Munich, July 20, 2026 – The traditional economic system is no longer holding up against the crises of our time. How must we rethink and jointly shape the economy as new technologies transform business models, skilled workers become scarce, market uncertainty grows, resources become scarcer, and sustainable business practices grow more important? The beyond economy Festival offers answers to these questions. Taking place on October 28, 2026, under the motto "Shaping tomorrow's economy together," it returns for the third time to the House of Communication in Munich. As the annual meeting point of the year-round beyond economy Movement — a platform for people actively shaping the future viability of the economy — the festival brings together around 1,300 mid-sized businesses, corporate start-ups, thought leaders and decision-makers, as well as representatives from research and politics. Here, people already living the new economy meet those seeking concrete answers for it. New projects, collaborations, and business models emerge directly from on-site exchange. The festival makes the future of the economy tangible in practice, offers guidance for one's own transformation initiatives, and combines inspiration with the power to implement.
The third edition of the festival is designed to be even more interactive and hands-on. Alongside keynotes, panels, and fireside chats, the focus is on formats that bring participants directly into exchange and collaboration — new this year: Future Skill Workshops, where participants learn the skills needed for tomorrow's economy. There will also be cases & pilot projects, discourse rounds & barcamps, as well as live challenges & co-creation sessions. At the same time, the festival brings together the themes and projects that the Movement explores year-round through salons and digital dialogue, co-creation, and partner formats.
Content-wise, the festival is structured around eight focus themes central to the path toward the new economic world: beyond AI & trust, beyond ecosystems & innovation, beyond resources & energy, beyond resilience & responsibility, beyond capital & markets, beyond future skills & learning, beyond value creation & growth, and beyond next gen & entrepreneurship.
At the heart of this is the guiding principle of Profit, People, and Planet. It reflects the aim of bringing people, resources, and economic success together as the foundation for long-term future viability. The festival aims to show how this balance can succeed in practice.
"Profit, People, and Planet belong together for us — out of conviction and out of economic necessity. Those who connect with others gain value and future viability faster than any company could alone. beyond economy is the Movement where exactly that happens: more than 2,000 actors who collaborate all year round and showcase their results at the festival," says Michael Schwienbacher, Chief Ecosystem Architect at Sym.
The name beyond economy describes two sides of one ambition. "beyond" stands for looking ahead and moving past old economic logic and familiar formulas for success — toward visions of the future, orientation, courage, and confidence in times of change. "economy" places a clear focus on implementation: decision-makers and thought leaders come together, future topics become concrete fields of action, and pioneering projects show new paths to value creation. Coopetition — collaboration that reaches beyond traditional corporate and competitive boundaries — becomes the guiding way of working.
beyond economy was initiated by Sym GmbH — the idea was born in 2022 at a street festival where various actors came together to advance the circular economy among mid-sized businesses and build an ecosystem to create long-term resilience. The Munich-based company develops and operates business ecosystems for industries and regions, enabling companies to connect knowledge, infrastructure, partner access, and concrete projects with one another. This idea also shapes beyond economy: the Movement offers a platform for exchange on the major questions of economic change — and aims to enable new collaborations, pilot projects, and value creation on that basis. What began in 2024 as a small festival in Munich, and in 2025 brought together more than 1,100 participants, over 250 experts, 40 exhibitors, and 120 partner organizations, has grown into a year-round Movement.
For 2026, more than 100 partner organizations are supporting the festival, including family businesses and corporations such as Schörghuber Gruppe, Wellhub, Octopus Energy, Vitra, and others, as well as financial institutions such as Deutsche Bank, Commerzbank, and GLS Bank, and strategic future partners such as The Future:Project, Enkelfähig e.V., and Schwienbacher Gruppe. The field is rounded out by ecosystem partners such as UnternehmerTUM, CIRCULAR REPUBLIC, and Maschinenraum, and by academic partners such as the Technical University of Munich.
"More than a hundred partner organizations are supporting beyond economy this year — from family businesses, mid-sized companies, and banks to ecosystem networks and exciting start-ups. This diversity has a reason: the major economic challenges of our time can only be tackled together. We are building beyond economy as the place where genuine partnerships form and ideas become concrete initiatives," says Marc Fricke, Co-Founder of beyond economy and Chief Growth Officer at Sym GmbH.
One of this year's highlights is a central project: together with The Future:Project, the beyond economy Agenda 2040 is being created — a roadmap for the future of the German economy through 2040.
It is being developed through a participatory process involving community surveys, experts, and ambassadors. Among those involved are: Christian Mohr (UnternehmerTUM), Matthias Ballweg (CIRCULAR REPUBLIC), Irene Reifenhäuser (former Supervisory Board Member, GLS Bank), Michael Schwienbacher (Sym), Julia Ledermann (edding), and Tristan Horx (The Future:Project). In-depth future scenarios for the economy of 2040 are being developed across eight theme areas. It will be presented for the first time at the festival on October 28 and continued annually.
"The future can be shaped, and we need a picture of what it looks like. Germany has stopped telling stories about the future. With the Agenda 2040, we are creating a roadmap for where the economy can go by 2040 — together with mid-sized businesses, thought leaders, and our community. Our goal is to move both politics and the economy into action," says Nina Weiss, Co-Founder & Strategic Lead, beyond economy Movement.
More information and tickets are available at https://www.beyond-economy.eco/
Sym is an Ecosystem Development & Operations Company (EDO) and a pioneer in entrepreneurial ecosystems. Based on the Symworking economic model, Sym develops ecosystems for regions, real estate, and industries — increasing the value of companies and locations through symbiotic collaboration. The Symsuite provides the digital infrastructure for community building and ecosystem operations. Sym operates, among others, the Symworking Ecosystem for SMEs, which advances cooperation, digitalization, and the circular economy in practice; the Symtronics Ecosystem, the world's first ecosystem for the electronics industry; and the Ecosystem Technopark Sauerlach (real estate industry). With the beyond economy Movement, Sym creates spaces where the economy shapes the future together.
Benjamin Quiram / Jonas Thamm
Klubfaktor Agentur für Kommunikation – GmbH
For inquiries, accreditation, and interview requests
beyond-economy@klubfaktor.de