Foundation Forum 2025: Europe’s social model – the key to competitive growth
On 19–20 November 2025, Eurofound held its 8th Foundation Forum at IMMA Venues. It is the agency’s quadrennial high-level flagship event which has been running for the past 20 years and is organised in cooperation with the Irish Government.
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Event background
Forum 2025 marked the agency’s 50th anniversary – a key milestone celebrating five decades of evidence-based contributions to social, employment, and work-related policies across the EU. This landmark event provided the opportunity to reflect on Eurofound’s legacy while looking ahead to the challenges and opportunities that will shape the future of work and society.
Forum 2025 marked the agency’s 50th anniversary – a key milestone celebrating five decades of evidence-based contributions to social, employment, and work-related policies across the EU. This landmark event provided the opportunity to reflect on Eurofound’s legacy while looking ahead to the challenges and opportunities that will shape the future of work and society.
Forum 2025 kicked off with a gala dinner event on the evening of 19 November, which was followed by a half-day of discussions on 20 November, held alongside Eurofound’s Management Board meeting.
The programme featured keynote addresses, presentations and parallel thematic panel sessions encouraging discussion and audience engagement, as well as a closing plenary session.
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See a selection of the key messages below or view the full set.
EU policymakers have an existential opportunity to pursue prosperity and growth – but not at the expense of people and planet. Prosperity and growth have to come from technological progress, which will drive ever-more inventive ideas, making growth smarter.
Promoting quality jobs will be key to a competitive Europe. Jobs that promote skills development, grant worker autonomy and give workers a genuine voice provide the basis for sustained innovation.
Ensuring high levels of employee engagement is critical in an era of massive technological change. Companies that invest in development and ‘take the pulse’ of their employees on an ongoing basis achieve higher levels of engagement and are better able to pivot and maintain performance.
Support for human-centric, participative development is essential for competitive AI deployment. When workers help shape AI tools, adoption improves, understanding of the technology deepens and solutions better meet both employee and business needs, reflecting the European social model.
Housing shortages need to be addressed through boosting supply rather than incentivising demand, particularly in high-growth areas where this issue poses a real constraint on growth and competitiveness.
Europe needs more long-term coherent thinking for investment in human capital and social services. Policymakers at both EU and national level need to embed social investment in strategic economic and social policy rather than treating it as optional.
Li Andersson
Speakers
We’re delighted to have welcomed a distinguished line-up of speakers, including:
Micheál Martin
Daniel Susskind
The Mercers’ School Memorial Professor of Business, Gresham College; Senior Research Associate, Institute for Ethics in AI at Oxford University
Roxana Mînzatu
EVP for Social Rights and Skills, Quality Jobs and Preparedness, European Commission
Li Andersson
Brigid Laffan
Thomas Byrne
Ivailo KalfinAgenda
Contact
For more information, please contact Cristina Arigho.
Cristina Arigho
Senior Communication ManagerCristina Arigho is Senior Communications Manager and Stakeholder engagement and Promotions Lead in the Information and Communication unit at Eurofound, having joined the Agency in 2012. Previously, she spent almost 20 years in Brussels working in various roles, many of them at the European Commission, including as spokesperson for DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion (2010–2012) and for DG Budget (2007–2009). Before joining the Commission’s spokesperson’s service, she was press officer at DG Employment (2005–2007) and speech writer for the Commissioner and Director General at the time (2003–2005). Prior to her years at the Commission, she worked for RTÉ radio and television (Irish national television) in Brussels as a production assistant and researcher, and later as news producer. Cristina is a graduate in Applied Languages from the University of Ulster at Coleraine, Northern Ireland.
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