A Think Tank for the 21st Century

Society is facing unprecedented challenges. Large parts of Europe, North America and Asia are struggling to exit the worst economic crisis in 60 years, to cope with unprecedented levels of debt, to curb the excess of climate change and to prepare for a demographic time bomb that will change the shape and balance of the world as we know it. At the same time, developing economies around the globe, particularly the BRIC countries, are charging ahead with high growth rates and dramatically improved innovation capabilities, rapidly catching up with their G-7 counterparts.

While the verdict is out as to what this new, re-jigged world will ultimately look like, one thing is for certain: modern life – and the arrival of a globally integrated, technology-powered network economy – offers unprecedented opportunity for individuals, organisations, regions and countries to drive forward innovation and positive change. Against this backdrop, The Lisbon Council for Economic Competitiveness and Social Renewal is committed to defining and articulating mature, holistic and evidence-based strategies for managing current and future challenges. Above all, we seek strategies based on inclusion, opportunity and sustainability that will make the benefits of modernisation and technological advancement available to all our citizens.

We stand for innovation – the willingness to embrace the future as a challenge we can meet, and the determination to start that effort today. We want our unique platform to serve as an incubator for novel ideas that offer new approaches to key challenges.


At the centre of our activities are solution-oriented seminars, thought-provoking publications, media appearances and public advocacy. These days, there are more than 5,000 people in our global network of top innovators and entrepreneurs, leading-edge thinkers and researchers, public figures and civil servants, business strategists and corporate leaders, third-sector pioneers and philanthropists – all of them lending their energy, brain power and dedication to use innovation as a force for good and apply it to solve the great economic and social challenges of our times.


Founded in 2003, the Lisbon Council is incorporated in Belgium as an independent, non-profit and non-partisan association. As part of our commitment to environmental sustainability and in an effort to reduce our carbon footprint, the Lisbon Council offsets all greenhouse gas emissions resulting from its travel and operations and furnishes its Brussels-based office with MBDC-certified cradle-to-cradle technology. Through these efforts, the Lisbon Council is certified as a “climate neutral organisation.” For more information, visit www.myclimate.ch and www.c2ccertified.com.