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An assembly is a group of members of an organization who meet periodically to make decisions about a specific area or scope of the organization.
Assemblies hold meetings, some are private and some are open. If they are open, it is possible to participate in them (for example: attending if the capacity allows it, adding points to the agenda, or commenting on the proposals and decisions taken by this organ).
Examples: A general assembly (which meets once a year to define the organisation's main lines of action as well as its executive bodies by vote), an equality advisory council (which meets every two months to make proposals on how to improve gender relations in the organisation), an evaluation commission (which meets every month to monitor a process) or a guarantee body (which collects incidents, abuses or proposals to improve decision-making procedures) are all examples of assemblies.
FESTIVAL:
About the OpenEU Democracy Festival 2026
What to Expect
Forget everything you know about online academic events. No hour-long lectures. No muted microphones. No watching seven people on a panel talk to each other while you stare at your screen wondering if it is too early to check your email.
The OpenEU Democracy Festival is three days of conversations, provocations, and surprises — and you are not just invited to watch. You are invited to participate.
Here is how it works. A speaker takes the floor — but not for long. Talks are short, sharp, and designed to make you feel something: curious, challenged, maybe a little uncomfortable. Think the best TED talk you have ever seen, but live, unfiltered, and ready to go off-script the moment the conversation demands it. Because it will.
"You are invited to participate. Not as an afterthought — as the point."
Our hosts — think less "conference moderator", more "talk show presenter who has actually done their homework" — are in the room with you the whole time. They are reading the chat, following the energy, and ready to interrupt a speaker mid-sentence because you just asked exactly the right question and everyone needs to hear the answer.
Every session leaves room for you. Through live polls, shared digital canvases, open Q&As, and small group breakouts where you get to argue something out with strangers from across Europe, your voice is part of what happens. Not as an afterthought — as the point.
The programme is deliberately varied. One moment you might be deep in a philosophical debate about whether democracy can survive the internet. The next, something makes the whole room laugh. Between sessions, there is music, unexpected moments, and breathing space to process what you just heard before the next conversation pulls you somewhere new.
You do not need to be an expert to be here. You just need to be curious about the world you live in and willing to talk honestly about it with people who feel the same way — even when, especially when, you disagree.
"Democracy is at its best when everyone shows up. So show up!"
"Democracy is a technology. Like any technology, it gets better when more people strive to improve it."
— Audrey Tang, Taiwan's Cyber-Ambassador
Meet the Speakers
Nil Homedes Busquets
Director of the Decidim Association and President of the Decidim Free Software Association
Decidim is a free and open-source participatory democracy platform used by cities and organisations across Europe.
Paul Zoubkov
Head of Global Programmes & Knowledge
Democracy Reporting International (DRI)
Paul Zoubkov is Europe Manager at Democracy Reporting International (DRI), working to strengthen democratic institutions and participation across Europe.
Athina Karatzogianni
Professor of Technology and Society
University of Leicester
Athina Karatzogianni is Professor of Technology and Society at the University of Leicester, specialising in digital activism and the politics of technology.
Loukas Tsoukalis
President of the Board of the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy
Loukas Tsoukalis is President of the Board of the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy, and one of Europe's leading voices on political economy and European integration.
Repair Café
To be announced
Repair Cafés are free meeting places and they're all about repairing things (together). You'll find tools, materials and expert volunteers to help repair clothes, furniture, electrical appliances, bicycles, toys and more. There are over 2,500 Repair Cafés worldwide.
Sandra Márjá West
Chair of the Plenary
The Sámi Parliament in Norway
Speaker bio to be announced.
Vlad Vexler
Philosopher & Political Analyst
Ólína Kjerúlf Þorvarðardóttir
Rector
Bifröst University, Iceland
Speaker bio to be announced.
Dane Madore
Psychoanalyst • Author • Researcher
Speaker bio to be announced.
Jean-Claude Burgelman
Professor of Open Science Policy at the Free University of Brussels (VUB)
Nina Paley
Animator · Director · Artist
Speaker bio to be announced.
Kosta Karakashyan
Artist · Filmmaker · Human rights advocate
Speaker bio to be announced.
Giuseppe Porcaro
Political Geographer · Writer · Communications, International Relations, and European Politics Expert
Speaker bio to be announced.
Julieta Arancio
Researcher and Community Organizer of Science Policy, Open Hardware, and the Knowledge Commons.
Speaker bio to be announced.
Elena Maculan
Tenured Professor
Department of Criminal Law and Criminology
UNED (Spain)
Mariano Melendo Pardos
Tenured University Professor in Criminal Law and Criminology
Faculty of Law
UNED (Spain)
Speaker bio to be announced.
Laura Delgado Carrillo
Criminology Degree Coordinator & Permanent professor
Faculty of Law
UNED (Spain)
Speaker bio to be announced.
Francesc Xavier Coller Porta
Coordinator of the PhD Program in Political Science & Full professor
Political science and public administration
Faculty of political science and sociology
UNED (Spain)
Speaker bio to be announced.
Salvador Parrado Diez
Full professor of Political science and public administration
Faculty of political science and sociology
UNED (Spain)
Speaker bio to be announced.
Natàlia Cantó Milà
Associated Professor
Doctoral School
Arts and Humanities Department
Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (Spain)
Speaker bio to be announced.
Efraín Foglia Romero
Lecturer
Information & Communication Sciences Department
Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (Spain)
Speaker bio to be announced.
Atli Þór Fanndal Guðlaugsson
Project Manager at the Rector's Office
Bifröst University (Iceland)
Speaker bio to be announced.
Sævar Ari Finnbogason
Adjunct professor
Faculty of Social Sciences
University of Bifröst (Iceland)
Speaker bio to be announced.
Erla Rún Guðmundsdóttir
Director of the Research Center for Creative Industries
University of Bifröst (Iceland)
Speaker bio to be announced.
Margarita Mavrodieva Kaleynska
Senior Assistant Professor
Faculty of Education
UVT (Bulgaria)
Speaker bio to be announced.
To be announced
TBC
Speaker bio to be announced.
To be announced
TBC
Speaker bio to be announced.
To be announced
TBC
Speaker bio to be announced.
Festival Tracks
The OpenEU Democracy Festival program is organized into six tracks. These tracks reflect the topics that matter most to our community — shaped by input from participating universities and the OpenEU Student Council. Each track explores democracy from a different angle, together forming a full picture of what democratic life looks like in 2026: inside ourselves, in our institutions, in our classrooms, in our digital tools, on our planet, and in our cultures.
Track 1 — The Democratic Self
How do we become democratic citizens?
Democracy begins in how we listen, care, and participate. This track explores the personal, psychological, and philosophical sides of democracy, including barriers like illness, neurodivergence, and exclusion. It rethinks participation as something that must be accessible and nurtured.
Track 2 — Deep Democracy, Organizations & DEI
What does democracy look like in everyday work and teams?
This track explores democratic practices inside organizations, from participatory models to DEI challenges. It examines power imbalances, inclusion, and how democratic structures function in real-life settings.
Track 3 — Governance, Health & Society
Who has power and how do we rebuild trust?
Focusing on institutions, rights, and public systems, this track explores how democracy shapes health, housing, and policy. It addresses exclusion, accountability, and ways to strengthen trust and resilience.
Track 4 — Digital Democracy & Futures
Who shapes our technological future?
This track examines the risks and potential of digital tools in democracy — from disinformation to civic tech. It explores how to build transparent, inclusive, and future-ready democratic systems.
Track 5 — Education & Knowledge
Who decides what counts as knowledge?
This track looks at education as a democratic space, exploring access, power, and inequality. It considers students as active participants and the evolving role of knowledge in society.
Track 6 — Culture, Language & Expression
How does culture shape democracy?
Democracy lives in language, art, and history. This track explores multilingualism, cultural expression, and storytelling as key to participation, inclusion, and democratic imagination.
"The secret of happiness is freedom. The secret of freedom is courage."
— Pericles
Be Part of Something That's Never Been Done Before
And we need you to make it happen. As a volunteer, you'll have real responsibilities: keeping tech running under pressure, producing the live chat, designing visuals, writing copy, or engineering the surprising moments that make it feel like a festival and not a webinar. Whatever your skill set, there's a role for you.
You'll work alongside students from 10 universities across Europe and gain hands-on experience in a genuinely exciting, first-of-its-kind event.
Questions? openeufestival@gmail.com
Festival Agenda
Festival Registration
Secure your spot at the festival online sessions. Membership is open to all university students and staff from the OpenEU Alliance.
Featured Institution
Bifröst University: Our 2026 Host
We are proud to announce Bifröst University in Iceland as the host institution for this year's OpenEU Democracy Festival. Located in the striking landscape of western Iceland, Bifröst is one of the country's most distinctive universities — small enough to foster genuine community, ambitious enough to punch well above its weight on the European stage.
Bifröst offers undergraduate and graduate programmes in Business Administration, Law, and Social Sciences, and is home to a Centre for European Studies and a Jean Monnet Chair — making it a natural home for a festival dedicated to democratic innovation and European civic life.
As a proud member of the OpenEU Alliance, Bifröst has been an active partner in building bridges between European universities and their student communities. The university holds the Equal Pay Certificate and is a signatory of the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME), reflecting its deep commitment to values-driven education.
Hosting the OpenEU Democracy Festival is a natural extension of everything Bifröst stands for — open dialogue, civic engagement, and the belief that education is most powerful when it connects people across borders.
Visit BifröstThe OpenEU Student Council
Daugavpils University
Daugavpils University
FernUniversität in Hagen
Hellenic Open University
Open Universiteit (NL)
Open Universiteit (NL)
Open Universiteit (NL)
U.N.E.D.
U.O.C.
Universidade Aberta
Open University of Cyprus
Open University of Cyprus
Reference: openeu-ASSE-2026-03-20