Roundtables
From Dialogue to Action
Some of the most complex challenges cannot be addressed from a single perspective. The BMW Foundation’s Roundtables bring together a small group of decision-makers and experts to examine the regulatory, financial, and structural conditions needed to turn promising solutions into practice. Designed for candid exchange and concrete discussion, they create a trusted setting to identify barriers, explore common ground, and develop pathways for action.
Roundtables
The BMW Foundation creates spaces where different interests and perspectives can meet around a shared challenge. Our Roundtables bring together around 20 to 30 participants with relevant expertise and decision-making responsibility for focused discussions on issues where progress depends on collaboration across sectors. Many of these conversations focus on the conditions needed to scale clean technologies and strengthen Europe’s competitiveness and energy security, from financing and regulation to infrastructure, markets, and resilient supply chains. A small number of participants provide opening perspectives before the conversation moves into a moderated exchange.Held under the Chatham House Rule, the Roundtables are designed to encourage openness and allow participants to address difficult questions beyond established positions. Wherever possible, they form part of a longer process rather than a one-off conversation, with insights feeding into subsequent meetings, policy briefs, or publications. Many take place alongside the BMW Foundation’s flagship events in Munich and Berlin, while others are held with partners in key European and international policy settings.
Recent Roundtables have addressed some of the central questions shaping Europe’s economic and energy future. During the 2026 Munich Security Conference, the BMW Foundation partnered with the International Energy Agency for a discussion on The Role of Artificial Intelligence for Competitiveness and Energy Security, examining the opportunities and implications of AI for Europe’s energy system and industrial strength.A Roundtable series with Cleantech for Europe in Berlin and Brussels focused on strengthening partnerships between established industry and clean technology innovators and on improving the conditions for scaling innovation in Europe. Insights from this work also contributed to the publication Rebooting EU Competitiveness.Together with Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy, further Roundtable series have explored the intersection of climate and trade as well as the resilience of critical mineral supply chains. Across these different topics, the focus remains consistent: bringing the right people together to better understand the barriers to progress and identify where coordinated action can make a difference.
Our Roundtables convene senior decision-makers and experts whose perspectives are essential to the issue at hand. Participants have included government ministers and European Commissioners, business leaders, policymakers, researchers, and specialists from across the energy and technology sectors.Featured guests include:
- Evan Solomon
- Jochen Hanebeck
- Birgitte Ringstad Vartdal
- Henna Virkkunen
- Andrius Kubilius
- Vera Rodenhoff
- Anna Yelverton
- Jessika Roswall