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NEWSLETTER AUGUST 2008
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Dear Reader,
This free newsletter informs you about recent developments in the fields of intergenerational justice and sustainability. It is published every two months by the Foundation for the Rights of Future Generations (FRFG). If you do not wish to receive it any longer, just send a short e-mail to kontakt (at) srzg.de.

WHO WE ARE
The Foundation for the Rights of Future Generations (FRFG) is a think tank on the interface of science and politics. It conducts research as well as projects. FRFG aims to stimulate our society to recognize the interests and rights of future generations and to implement measures to protect these. FRFG was founded in 1997 by a group of students who were worried about the future and wanted to promote intergenerational justice - both in terms of ecology and economy. To FRFG, intergenerational justice means that today's children and future generations must be capable of meeting their own needs to, at least, the same extent as the generation governing today. Examples of present discrimination of the succeeding generations include progressive ecological destruction, youth unemployment, the pension crisis, national indebtedness, and the disenfranchisement of the young generation. Demographic change affects many of these fields in one way or another, which is why FRFG runs the "Institute for a Better Demographic Future" as a sub-institute, devoted to demographic research.
   
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CONTENTS:
1.) Symposium: Easing the rush hour of life – Diversity of life courses in international comparison
2.) Fourth Intergenerational Justice Award
3.) Public hearing of the Intergenerational Justice Bill in the German Bundestag
4.) FRFG is looking for an part-time research assistant
5.) Intergenerational Justice gets more interest from the German media
6.) New Member of FRFG’s Scientific Advisory Board: Prof. Dr. Louis Chauvel
7.) Third  IZT-Future Award 2008
8.) Become a member
9.) Last but not least…

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1.) SYMPOSIUM: “EASING THE rush hour OF LIFE – DIVERSITY OF LIFE COURSES IN THE INTERNATIONAL COMPARISON”
From 4-6 July 2008, the Foundation for the Rights of Future Generations (FRFG) organised a symposium on “Easing the rush hour of life – Diversity of life courses in international comparison”. The participants included renowned experts as Prof. Dr. Hans-Peter Blossfeld (University Bamberg), Prof. Dr. Louis Chauvel (Sciences Po Paris), Prof. Dr. Martin Kohli (European University Institut), Prof. Dr. Ute Klammer (University Duisburg-Essen) and Dr. Tomas Sobotka (Institut for Demographie, Vienna), who discussed the issue with young scientists from several European countries. The symposium dealt with the issue “To what extent should we change the planning of our life course right from the start, knowing that our life expectancy is higher than the one of previous cohorts?” This question focuses on the easing of the so-called rush hour of life between the ages of 28 and 38. According to Prof. Klammer, younger generations are the ones most affected by downsizing in the working process. Therefore it is important to research whether an easing of the third life-decade could achieve a reduction of problematic conditions regarding the compatibility of job and family. The demographer Dr. Sobotka talked about chances and risks of delayed motherhood for women. The sociologist Prof. Dr. Chauvel pointed out that in 1970 a 50-year-old earned, at average, 15 percent more than a 30-year-old. Now a days a 50-year-old earns 35 percent more than a 30-year-old; the discrepancy between the incomes are increasing steadily. The symposium was divided into two parts that were in turn examined from international and gender perspectives. In short, we firstly analysed the time budget of the cohorts in question and later their financial budgets.

We would like to thank our sponsors VolkswagenStiftung, Robert Bosch Stiftung and the Haniel Stiftung, for the financial assistance with the symposium and to Bionade for the refreshing drinks.

The FRFG will keep on informing about the issue. In September there will be a brochure titled “A young generation under pressure? The rush hour of life and the financial situation of the cohorts born between 1970 and 1985”. An anthology on this topic will be published in 2009. Paper proposals are very welcome.

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2.) Fourth INTERGENERATIONAL JUSTICE AWARD 2007/08

In the course of the symposium, the FRFG also awarded the 4th Intergenerational Justice Award “Generation ‘P’ – The unequal treatment of the old and the young in the workplace”. The first prize endowed with 3.500 Euro each was given to Dr. Felipe Temming and Wolfgang Gruendinger. Three other recognition-prizes of 1.000 Euro each were given to Novella Benedetti and Tabea Schlimbach. To Andrea Heubach, Andres Kolbe, Sven Osterberg and Dennis Raether and to Benjamin Weil. Further information on the winners of the award can be found here.

The award winners (starting from the second on the left): Felipe Temming, Bejamin Weil, Dennis Raether, Andrea Heubach, Andreas Kolbe, Tabea Schlimmbach.

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3.) PUBLIC HEARING OF THE INTERGENERATIONAL JUSTICE BILL IN THE GERMAN BUNDESTAG
The campaign for the institutionalisation of intergenerational justice, one of the main projects of the FRFG, keeps on moving. On 10th November 2006, onehundredfour members of the Bundestag (German parliament) tabled a proposition for a new law, demanding intergenerational justice in the German constitution. FRFG had been the engine behind this proposal. The introduction of a new article 20b would oblige the government to safeguard the interests of future generations. The text reads as follows: “The government has to respect the principle of sustainability and to safeguard the interests of future generations” A further component orientated towards justice for future generations would be inserted into article 109, creating a basic financial law restricting national debt. The topic of sustainability has already been laid down in article 20a of the German Constitution but so far only applying to the sectors of environment and ecology. The first reading of the bill to institutionalize  generational justice in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany took place at the 11 of October in 2007 in the German Bundestag. After the first reading the draft was transmitted to the parliamentary committees. While the judicial panel, which was originally in charge of the discussion about the amendment, had criticized the bill, the committee for sustainable development has now taken over and is organising a public hearing on 15 October 2008.
Invited experts to this issue are: Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Kahl, M.A. (University of Bayreuth), Dr. Sebastian Knell (University of Basel), Prof. Dr. Bernd Raffelhueschen (University of Freiburg), Dr. Michael Thoene (University of Cologne), Dr. Norbert Reuter (University of Aachen), Prof. Dr. Christian Calliess (University of Berlin) and Dr. Dr. Joerg Tremmel (FRFG). The hearing primarily deals with the question to what extent the protection of future generations is already implemented in the German constitution and if intergenerational justice can effectively be accomplished by the draft amendment. One has to clarify which economic, ecological and social problems will follow the constitutional amendment and if there are alternatives which can solve the problem of the short-term nature of democracy. Therefore, practical examples from other countries will be discussed in a comparative perspective.

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4.) FRFG IS LOOKING FOR A PART-TIME RESEARCH ASSISTANT
We are looking for a flexible and reliable assistant with a degree in social sciences, cultural sciences, humanities or economics. You should be interested in intergenerational justice and sustainability. We offer you an interesting and diverse job and you will be able to work quite independently. 
Are you interested in the challenge? 

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5.) INTERGENERATIONAL JUSTICE RECIEVES MORE INTEREST FROM THE MEDIA
A new study carried out by the FRFG has examined the use of the word intergenerational justice (Generationengerechtigkeit) by print media in Germany. Research in German high quality print media shows that in the first half of the year 2008, 46 articles dealt with the topic of intergenerational justice. In comparison, only 51 articles concerning this theme had been printed in the whole year 2007.
This increased interest for intergenerational justice can be explained by the debate about an increase of old-age pensions. Also the work of the FRFG in the years 2005 and 2006, that is, the campaign to institutionalise intergenerational justice in the German constitution, has contributed to draw people’s attention to this theme. A summary of the study will be published in the next issue of Intergenerational Justice Revue. The whole study can be found on our website under Publications > Articles.

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6.) NEW MEMBER OF THE FRFG’S SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY BOARD: PROF. DR. LOUIS CHAUVEL

Prof. Dr. Lois Chauvel, born 1967, is the youngest member of the FRFG’s scientific advisory board. He studied at the Ecole Nationale de la Statistique et de l´Administration Economique and finished his studies with a master in 1990. In 1997 he finished his PhD in sociology at the University of Lille. In 2003 he qualified as an university lecturer at the Institut d´Etudes Politiques de Paris. He is specialized in the analysis of social structures and intergenerational changes. Since 2003 Prof. Chauvel has been member member of the Institute Universitaire de France (IUF), and since 1994 fellow at the Observatoire Sociologique du Changement. He is also a member of the International Social Survey Program (ISSP) and is in charge of a research-network Classes, Inégalités, Fragmentations of the Association francaise de Sociologie (AFS). Since 2005, Prof. Dr. Chauvel has been the general secretary of the European Sociological Association and member of the executive committee of the International Sociological Association (ISA).

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7.) THIRD IZT-FUTURE AWARD 2008
The Institute for Futures Studies and Technology Assessment (IZT) is one of the leading German institutes for research projects on future. The 3rd IZT-Award focuses on the topic “The Future of our children: concepts, projects and initiatives for, with and from children”. The prize is endowed with 3.000 Euro. End of application is the 30th of September. You can find detailed information on the award on http://www.izt.de/zukunftspreis_2008

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8.) BECOME A MEMBER
"People can roughly be divided into three categories: the few, who make something happen…, the many, who observe how something happens…, and the overwhelming majority, who have no idea what happens at all." (Karl Weinhofer, born in 1942, German politician)
Please stand up for intergenerational justice and become a member of the FRFG. By doing so, you can secure our financial basis and, thus, our independence! The membership allows you to enjoy extensive rights within the foundation. You are encouraged to offer ideas, suggestions, and to organize activities in order to achieve the aim of intergenerational justice.
Find out more:
http://www.intergenerationaljustice.org > Friends of the FRFG

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8.) LAST BUT NOT LEAST…
Pleas let us know from people who are interested in the topic Intergenerational Justice. If you send us their postal address, they will receive a copy of the magazine >Intergenerational Justice Review< as a non-binding sample copy.
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Please feel free to contact us with any feedback concerning our newsletter.
With best regards,
The Editors


Foundation for the Rights of Future Generations
(Stiftung fuer die Rechte zukuenftiger Generationen)
Postfach 5115
D-61422 Oberursel
Tel: +49-(0) 61 71 - 98 23 67
Fax: +49-(0) 61 71 - 95 25 66
E-Mail: kontakt (at) srzg.de
Homepage: www.srzg.de
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Board of Directors:
Wolfgang Gründinger
Tobias Kemnitzer
Adrian Schell
Frank Schmilowski
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Board of Trustees:
Prof. Dr. Rolf Kreibich (chairman)
Prof. Dr. Ortwin Renn
Prof. Dr. Dr. Franz-Josef Radermacher
Dr. Juergen Borchert
Dr. Martin Thunert
Anna Luehrmann, MdB
----
Copyright © 2008 SRzG

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Newsletter April 2008
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Dear Reader,
This free newsletter informs you about our recent developments in the fields of Intergenerational Justice and Sustainability. It is published every two months by the Foundation for the Rights of Future Generations (FRFG). If you do not wish to receive it any longer, just send a short E-mail to kontakt (at) srzg.de.

WHO WE ARE
The Foundation for the Rights of Future Generations (FRFG) is a think tank on the interface of science and politics. It conducts research as well as projects. Through its peer-reviewed journal "Intergenerational Justice Review", FRFG offers an interdisciplinary platform in order to investigate intergenerational issues. Through its projects, FRFG aims to stimulate our society to recognize the interests and rights of future generations and to implement measures to protect them. FRFG was founded in 1997 by a group of students who were worried about the future and wanted to promote intergenerational justice - both in terms of ecology and economy. To FRFG, intergenerational justice means that today's children and future generations must be capable of meeting their own needs to at least the same extent as the generation governing today. Examples of present discrimination of the succeeding generations include progressive ecological destruction, youth unemployment, the pension crisis, national indebtedness, and the disenfranchisement of the young generation. Demographic change affects many of these fields in one way or another, which is why FRFG runs the "Institute for a Better Demographic Future" as a sub-institute, devoted to demographic research.

To learn more about FRFG please visit our Homepage: www.intergenerationaljustice.org

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CONTENTS:
1.) Laureates of the Intergenerational Justice Award 2008
2.) Bill against Misuse of Interns
3.) Intergenerational Justice Review soon peer-reviewed
4.) Demography Prize for young Scientists
5.) Beyond Oil
6.) Initiative for a carbon free Parliament
7.) FRFG against additional pension increase
8.) Call for Papers CMG
9.) Become a member!
10.) Last but not least . . .

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1.) LAUREATES OF THE INTERGENERATIONAL JUSTICE AWARD
The winners of the 4th Intergenerational Justice Award 2007/2008, valued at 10,000 Euros, are selected. Topic of the Intergenerational Justice Award was " Generation ‘P’ – The unequal treatment of the old and the young in the workplace". All essays received by FRFG proposed solutions for youth discrimination in the workplace, and they all had a high quality. The jury, consisting of the experts Dr. Beate Beermann, Prof. Klaus Doerre, Prof. Ekkehart Frieling, Prof. Ute Klammer, Prof. Holger Luczek und Ann Mettler, has now evaluated the best articles. The essays of Dr. Felipe Temming und Wolfgang Gruendinger were considered excellent, both receive 3500 Euros each. Furthermore, the jury assigned 3500 Euros each to three further essays, partly written by teams. The laureates are:
-    Novella Benedetti and Tabea Schlimbach
-    Andrea Heubach, Andreas Kolbe, Sven Osterberg and Dennis Raether
-    Benjamin Weil

Congratulations!

With the Intergenerational Justice Award, the Foundation for the Rights of Future Generations aims to promote specific issues of Intergenerational Justice and Sustainability. The essay competition is aimed to provide today’s decision makers with new perspectives by young scholars. Young scientists and students are encouraged to participate. The biyearly award is financed by the Appletree Foundation.
This year´s awards will be handed out on the occasion of the symposium "Easing the Rush Hour of life - Diversity of life courses in international comparison" in July 2008.
For more information, take a look at www.intergenerationaljustice.org > Awards > Intergenerational Justice Award 2007/2008

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2.) BILL AGAINST MISUSE OF INTERNS
Interns shall not be abused as cheap and unsalaried workers. This is the aim of the bill that was initiated by Olaf Scholz, the German Minister for Labour and Social Affairs. The legal status of interns shall be clarified by including existing provisions which prescripts an adequate payment as well as an apprenticeship for Interns into the German Civil Code (BGB). By implementing this measure, the existing prescriptions shall become more visible.
The bill is a reaction to a study commissioned by the German Ministry of Labour in which the problems of the "Generation P", the generation of interns, are examined. The study that analyzed job starters in the age of 18 to 34 proves that every fifth graduate has to complete at least one internship before starting to work. More than half (51 percent) of the internships were completely unpaid, twelve percent were inadequately compensated.
Four of five interns stated to be deployed as full employees for at least half of the internship.
Olaf Scholz concludes that some employers abuse interns as cheap workers. By clarifying their legal status this undesirable trend shall be stopped.
From the perspective of the FRFG, these efforts do not suffice and will hardly make an impact. Particularly, a limit for the duration of an internship must be thought of.

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3.) JOURNAL "INTERGENERATIONAL JUSTICE REVIEW" SOON PEER-REVIEWED
The Foundation for the Rights of Future Generations (FRFG) is currently redesigning its journal Intergenerational Justice Review (IGJR) in order to reach a more professional level with an international readership all over the world. The journal will be relaunched in fall 2008 (starting with issue 3/2008) as a peer-reviewed journal, seeking to publish articles of the most important research and current thinking from political science, ethics, and other disciplines. It will be published quarterly in English with continuity from now on. All articles will be translated into German and possibly other languages. The target group of the IGJR will be scholars and present and future decision makers. Present decision makers that are part of the subscription list are: national and international parliament members, business executives, journalists and professors, numerous scientific institutions and libraries. Future decision makers included in the subscription list are many dedicated students in various fields of study. Members of the editorial board are, among others, Prof. Ernest Partridge, Prof. Dieter Birnbacher, Prof. Lukas Meyer, Dr. Axel Gosseries, Prof. Claus Dierksmeier and Prof. Leslie Thiele.
The English edition of the Intergenerational Justice Review 1/2008 "Groundwork of Intergenerational Justice" has just been published.

More: www.intergenerationaljustice.org > IGJR
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4.) DEMOGRAPHY PRIZE FOR YOUNG SCIENTISTS
The Institute for a Better Demographic Future (idf) awards the Demography Prize for Young Scientists, worth 10000 Euros, every two years. Articles can be handed in in German and English. The award is financed by the Appletree Foundation. The essay competition is an important contribution to improve public consciousness on demographic topics. Articles can be handed in in English or German.
The second Demography Prize 2008/2009 deals with the subject: "Opportunities of Shrinking". A jury consisting of experts in science, economy and politics will evaluate the essays. The jury is currently assembled and consists, so far, of Prof. Dr. Udo Simonis, Prof. Rolf Kreibich, Dr. Christine Hannemann and Dr. Hans-Ulrich Oel. The entry deadline for essays and articles is 15 April 2009. The final call for essays will be issued in June 2008.
The award ceremony will take place on the occasion of a symposium. The symposium offers a platform on which renowned scientists discuss this topic with the laureates.

Get further information here: 
http://www.demographic-future.org

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5.) BEYOND OIL
Already in 1972, the Club of Rome tried to raise public awareness about the global dimension of sustainability with its report about the limits to growth by pointing to the limited capacity of the environment for human economic consumption. Today, the world experiences the consequences of overstraining the ecological limits of the biosphere: The world market price for crude oil jumped up to 116 USD per barrel, a rise of more than 300 per cent within only three years, giving evidence for the shortage of resources which is hitting us faster than experts have thought. As the Beyond Oil project of the international Club of Rome’s youth think tank "tt30" recently found out, most countries are not prepared for the time after peak oil. Additionally, the growing number and intensity of natural disasters around the world is showing the overstrained capacity of the global atmosphere to absorb human greenhouse gas emissions. Recent studies like the status report of the IPCC do not allow for hesitation to take measures about the risks of climate change and the necessity. The two mega trends of oil shortage and rising temperatures, both caused by the present generation, present a perspective of decreasing wealth for future generations. The imperatives of intergenerational justice and sustainability only allow for a use of natural resources only without causing long-term damages. Therefore, especially youth initiatives strive for an intergenerational just energy system based on renewable energies.
Read more about the Beyond Oil Project:
www.beyondoil.net

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6.) INITIATIVE FOR A CARBON FREE PARLIAMENT
A new initiative was launched in Berlin to make the German Bundestag the first climate neutral parliament in the world – meaning much more than just the solar panels on the Reichstag building. Under the umbrella of the Club of Rome’s youth think tank "tt30", several initiatives of young people as well as the Foundation for the Rights of Future Generations (FRFG) united to develop ideas and concepts for the reduction of greenhouse gases, particularly the more efficient use of power and heat, clean business travel, further expansion of renewable energies and a change of the car pool to efficient and bio fuel driven cars. So far the initiative received support from renowned scientists such as Prof. Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker (University of California, St. Barbara) and Prof. Hartmut Grassl (former director of World Climate Programme) as well as from German politicians like Renate Kuenast (chairwoman of the Green Parliamentary Party) and Marco Buelow (environment policy spokesperson of the Social democratic parliamentary party). The initiative will bring together politicians from every party to elaborate common concepts. A first success has already been achieved: The external power supply of the Bundestag buildings will be changed to green electricity.
Read more about the Initiative for a Carbon Free Parliament (in German): www.klimaneutraler-bundestag.de

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7.) FRFG AGAINST ADDITIONAL PENSION INCREASE
The Chairman of the Foundation for the Rights of Future Generations (FRFG), Dr. Joerg Chet Tremmel, argues against the extraordinary pension increase in Germany. In his eyes, it is economically wrong to rescind the linkage of pensions to wages, as the German administration has decided. Due to this linkage, the pensions would raise anyway in 2009, caused by the raise of the agreed wages in 2008. The costs for the agreed plus in pensions will accumulate to 11 Billion Euros by 2012. Beyond these costs for the younger generation, this measure can be seen as precedence. "Democracy can lead into gerontocracy, a governance of the elderly population", says Tremmel. Politicians didn’t even deny having overridden the pension formula simply to canvass voters. Tremmel quoted Churchill: "The politician thinks of the next election, the statesman considers the next generation." To avoid the obedience of politicians to pensioners, Tremmel says, it is necessary to include intergenerational justice into the German constitution und furthermore to lower the voting age.

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8.) CALL FOR PAPERS CMG
The Institute for Cultural Diplomacy announces the Call for Applications for the sixth year of the Canada Meets Germany – A Forum for Young Leaders (CMG) program. Twelve new participants, six Canadians and six Germans, will join the group of twelve current young leaders for a weeklong study tour in Canada in September/October 2008. The program will continue the following year, when the 2008/2009 participants will join a new group of young leaders for a one-week tour in Germany.
CMG welcomes applications from young professionals in the age of 28 to 38 of every discipline, including economics, politics, science, education, culture and media, who are interested in being part of a sustainable interdisciplinary network to foster the bilateral relations between the two countries.
Between September 28th and October 4th 2008 the participants will travel to Toronto, London, Ottawa and Montreal. Canada Meets Germany is an interdisciplinary network program, which in addition to the study tours includes local events and initiatives, to be organized between network members in the two countries.
Applications must be submitted no later than June 12th, 2008.
Get further information here:
http://www.canadameetsgermany.org/index.php?id=89

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9.)BECOME A MEMBER
"People can roughly be divided into three categories: the few, who make something happen…, the many, who observe how something happens…, and the overwhelming majority, who have no idea what happens at all." (Karl Weinhofer, born in 1942, German politician)

Please stand up for intergenerational justice and become a member of the FRFG. By doing so, you can secure our financial basis and, thus, our independence! The membership allows you to enjoy extensive rights within the foundation. You are encouraged to offer ideas, suggestions, and to organize activities in order to achieve the aim of intergenerational justice.

Find out more:
http://www.intergenerationaljustice.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=98&Itemid=133

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10.) LAST BUT NOT LEAST . . .
If you send us your postal address, you will receive a copy of the magazine "Intergenerational Justice Review" as a non-binding sample. The next issue appears in March 2008 with articles by Prof. Ernest Partridge, Prof. Ed Page, and Dr. Julie Nelson. It will also contain a book review of Dr. Joerg Chet Tremmel’s dissertation "A Theory of Intergenerational Justice".

Please feel free to contact us with any feedback concerning our newsletter.

With best regards,

The Editors

Foundation for the Rights of Future Generations
(Stiftung fuer die Rechte zukuenftiger Generationen)
Postfach 5115
D-61422 Oberursel
Germany
Tel: +49-(0) 61 71 - 98 23 67
Fax: +49-(0) 61 71 - 95 25 66
E-Mail: kontakt (at) srzg.de
Homepage: www.srzg.de
---
Board of Directors:
Dr. Joerg Tremmel (chairman)
Dr. Laura Tremmel
Adrian Schell
Tobias Kemnitzer
Frank Schmilowski
---
Board of Trustees:
Prof. Dr. Rolf Kreibich (chairman)
Prof. Dr. Ortwin Renn
Prof. Dr. Dr. Franz-Josef Radermacher
Dr. Juergen Borchert
Dr. Martin Thunert
Anna Luehrmann, MdB
----
Copyright © 2008

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Dear reader,
This free newsletter informs you about our recent developments in the fields of Intergenerational Justice and Sustainability. It is published every two months by the Foundation for the Rights of Future Generations (FRFG). If you do not wish to receive it any longer, just send a short E-mail to kontakt (at) srzg.de.

WHO WE ARE
The Foundation for the Rights of Future Generations (FRFG) is a think tank on the interface of science and politics. It conducts research as well as projects. FRFG aims to stimulate our society to recognize the interests and rights of future generations and to implement measures to protect these. FRFG was founded in 1997 by a group of students who were worried about the future and wanted to promote intergenerational justice - both in terms of ecology and economy. To FRFG, intergenerational justice means that today's children and future generations must be capable of meeting their own needs to, at least, the same extent as the generation governing today. Examples of present discrimination of the succeeding generations include progressive ecological destruction, youth unemployment, the pension crisis, national indebtedness, and the disenfranchisement of the young generation. Demographic change affects many of these fields in one way or another, which is why FRFG runs the >Institute for a Better Demographic Future< as a sub-institute, devoted to demographic research.

To learn more about FRFG please visit our Homepage: www.intergenerationaljustice.org

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CONTENTS:
1.) FRFG awarded the Integration Prize 2008 from the Apfelbaum Foundation
2.) Dr. Joerg Tremmel appointed to the Climate Legacy Initiative’s Distinguished Advisors Panel
3.) Intergenerational Justice Award 07/08
4.) New Advisory Board member: Prof. Dr. Meinhard Miegel
5.) >Fair Generational Contracts< Conference of the initiative New Social Market Economy in Berlin, 12/6/2007
6.) The FRFG on the move
7.) Become a member!
8.) Last but not least...

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1.) FRFG AWARDED THE INTEGRATION PRIZE 2008 FROM THE APFELBAUM FOUNDATION
The Apfelbaum Foundation was founded in 1989 as a non-profit organization and has now reached the status of an independent institution. Its aim is to support, in the long term, processes of development and connection while focusing on similarities between different kinds of foundations. With regard to its goal, since 1996, the foundation has been awarding a special Integration Prize of 5,000 Euro to persons and/or institutions who/which stand out due to their sustainable and successful work on integration matters.
Previous laureates were, for example, popular persons such as Kurt Biedenkopf, Alice Schwarzer, Hanns-Dieter Huesch or Johannes Rau and well-known institutions such as Amnesty International, the Max Planck Society and, recently, Terre des Femmes.
In January of this year, the Foundation for the Rights of Future Generations (FRFG) obtained the Integration Prize 2008. The Apfelbaum Foundation recognized the FRFG as an initiative which continually and effectively exerts influence in public through its conferences and writings on principles and topics of main interest, and due to the fact that the foundation dedicatedly takes a firm stand on current issues by publishing its own journal called >Intergenerational Justice Review<. In addition, the Apfelbaum Foundation stated that the FRFG would strongly support newcomers by working together with young employees and scientists; particularly, within its new Institute for a Better Demographic Future.
The FRFG sincerely thanks the Apfelbaum Foundation for the Integration Prize! Awards like this one are an extraordinary incentive to keep on doing a good job.

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2.) DR. JOERG TREMMEL APPOINTED TO THE CLIMATE LEGACY INITIATIVE‘S DISTINGUISHED ADVISORS PANEL
Dr. Joerg Tremmel has been appointed to the Distinguished Advisors Panel of the Climate Legacy Initiative (CLI), a joint project of the Vermont Law School Environmental Law Center (http://www.vermnontlaw.edu/elc) and The University of Iowa Center for Human Rights (http://www.uichr.org). The CLI, chaired by Prof. Burns H. Weston, researches and promotes legal doctrines, principles, and rules appropriate for recognition by courts, legislatures, administrative agencies, and private sector institutions to safeguard present and future generations from harms resulting from global climate change. A >Green Paper< detailing the CLI's findings and recommendations is planned for public distribution in October 2008. FRFG's task will be to scientifically advise the CLI on its planned paper and to otherwise support the CLI’s project before and after the Green Paper's release.
For further information on the CLI, please visit http://www.vermontlaw.edu/cli/. One of Prof. Weston's articles (entitled >Climate Change and Intergenerational Justice: Foundational Reflections<) is available on the CLI website and also at FRFG's website: http://www.intergenerationaljustice.org/images/stories/researchtopics/cli.pdf
 
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3.) INTERGENERATIONAL JUSTICE AWARD 07/08
The FRFG has already announced the fourth Intergenerational Justice Award 07/08 which is supposed to deal with issues concerning the >boomerang generation< and which offers a cash prize of 10,000 Euro. The award calls for research papers written by young scholars, which address two problems concerning the relationship between different generations on the labour market. On the one hand, it deals with the difficult situation faced by graduates, who have to work as interns under increasingly worse conditions because of the lack of graduate jobs; on the other hand, it examines the unequal treatment of younger and older employees at the work place; especially, regarding the 'seniority principle'. For more information, do not hesitate to contact us at kontakt (at) srzg.de .

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4.) NEW ADVISORY BOARD MEMBER: PROF. DR. MEINHARD MIEGEL
The Foundation for the Rights of Future Generations is glad to have had a new member within its advisory board since January: Prof. Dr. Meinhard Miegel accepted the FRFG’s invitation by answering: >Thank you very much for your 12/29/2007 letter in which you invite me to contribute to the Advisory Board of the Foundation of the Rights of Future Generations. I accept your invitation because I consider the foundation’s activities as highly worth supporting.<
Meinhard Miegel was born in Vienna in 1939, studied philosophy, sociology and law in Frankfurt, Freiburg and Washington D.C. and promoted 1969 in law. After having been a company lawyer for Henkel for four years, he became an employee of Kurt Biedenkopf, then-secretary general to the Christian Democratic Union party. From 1975 onwards he was also the chief of the main department for policy, information and documentation in the CDU federal headquarters.
Until recently, Miegel was director of the IWG BONN, a think tank dealing with economy and society, which Miegel himself had founded together with Kurt Biedenkopf back in 1977. He closed the IWG BONN in late 2007 and founded the new >Denkwerk Zukunft – Stiftung kulturelle Erneuerung<, a foundation for cultural renewal which aims to help to develop and spread a Western culture which shall be able to be universalized and sustainable.
Furhermore, Miegel was an unscheduled professor at the University of Leipzig from 1992 to 1998, director of the Commission on Future Issues of the federal states of Bavaria and Saxony from 1995 to 1997 and advisor to the German Institute for Old-Age Provisions from 1997 to 2006.
These activities clearly demonstrate Meinhard Miegel’s extraordinary interest in social and demographic issues which he has extensively dealt with within his publications, too. Hence, he is, without any doubt, a great enrichment for the Advisory Board of the Foundation for the Rights of Future Generations where people from all political directions and scientific disciplines communicate and work together.

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5.) >FAIR GENERATIONAL CONTRACTS< CONFERENCE OF THE INITIATIVE NEW SOCIAL MARKET ECONOMY IN BERLIN, 12/6/2007
At the conference >Fair Generational Contracts< which was held by the Initiative New Social Market Economy (INSM) and the Research Centre on Generational Contracts (FZG) of the University of Freiburg on 6th December in Berlin, renowned experts discussed how generational justice might be incorporated into social insurance systems. Wolfgang Gruendinger participated at the conference as the representative of the Foundation for the Rights of Future Generations (FRFG).
It came to an unusual consent concerning the pay-as-you-go procedure of the statutory pension insurance: By now, the euphoria about the funding principle has disappeared all around the world. Pay-as-you-go has to remain as the strongest element of old age pension. A mixture of pay-as-you-go pension and private savings is necessary, whereas only the exact proportion of the mix is still debatable.
Financial scientist Prof. Dr. Bernd Raffelhueschen, director of the FZG and member of the advisory board of the FRFG, considers generational justice as an ethical-philosophical issue which appears to be economically indefinable. He also states that it is not supposed to be the basic idea of the method of generational accounting. This controversial method shall merely show mismatches between the generations (>sustainability gap<). A levelling of these mismatches may lead to financial sustainability in terms of equilibrium. Nonetheless, it is still questionable whether or not we can see financial sustainability as a part of generational justice.

(by Wolfgang Gruendinger, Berlin representative of the FRFG)

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6.) THE FRFG ON THE MOVE
As mentioned in the last newsletter, the Foundation for the Rights of Future Generations and the Institute for a Better Demographic Future are moving to another office: We will leave our facilities in Kronberger Strasse 7 after more than six years and will, finally and entirely, complete the move into a new and modern office in Oberursel (close to Frankfurt, Germany) at the end of February (see photo).
The new accommodation for volunteers and interns, namely a large, bright flat situated very close to the new office, will be resided very soon.

Our post office box remains the same!

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7.) BECOME A MEMBER
>People can roughly be divided into three categories: the few, who make something happen…, the many, who observe how something happens…, and the overwhelming majority, who have no idea what happens at all.< (Karl Weinhofer, born in 1942, German politician)

Please stand up for intergenerational justice and become a member of the FRFG. By doing so, you can secure our financial basis and, thus, our independence! The membership allows you to enjoy extensive rights within the foundation. You are encouraged to offer ideas, suggestions, and to organize activities in order to achieve the aim of intergenerational justice.

Find out more:
http://www.intergenerationaljustice.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=98&Itemid=133

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8.) LAST BUT NOT LEAST...
If you send us your postal address, you will receive a copy of the magazine >Intergenerational Justice Review< as a non-binding sample. The next issue appears in March 2008 with articles by Prof. Ernest Partridge, Prof. Ed Page, Dr. Julie Nelson. It will also contain a book review of Dr. Joerg Chet Tremmel’s dissertation ‘A Theory of Intergenerational Justice’.

Please feel free to contact us with any feedback concerning our newsletter.

With best regards,

The Editors

Foundation for the Rights of Future Generations
(Stiftung fuer die Rechte zukuenftiger Generationen)
Postfach 5115
D-61422 Oberursel
Tel: +49-(0) 61 71 - 98 23 67
Fax: +49-(0) 61 71 - 95 25 66
E-Mail: kontakt (at) srzg.de
Homepage: www.srzg.de
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Board of Directors:
Dr. Joerg Tremmel (chairman)
Dr. Laura Tremmel
Adrian Schell
Tobias Kemnitzer
Frank Schmilowski
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Board of Trustees:
Prof. Dr. Rolf Kreibich (chairman)
Prof. Dr. Ortwin Renn
Prof. Dr. Dr. Franz-Josef Radermacher
Dr. Juergen Borchert
Dr. Martin Thunert
Anna Luehrmann, MdB
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Copyright © 2008 SRzG