In light of the recent geo-economic shifts accelerated by the pandemic, global crises and conflicts, and the ongoing efforts to tackle the climate crisis, one group is facing particular challenges: The middle class in the former industrial heartlands across the US and Europe.

In the third episode of our series on the industrial heartlands, we hear from Brencia Berry, Political Director of the US Democratic National Committee, Franziska Brantner, Parliamentary State Secretary in the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, Holger Mann, Social Democrat Member of the German Parliament and Tim Ryan, former Democratic US Congressman for Ohio how residents of the industrial heartlands in the US and Germany should be part of the conversation around national green transition policies and what can be done to lessen their economic concerns. This discussion was part of the Progressive Governance Summit in Berlin on 21 June, 2024.

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This podcast is produced in the context of the Transatlantic Dialogue on the Industrial Heartlands: Shaping the Future project. A project by Das Progressive Zentrum and distinguished partners at The Progressive Policy Institute, Georgetown University’s BMW Center for German and European Studies and the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, and with the support of the German Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action.