Meet the Ethics Council! Your Ideas of a Good Life

What matters most in life? Who should be given special consideration – and who bears responsibility for ensuring a good life for everyone? Young people have clear ideas about what constitutes a good life, both today and in the future. The German Ethics Council would like to find out what matters to them, what hopes and fears they have, and which issues are of particular concern to them.

At its autumn conference, “Meet the Ethics Council! Your Ideas of a Good Life”, on 11 November 2026 in Leipzig, the Council members will be discussing this with more than 250 students, focusing on the following questions:

• What do you see as a good life – both today and in the future?
• What really matters to you – and who matters most?
• Who should be given special consideration – and how?
• Who bears responsibility for what – and what are the costs of a good life?

As part of the interactive campaign “Your ideas of a good life – what counts, who counts and who pays what?”, twelve courses or groups from the current year 8 and 9 have been selected to present their ideas at the conference. The formats are manifold: videos, songs, performances, posters, thought experiments, artworks and poetry slam entries. The content of the submissions ranges from the role of money for a good life and gender equality to greater visibility and social participation for young people.

The conference programme offers several opportunities to discuss these topics. The day begins with a music performance by HAVET (aka Mimi & Josy). The presentation and recognition of the students’ contributions will be followed by a session where participants, under the motto ‘Students give their advice to the Ethics Council’, will have the opportunity to engage in discussions with individual Council members. Finally, the young people will sit down with TV presenter Nadine Hadad and several Council members to discuss the ethical issues raised in the students’ contributions.

Please switch to the German version for further information.