23–24 Apr 2026
Europe/Rome timezone

Program

 

draft program

 

APRIL 23

 

Greetings:

Chair and introduction: Susanna Cafaro – Università del Salento

Authorities: Mayor of Brindisi, Rector Università del Salento, President of the Province, Apulia Region representative (TBC), Director of the Department of Legal Science

Partners Greetings : Martì Grau Segù -Maison Jean Monnet; Mauro Spedicati - Association for Supranational Democracy, Karl Baumann – Institute for Global Democratic Republic; Ghislaine Bouillet – Albatross Foundation

 

Keynote Speech …..Council of Europe (TBC)

Session I: Democracy and Culture

Chair Mauro Spedicati – Association for Supranational Democracy

Helen Mirren (TBC) Actress and Ambassador Unisalento

Edoardo Winspeare  (TBC) Film Director and Ambassador Unisalento

 Alessandro Valenti – Screenwriter

Ghislaine Bouillet – Smiley Ball Game  – Finding Happy

 

Session II: Democracy and Education:

Chair: Silvia Solidoro – Università del Salento

 Riya Saini  A Culture- and Education-Driven Approaches to Strengthen Democratic Engagement beyond Borders – Anant University, India

Daniel Chigudu Democratic Citizenship in the Anthropocene: Reimagining Civic Education for Climate-Vulnerable Youth in Africa – College of Economic Management Sciences, Pretoria

Stefania Attolini, Teaching Environmental Democracy – Université Catholique de Lyon

Michele Fiorillo Transnational Civic Engagement for the European Union: Deliberative Democratic Innovation in Higher Education Mobility -

Carmela D’Angelo e Corey Magyar The Brindisi Model: International Education as Democratic Agency in Europe’s Periphery – International School of Brindisi

 

Lunch break

 

Session III: Democracy and Well-Being (co-organized  with IGDR and EHFF)

Chair: Karl Bauman IGDR

Keynote Speech: Antonio Parenti European Union and Well-Being  - European Commission

Lars Munter European Health Union Initiative – Nordic Wellbeing Association

Nina Sonderberg More than Data - Nordic Wellbeing Association

Edoardo Montin Future Forward: the Hackathon on Health & Education That Reboots Democracy – European Health Future Forum

 

Session IV Democracy and Inclusion (Co-organized by Padua University)

Chair: Matteo Bassoli - Padua University

Matteo Bassoli Navigating Turbulent Waters: A comparative analysis of local responses to “refugee crises” in Barcelona and Milan through homestay –

Polina Zavershinskaia: Examining the institutionalisation of the commemoration of the Roma and Sinti genocide within the European Union through the Narrative Policy Framework – Padua University

Elisa De Matteis & Tommaso Greppi EAnalysis of media trajectories on refugees in Europe (2015-2025): a Time Series Clustering approach – Padua University

 

Dinner Party

 

APRIL 24

 

Chair. Saverio Di Benedetto

Greetings Georgia Tramacere European Parliament 

Keynote Speech: Jan Wouters – NU Leuven

The Promise of EU Democracy: Reconnecting European Citizens 

 

Session V Democracy and Active Citizenship

Chair: Claudia Morini - Università del Salento

Magdalena Smieszek Democracy Beyond Borders in the Age of AI: Toward a Cosmocitizen Culture - Cosmocitizens Foundation, Ubiquity University

Henry De Waele ‘Extrapolating the Right to Petition to Reinforce Supranational Democracy – An Enhanced EU System as a Global Role Model?’ – Radboud University, Nijmegen

Kateřina Kočí, Markéta Votoupalová, Danijel Crnčec: Public Participation in the Development of NECPs: Evidence from EU External Energy and Climate Governance in Energy Community Countries – Lubijana University

Lucia D’Asta:  Digital Democracy and European Constitutionalism: Rethinking Participation and Governance in the Information Society – LUM University, Bari

 

Session VI: Democracy and Institutional Innovation (with the support of the REACT PRIN project)

Chair Francesco Spera Università del Salento

Karl Baumann Planetary Rights - Democracy Beyond Borders for Climate and Sustainable Development -IGDR

Jaap Hoeksma The European Road to Democratic Sovereignty -….Amsterdam

Cesare Ceccato & Amanda Ribichini Federalist Peace Forum - Young European Federalists (JEF)

Alice Pisapia Digital Sovereignty as Institutional Innovation in the EU: Rethinking Competences and Democratic Legitimacy – Universitas Mercatorum

 

h.13 Lunch Break

 

h.14.30 Group discussion on the 6 panel topics

Facilitators, Francesco Viggiani, Elisabetta Marzo , Jacopo Lillo, Isabella Salsano, Fabiana Magnolo, Eduardo Giugliano, Federica Brancaccio, Giulia Perrone Michele Pieroni 

 

h. 15.30 Plenary

Group Reports

Conclusions and Farewell: Susanna Cafaro