The big #rpReview: re:publica 2015 – FINDING EUROPE

Before we all stream into the STATION Berlin next week to experience the tenth re:publica, or maybe even already this Sunday for the pre:publica, we take one last look at the past. We’ve had an extensive and deep gaze back into our history in the last months as part of the big #rpReview. We hope that it stirred up some nice memories from past events for you too, and that you were able to reminisce on some of the highlights from years gone by. For today’s look back we don’t have to travel too far in time as we review the year 2015.

A year ago in May, everything at the ninth re:publica revolved around the motto FINDING EUROPE. Some 7,000 participants and 700 accredited journalists streamed to the STATION Berlin from the 5th – 7th of May. A record-breaking year! That was also made evident through other high-level numbers: 850 speakers from 60 countries provided 500 hours of programming content on 17 stages. All this was made possible through the dedicated support of 500 volunteer helpers.

The motto of the ninth re:publica was taken up and interpreted in many ways. For example, the question of whether there is actually such a thing as a common digital society in Europe, and thus a "digital European cultural region", was raised – one topic among the many that would gain importance in the months to come. We took on the ever-important issues of migration and refugees, the future of cities, the digital single market, net neutrality and data protection. The Global Innovation Gathering (GIG) took place for the third time and provided a special makerspace for DIY tinkering and building, as well as sessions on the conference stages.

The subconference for the Science Year 2015, as held by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) in cooperation with Wissenschaft im Dialog (WiD – Science in Dialogue), dealt with the topic "Future City".

The topics of music and fashion constituted their own focus for the first time in 2015. The "re:cord Musicday" was held, placing aspects such as big data, fingerprint files, streaming services and open source in close relation to topics from the music industry. The new subconference constituted a co-operation with the XJAZZ Festival, the Reeperbahn Festival, all2gethernow e.V., as well as the Berlin Music Commission, and was supported by the Musicboard Berlin GmbH.

2015 also saw the #FASHIONTECH BERLIN make its re:publica debut. Held in co-operation with the international fashion trade shows PREMIUM and SEEK, as well as in collaboration with the Senate Department for Economics, Technology and Research / Project Future, the new subconference was developed around the interplay between fashion and technology. Besides lectures, workshops and meetups, the subconference also had its own showroom/makerspace throughout the three conference days. The best thing about the new conference: it takes place way more often, namely during the Berlin Fashion Week in January and July. Accordingly, it had its kick-off in January 2015 and featured lots of fashion-conscious attendees.

The program on offer on the re:publica stages was just as diverse as the topics and subconferences. One highlight, especially for the kids, was the visit of German astronaut Alexander Gerst. Donning his blue jumpsuit, he reported on his trip to the International Space Station to an amazed audience, with his talk enthralling children and adults alike. Anne Wizorek illuminated the tension between freedom of opinion and discrimination. Journelle also explored an area of tension – although this one was the interplay between love and the digital.

Our media partner @NeinQuarterly, aka Eric Jarosinski, picked up on the motto of the conference in his usual ironic and funny way. Julia Reda and Hakan Tanriverdi reported on their political work towards a digital copyright in Europe. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings held a Q&A at the MEDIA CONVENTION Berlin.

We spent the last weeks and months asking you about your personal re:publica moments and ended up receiving quite a few from 2015. Johannes Lauterbach showed us his pictures in a Google+ album. Ralf Simon shared his personal re:publica review with us. And @AnnaReier is still loving our megaphone tote bag!

Filming for Change shared multiple mini interviews from 2015 with us. The first is with re:publica co-founder Johnny Haeusler, another with Van Bo Le-Mentzel on the question of what we, as people, want to be in the here and now. One interview has Tim Pritlove talking about his first steps in the podcasting world, and one features Laura Gehlhaar speaking about the issue of more openness in society.

@virtualidentity looks back at the little arts & crafts session we had with green playdough at the re:publica 2015. Our sponsor from that year, Microsoft, also takes a look back with an eye on their own #OutOfOffice campaign. And, last but not least, there was Robert who was on the go at the #rp15 as a Helping Hand.

And with that, we’ve finally come to the end of our big re:publica retrospective. Of course, you can keep sending us your favorite memories, stories and experiences from the last nine years of the re:publica! Use the Twitter hashtag #rpReview and share your anecdotes, links and pics with us and your timeline. Thank you so much for all your submissions over the last weeks and months!

Feel free to keep reminiscing about 2015, and all the fond memories, before we all see each other very, very soon at the tenth re:publica. You’ll find the website for re:publica 2015 online here. We’ve also put together a playlist from the event on YouTube. There’s an album on flickr for the first, second and third conference days.