- March 21, 2023
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- March 21, 2023

The kick-off meeting of the third cohort of the Laboratories of Democracy Initiative took place on Tuesday, March 21, 2023. Each year, the project brings together American state legislators and representatives of the German Landtage to facilitate a values-based discussion on current international policy challenges on a subnational level and to build new transatlantic networks. The Aspen Institute Germany welcomed the sixteen participants who will be traveling to Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, from May 9-13, 2023, and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, from June 20-24, 2023. At these meetings, they will discuss innovative policy solutions and opportunities for transatlantic cooperation, visit best practices in the region, and meet with local representatives from politics, business, science, and academia. Each exchange is dedicated to a core topic that is relevant on both sides of the Atlantic. The theme of this year’s cohort is structural transformation and the revitalization of post-industrial areas.
The Aspen Institute is pleased to announce this year’s cohort: Representative Jeramey Anderson (D), Member of the Mississippi House of Representatives; Senator Dave Argall (R), Member of the Pennsylvania Senate; Franziska Baum MdL (FDP), Member of the State Parliament of Thuringia; Wibke Brems MdL (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen), Chairwoman of the Green Parliamentary Group in the State Parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia; Ricarda Budke MdL (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen), Member of the State Parliament of Brandenburg; Senator Hanna M. Gallo (D), President pro tempore of the Rhode Island Senate; Christian Jung MdL (FDP), Member of the State Parliament of Baden-Württemberg; Representative Ryan E. Mackenzie (R), member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives; Senator Kristen O’Shea (R), member of the Kansas Senate; Representative Kristina Ortez (D), member of the New Mexico House of Representatives; Representative Daniel Pae (R), member of the Oklahoma House of Representatives; Sarah Philipp MdL (SPD), parliamentary director of the SPD parliamentary group in the state parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia; Romina Plonsker MdL (CDU), Member of the State Parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia; Matthias Redlich MdL (CDU), Member of the State Parliament of Saxony-Anhalt; Sebastian Striegel MdL (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen), Member of the State Parliament of Saxony-Anhalt; Representative Mike Yin (D), Minority Floor Leader of the Wyoming House of Representatives.
The project is supported by the Transatlantic Program of the Federal Republic of Germany, funded by the European Recovery Program (ERP) of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK).