The Level 2 seminar of the 2025 core programme «Sapere Aude: Freedom and Responsibility» took place in Vilnius and brought together 100 representatives from civil society, the expert community, journalism, human-rights organizations, diplomats, and academia from the EU, Ukraine, Russia, and Serbia.
The seminar explored how, in the context of the war in Europe, democratic decline, the erosion of international law, and the global rise of autocracies, society can reinvent a social contract for sustainable peace. This contract should be based on democracy, human rights, inclusiveness, and respect for freedom, dignity, and the Other.
Participants discussed climate change and its connection to the rise of populism, issues of transitional justice, and the importance of critical thinking, reason, and the development of political language. Participants also completed an intensive express course introducing the theory of change.
As part of the seminar, the group attended the Remembering Political Prisoners event organised by the Memorial Human Rights Centre.