Dear network, The Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG) and Wissenschaft im Dialog (WiD) are inviting researchers at all career stages (at least final PhD phase) and from all disciplines worldwide to imagine democratic visions for the year 2050 in a narrative or essayistic form. Selected authors will be invited to an international writing retreat. Their stories will be published as a collection. Democracy is not a fixed construct, but an evolving practice, a negotiation, constantly in transformation. Yet much of democratic theory describes what is, where it comes from and not what could be. With the twentififty *essay competition*, we ask researchers to do something different: to use their expertise not to analyse the present or past, but to imagine the future. What might democratic life look like in 2050? And what kind of democracy do we want to live in? *Submissions (max. 1,000 words, English language) should connect to the following, overlapping areas:* *• Living, belonging, and community* *• Knowledge and learning* *• Work and purpose* *• Governing, participation, and public administration* *• Security and freedom* Additionally, your submission should include a paragraph on how this narrative relates to your own research, as well as your three most recent publications. Selection criteria include originality, research grounding, narrative potential, and democratic relevance. If selected by the review panel of researchers and storytelling experts, 10–12 submitting authors will be invited to a 3-day *international writing retreat* (in/around *Berlin* from *7–10 October 2026*), hosted by Dr. Nataliia Sokolovska, to develop their narratives towards a collective publication. *Deadline for submission: 15 June 2026* For further details on the call and ways to submit, please refer to the call's page: https://www.hiig.de/en/call-for-submissions-twentyfifty/ If you have any questions on the essay competition, feel free to reach out to Dr. Nataliia Sokolovska (nataliia.sokolosvka@hiig.de) and Sarah Spitz ( sarah.spitz@hiig.de). We look forward to your submissions! Kind regards HIIG -- Alexander von Humboldt Institut für Internet und Gesellschaft gGmbH Französische Straße 9 · 10117 Berlin T +49 30 200 760 82 · F +49 30 206 089 60 · www.hiig.de <http://www.hiig.de/> · Bluesky <https://bsky.app/profile/hiigberlin.bsky.social> · Instagram <https://www.instagram.com/hiigberlin/> · LinkedIn <https://www.linkedin.com/school/hiigberlin/> Gesellschaftssitz Berlin | Amtsgericht Berlin Charlottenburg | HRB 140911B | USt-ID DE 291 151 171 Forschungsdirektorium: Prof. Dr. Jeanette Hofmann (Geschäftsführung) · Prof. Dr. Björn Scheuermann · Prof. Dr. Dr. Thomas Schildhauer · Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Schulz | Geschäftsführung: Dr. Karina Preiß