Imagine we are in the year 2050 and Europe is on the way to the European Republic

Our story

The European Democracy Lab is an intergenerational think tank founded in 2014. By connecting research, advocacy and culture, we generate innovative ideas for Europe.

A co-working space in Berlin’s Neukölln district is where it all began. Equipped with no other means than motivation and a drive to impact the European discourse with concrete proposals, the lab set out on its journey to become the creative hub for European visions we are today. Having dedicated her life’s work to shaping the European project, Ulrike Guérot had become disillusioned by the abandonment of ambition for the European project. From the sovereign debt to the refugee crisis, division had replaced integration on the European continent and European nation-states began turning against one another.

To counter these developments, she left her European policy job to start the European Democracy Lab. Six years since we have worked tirelessly, conducting research, launching cultural projects, organizing lectures and events to build and engage a vast network of people seeking to create new European narratives.

Ulrike Guérot’s vision of a European Republic based on the equality of all European citizens before the law and the empowerment of the regions is our guiding vision. To spread this inspiring idea and make it happen, we connect research, advocacy and culture.

Our team

Ulrike Guérot

Ulrike Guérot

Founder

Ulrike founded the European Democracy Lab in 2014. She holds a professorship  at Danube-University Krems, in Austria and continues to support the Lab as a scientific advisor. She is a political scientist with 20 years of experience in the European think tank community and has taught at universities in Europe and the United States. She is the visionary behind the European Republic and the inspiration for the Lab’s overall agenda.

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Hauke Ritz

Hauke Ritz

Founder

Hauke Ritz, studied at the FU and HU Berlin. After completing his dissertation in philosophy with a focus on philosophy of history, he dealt intensively with the East–West conflict, the continued existence of which he has been researching since 2008 in the course of various publications and since 2014 through regular trips to Russia. He has taught at the University of Giessen, the MSU and RGGU in Moscow as well as the University of Belgorod and most recently worked for the DAAD in Moscow.

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Fellows

Arjan van der Waal

Arjan van der Waal

Ambassador

Arjan joined the European Democracy Lab early 2021 as an ambassador: he takes the talk and action of the European Republic to the Low Lands and voices European ideas, vibes, and movement from the Low Lands back to the European Republic. He previously worked with democrats and human rights promotors around the world, for a variety of institutions, such as the European Commission and Amnesty International. He is a trained lawyer.

Our board

Ulrike Guérot

Ulrike Guérot

Ulrike Guérot

Ulrike founded the European Democracy Lab in 2014. She holds a professorship  at Danube-University Krems, in Austria and continues to support the Lab as a scientific advisor. She is a political scientist with 20 years of experience in the European think tank community and has taught at universities in Europe and the United States. She is the visionary behind the European Republic and the inspiration for the Lab’s overall agenda.

Hauke Ritz

Hauke Ritz

Hauke Ritz

Hauke Ritz, studied at the FU and HU Berlin. After completing his dissertation in philosophy with a focus on philosophy of history, he dealt intensively with the East–West conflict, the continued existence of which he has been researching since 2008 in the course of various publications and since 2014 through regular trips to Russia. He has taught at the University of Giessen, the MSU and RGGU in Moscow as well as the University of Belgorod and most recently worked for the DAAD in Moscow.

Advisory Council

Our distinguished Advisory Council Members are passionate about the European project and devoted years of their work to achieving a stronger union

Strategic

The Strategic Committee will advise the Lab on its operational agenda, media and outreach, on its cultural work as much as on advocacy and fundraising activities.

Academic

The Academic Committee will provide guidance for the Lab in the setup and framing of its research activities with respect to European Republicanism in political thought and its academic articulations, research on civil society and civic participation as well as modern European regional studies.