Achieving another century of progress: Hope and leadership in Europe

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15Jan2026

starts 14:00

ends 14:30

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Friends of Europe engages Sven Smit, Chair of the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) and Senior Partner at McKinsey & Company, in a conversation on how Europe and the world can keep moving forward. Drawing on insights from A Century of Plenty, a book published by the McKinsey Global Institute and co-authored by Sven, the discussion will examine how the unprecedented rates of human advancement of the past 100 years can be continued in the future.

Contrary to predominantly negative assessments of the current state of affairs, A Century of Plenty offers a hopeful account of Europe’s future honing in on trust and quality leadership. The authors argue that while growth is possible, it must be grounded in innovation, productivity and progress for all.

This #CriticalThinkingLive discussion will focus on ways to achieve MGI’s ambitious target: for all countries to achieve the prosperity and quality of life of today’s Switzerland by 2100.

#CriticalThinkingLive is the latest expansion in our #CriticalThinking family, bringing influential voices from across a range of sectors to challenge, inspire and influence current thinking on the biggest issues facing Europe and the world.

Related contents:

Book | A century of Plenty

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PHOTO CREDIT: McKinsey| Sven Smit

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Speakers

Prior to joining Friends of Europe, Dharmendra Kanani was director of policy at the European Foundation Centre (EFC). He was the England director at the Big Lottery Fund, the largest independent funder in the UK and fourth largest in the world. Dharmendra has held senior positions in the public and voluntary sectors and advisor to numerous ministerial policy initiatives across the UK.

Sven Smit is currently spearheading McKinsey’s work on the Western European region. During his 30-year-long career at McKinsey, Smit has acquired experience on the analysis of business growth, examining the way megatrends influence it, and defining the lessons of diversified growth. As Co-Chair of MGI, he leads research on global economic trends and topics, such as productivity and growth, urbanization, innovation and technology, labour markets and the Future of Work, emerging markets and Europe’s economic outlook, focusing on the social contract and how it has changed over the past 20 years – and especially this year.

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