The final BRIDGES 5.0 Masterclass brought researchers, business practitioners and workplace innovators together to ask a deceptively simple question: how can Europe turn the promise of human-centric, sustainable and resilient industry into everyday practice?

As part of its legacy for the future, Bridges 5.0 is drawing on nearly four years of research, industry engagement and stakeholder dialogue to map out a plan for upscaling Industry 5.0 across Europe.

Ursula von der Leyen’s 2026 State of the Union address did not make Industry 5.0 its headline theme. Yet its central message — a more independent, resilient and socially grounded Europe — closely reflects the agenda’s core ideas.

Industry 5.0 will not happen by accident. It requires clear political choices, practical commitment and sustained collaboration between industry, social partners and policymakers.

The value of this issue lies in keeping these questions grounded. It brings workplace innovation close to the settings in which it is attempted, negotiated and revised.

A summary of the BRIDGES 5.0 Masterclass webinar on the role of managers in the transition to Industry 5.0, held on 12 June 2026.