Programme
Speakers
Practical info
About last year
09.00 – 09.30
Open Breakfast
Groundfloor Lobby
09.30 – 09.40
Welcome
Theatre | Groundfloor
Ken Godfrey
09.40 – 10.00
Keynote Speech (Changed: Virtual)
Theatre | Groundfloor
Stefan Löfven
Prime Minister of Sweden (2014 – 2021) and Member of the Club de Madrid
10:00 – 11.15
1| Plenary
Values Added Tax: Where Does Democracy Fit in the New Geopolitics?
As the long-standing security umbrella provided by the United States grows increasingly less certain, Europe faces the urgent task of rearming, not only in military terms, but also politically and strategically. In this shifting geopolitical landscape, what is Europe’s added value and how does democratic governance fit into European strategic priorities around the world? How can Europe strengthen its security without compromising its commitment to democratic politics?
Theatre | Groundfloor
Gabrielius Landsbergis
Simon Mordue
Anu Juvonen
Moderator
Nicholas Vinocur
11.15 – 11.45
Coffee Break
While chilling out, you will be able to explore some of the latest tech tools to support democracy, with:
- The Global Youth Participation Index (launch on 18 June)
- Dembrane
- Go Vocal
- Lumi Global
Groundfloor Lobby
11.45 – 13.00
2| Session
Beyond Beijing: 30 Years of Women’s Political Empowerment
What progress has been made in women’s political empowerment over the past 30 years? Which government policies and democracy donor interventions have been the most effective? This high-level panel will take stock of 30 years of women’s political empowerment since the Beijing Platform for Action in 1995.
Room 7 | Balcony | First floor
Aude Maio-Coliche
Rosa Balfour
Laeticia Thissen
Marika Helin
Moderator
Elene Panchulidze
11.45 – 13.00
3| Session
Taking the Pulse of Global Civic Movements
How are governments reshaping or restricting the space for protest? How are citizens adapting to reclaim public space, build solidarity, and assert democratic agency across borders and contexts? And what does this wave of citizen mobilisation suggest about the future of democratic politics?
Room 8 | Launchpad | First floor
Vincent Bevins
Victor Dueñas
Mariam Kaulashvili-Southwell
Milica Kostin
Moderator
Richard Youngs
11.45 – 13.00
4| Session
The Future of Democratic Politics: Imagining Democracy in 2040
Using the Global Youth Participation Index as a launchpad, this session explores how youth engagement trends are signalling broader shifts in democratic behaviour, from digital activism to new models of leadership and horizontal mobilisation. Discussion focus: What global patterns are emerging in political engagement? How do these new forms challenge or complement traditional institutions? What lessons can be drawn from youth movements for rebooting democracy?
Theatre | Groundfloor
Vukasin Petrovic
Athandiwe Saba
Jonathan Moskovic
Moderator
Roxanne van der Bliek
13.00 – 14.30
Lunch
While chilling out, you will be able to explore some of the latest tech tools to support democracy, with:
- The Global Youth Participation Index (launch on 18 June)
- Dembrane
- Go Vocal
- Lumi Global
Groundfloor Lobby & Restaurant
14.30 – 15.40
5| Session
From Crisis to Resilience: Reimagining Democracy Support
The democracy support landscape faces unprecedented challenges in 2025. Amid increasing funding restrictions and attacks on civil society at both the international and EU level, it’s crucial for the sector to demonstrate its resilience and adaptability. This session will offer a space for open discussion, encouraging the exchange of best practices and innovative approaches to address these challenges.
Room 8 | Launchpad | First floor
Paul Maassen
Delphine Moralis
Chiara Adamo
Nataša Vučković
Josh Lerner
Moderator
Shannon O’Connell
14.30 – 15.40
6| Session
Protecting the Information Space: A Different Kind of Defence Strategy
The established world order is facing an existential crisis as great power politics and autocratic governance are making a comeback. In this context, the EU is trying to protect the foundation on which it was built: democracy, peace, and cooperation. The upcoming European Democracy Shield is tasked with the Herculean undertaking of protecting these foundational principles. What priorities will the Shield set first? And will the initiative be proportionate to the challenge at hand?
Theatre | Groundfloor
Fiona Knab-Lunny
Sarah Murphy Madia
Amélie Baudot
Moderator
Corinne Momal-Vanian
14.30 – 15.40
7| Session
From Data to Action: Can Democratic Space Monitoring Lead to Effective Change?
As monitoring tools multiply and data collection becomes more extensive, a central question remains: how do we translate this wealth of information into actionable change? This workshop will explore the gaps between data monitoring and real-world democracy support interventions, addressing obstacles toin policy influence, advocacy, and implementation. The workshop will identify key challenges in using monitoring data for policymaking and advocacy, explore the ecosystem of monitoring tools and help develop strategies for stakeholders to better leverage data for meaningful, lasting impact.
Room 7 | Balcony | First floor
David Kode
Seema Shah
Marianna Belalba
Ann-Charlotte Nygård
Moderator
Emma Achilli
15.40 – 16.00
Coffee Break
While chilling out, you will be able to explore some of the latest tech tools to support democracy, with:
- The Global Youth Participation Index (launch on 18 June)
- Dembrane
- Go Vocal
- Lumi Global
Groundfloor Lobby
16:00 – 16.45
8| Plenary
The Makings of the New European Budget
The European Commission is set to announce the official proposal of a new EU budget in July 2025 that will cover 2028-2035. This budget will reflect new priorities on competitiveness, defence and international partnerships and outline the contours of negotiations between the Parliament and Council. The European Parliament has already set out its initial position, but what can we expect from negotiations and where will democracy, human rights and the rule of law fit into the new EU finances?
Theatre | Groundfloor
Dalia Grybauskaitė
San Bilal
Moderator
Patrick Costello
16:45 – 17.45
9| Plenary
Code for the Future: Where Now for Democracy and Tech?
This session will be opened by a video message from Henna Virkkunen, European Commission Executive Vice-President and Commissioner for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy.
There is broad consensus that tech as it stands poses risks to democracy. Several legislative solutions have been proposed in the past few years in the EU, mostly relying on transparency and due diligence obligations. With the current geopolitical situation and enforcement challenges, however, will that be enough.
Structural European alternatives are needed that would have democratic principles built into their very fabric. Such alternatives should not only be in line with democratic values and not susceptible to being misused, but also actively offer opportunities to reinforce democracies. But what models could be considered ‘democratic by design’?
Theatre | Groundfloor
Alexis Prokopiev
Michael Meyer-Resende
Jurgita Misevičiutė
Moderator
Barbara Moens
17.45
Closing Remarks & End
Theatre | Groundfloor
18.00
Networking Drinks
Secret Rooftop Bar – Warwick Hotel
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Ken Godfrey
Ken Godfrey is the Executive Director of the European Partnership for Democracy (EPD) and has led the organisation since 2015. -
Stefan Löfven
Stefan Löfven was Prime Minister of Sweden from 2014 to 2021 and is a member of the Club de Madrid.
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Gabrielius Landsbergis
Gabrielius Landsbergis is a former Foreign Minister of Lithuania. Since leaving all his political and diplomatic posts in 2024, Gabrielius continues to leverage his communication skills to push back against despots and their collaborators all over the world.
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Simon Mordue
Simon Mordue has been the Deputy Director-General for DG Enlargement and Eastern Neighbourhood since the 1st of June 2025. Previously, he served as Deputy Secretary General for Economic and Global Issues in the European External Action Service.
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Anu Juvonen
Anu has been with Demo Finland since 2014, first as a Director of Programmes and then as Executive Director (since early 2016). -
Nicholas Vinocur
Nick Vinocur is based in Brussels and is POLITICO’s Editor at Large. He is also one of the authors of Brussels Playbook. -
Aude Maio-Coliche
Ms Aude Maio-Coliche is the EU Equality Ambassador. -
Rosa Balfour
Dr Rosa Balfour is the director of Carnegie Europe. Her fields of expertise include European politics, institutions, and foreign and security policy.
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Laeticia Thissen
Laeticia Thissen works as a Senior Policy Analyst for Gender Equality at Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS) where she is in charge of the foundation’s work related to women’s rights, equality and anti-discrimination issues.
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Marika Helin
Marika Helin is a representative of the National Coalition Party of Finland.
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Elene Panchulidze
Elene Panchulidze is the Research Coordinator at the European Partnership for Democracy (EPD), where she leads the European Democracy Hub—a joint initiative of EPD and Carnegie Europe. -
Vincent Bevins
Vincent Bevins is an award-winning journalist. He is the author of The Jakarta Method (2020) and If We Burn: The Mass Protest Decade and the Missing Revolution (2023).
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Victor Dueñas
Victor Dueñas is a Cuban activist committed to democracy, human rights, and building a freer future, looking to connect with those who share the cause.
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Mariam Kaulashvili-Southwell
Mariam Kaulashvili-Southwell is the co-founder of Daitove. Daitove started as a Facebook group in April, coordinating protests against the foreign agent law in Georgia and has since grown to over 200,000 members.
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Milica Kostin
Milica Kostin is a Serbian activist. Since 2022, Milica has participated in various grassroots movements, including students-led protests following the tragic events at the Vladislav Ribnikar school.
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Richard Youngs
Richard Youngs is a senior fellow in the Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program, based at Carnegie Europe and a professor of International Relations at the University of Warwick in the UK. -
Vukasin Petrovic
Vukasin Petrovic is the Director for Democratic and Inclusive Societies at FHI360. Vukasin oversees the development of the organisation’s research, publications, policy briefs, and experimental programs focused on democracy, peacebuilding, and social behaviour change. -
Athandiwe Saba
Athandiwe Saba is an award-winning investigative data journalist and AI strategist specialising in using data-driven approaches and AI to tackle critical social and governance issues across Africa. -
Jonathan Moskovic
Jonathan Moskovic is Research lead on the YouthDecide Horizon research project for the European University Institute and Founder of What about Dem SRL for which he is in charge of piloting the rebuilding of the Belgian Socialist Party. -
Roxanne van der Bliek
Roxanne van der Bliek is the Thematic Lead for Youth in Politics at the Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy.
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Paul Maassen
Paul Maassen started working with the Open Government Partnership in June 2012. He is currently the Chief of Global Programs and leads on the implementation of the strategy for OGPs engagement with and strategic support of all OGP stakeholders at the global level.
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Delphine Moralis
Delphine Moralis is the CEO of the Philanthropy Europe Association (Philea). She is responsible for the overall functioning of the organisation and overseeing the secretariat’s strategic direction, as well as playing the lead role in liaising with Philea’s President, boards and committees.
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Chiara Adamo
Chiara Adamo is the Deputy to the Director for the Human Development, Migration, Governance and Peace Directorate in DG International Cooperation and Development (DG INTPA) in the European Commission.
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Nataša Vučković
Nataša Vučković is the President of ALDA and Director of the Center for Democracy Foundation of Belgrade, Serbia
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Josh Lerner
Josh Lerner is the Co-Executive Director of People Powered.
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Shannon O’Connell
Shannon O’Connell is Director of Policy and Programmes at the Westminster Foundation for Democracy where she is responsible for strategic, technical, and operational management and overall leadership of WFD’s global portfolio of programming.
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Fiona Knab-Lunny
Fiona Knab-Lunny is the Head of Cabinet of the Commissioner for Democracy, Justice, the Rule of Law and Consumer Protection, Michael McGrath.
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Sarah Murphy Madia
Sarah Murphy Madia is the Policy Lead for WHAT TO FIX. Sarah is a communication expert with over 15 years of experience across the international development and media sectors. -
Amélie Baudot
Amélie Baudot is the Chief Operating Officer at the International Fund for Public Interest Media, overseeing fund strategy, operations, finance, legal, governance, and talent. -
Corinne Momal-Vanian
Ms Corinne Momal-Vanian is the Executive Director of the Kofi Annan Foundation. -
David Kode
David E. Kode is the Global Program Manager for the European Union System for an Enabling Environment for Civil Society (EU SEE) – a Consortium of six International Non-Governmental Organisations working with civil society in 86 countries to track the state of the Enabling Environment.
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Seema Shah
Dr. Seema Shah is the Head of International IDEA’s Democracy Assessment (DA) Unit, which produces an annual ‘Global State of Democracy’ report, an annually updated Global State of Democracy Index and a EU-co-funded Democracy Tracker tool.
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Marianna Belalba
Marianna is a Senior Legal Advisor at ECNL, with over a decade of experience working on research regarding civic space freedoms.
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Ann-Charlotte Nygård
Ann-Charlotte Nygård is Head of Sector National Partnerships and Networks at the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA).
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Emma Achilli
Emma Achilli is EPD’s Strategic Advisor on Civic Space and joined the organisation in February 2024, working on the EU SEE (System for Enabling Environment for Civic Space) project. -
Dalia Grybauskaitė
Dalia Grybauskaitė is the former President of the Republic of Lithuania and a member of the Club de Madrid.
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San Bilal
Dr San Bilal is the Executive Director of ECDPM.
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Patrick Costello
Patrick Costello served as an EU official for 27 years working in the European Parliament, European Commission and EEAS. He is currently a member of the EPD Advisory Board.
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Henna Virkkunen
As Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, Henna Virkkunen is tasked with combatting the increasingly complex security threats facing the EU, whilst at the same time strengthening our external borders and our internal security. This goes hand in hand with her responsibility to ensure our freedoms, justice and democracy are strengthened too. -
Alexis Prokopiev
Alexis Prokopiev is the Director of the Department “Governance and Democratic Innovation” at Make.org (an independent European civic tech organisation) since 2019 and the Vice-President of the Association Civic Tech Europe (ACTE). -
Michael Meyer-Resende
Michael Meyer-Resende is an experienced democracy expert and Democracy Reporting International’s Executive Director. -
Jurgita Misevičiutė
Jurgita Miseviciute is the Head of Public Policy and Government Affairs at Proton. She is responsible for Proton’s global public policy and antitrust efforts and leads their engagement with politicians, governments, regulatory agencies, and other relevant stakeholders worldwide. -
Barbara Moens
Barbara Moens is an EU correspondent for the Financial Times in Brussels, covering tech, digital and competition policy. Before joining the FT, she was chief EU correspondent at Politico Europe.
Accessibility
All the Rooms in Sparks are accessible to people with reduced mobility.
