Science and academia is one of the pillars of democracy – including, and especially, amid today’s growing populism, dis- and misinformation, and the widening gap between civil society and politics. #Open Space kicks off the Berlin University Alliance salon series, which invites broad-based dialogue among stakeholders from Berlin’s academic and research sectors, government, and civil society. The series will officially start on May 6, with the theme “Democracy under Pressure.” For the first event, to be held at the Senatssaal (Senate Room) at Humboldt-Universität, Michael Roth (member of the Bundestag), Prof. Heike Klüver (Professor and Chair of Comparative Political Behavior, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin), Prof. Thorsten Faas (Otto Suhr Institute of Political Science, Freie Universität Berlin), and Julia Friedländer (CEO of Atlantik-Brücke) are scheduled to discuss how academia and the research sector can strengthen democracy.