The future is not shaped by a single grand plan, but by many stakeholders who network, take responsibility, share knowledge and develop concrete, often local, solutions. As regionally rooted institutions, Germany’s savings banks are in an excellent position to bring together diverse social and economic stakeholders and to actively shape the future together.
A good example of this is the Wuppertal Sustainability Congress organised by Savings Bank Wuppertal, the Wuppertal Institute and the non-profit think tank ‘Neue Effizienz’. This scientifically grounded yet public-facing congress has been running since 2022; the first event took place to mark the Savings Bank’s 200th anniversary. The 2025 edition, the fourth event in a row, was held under the theme ‘Climate and Confidence’. It explicitly addressed the question of how, in the face of current crisis scenarios, the momentum of sustainable development can be maintained without succumbing to resignation. The response to the conference was remarkable: tickets had sold out weeks in advance, and the venue was filled to capacity. This was a clear sign of the public’s continued strong interest in sustainability issues. There was broad consensus amongst the diverse audience of over 500 participants, particularly on one point: given the urgency of the situation, it is more important than ever to identify opportunities for action, open up new avenues for collaboration and involve as many people as possible – not as spectators, but as active agents and participants in the process of change.