GLOBSEC 2022 Bratislava Forum

  The 17th edition of the Bratislava Forum will take place on 2 – 4 June 2022.

GLOBSEC’s Bratislava Forum has established itself as the leading platform in the Central European region and one of the preeminent global strategic conferences.  Since its inception, the Forum has provided space for both formal and informal discussions to generate breakthrough ideas to the challenges of our times.  This year’s edition is no different and will seek to prescribe solutions and encourage decisive action and develop strategies to address the most urgent crises of the future.

In concert with our main sessions, held across two interactive stages, the Forum will organize a roster of diverse thematic side events and exclusive brainstorming sessions. The combination of these conference features regularly attracts the highest levels of international media and journalists.

TWO STAGES FEATURING OVER 100 TOP SPEAKERS

Hundreds of the most influential political representatives, business champions, leading global think-tanks and NGO experts, heads of international organizations, thinkers and innovators gather each year at the GLOBSEC Forum to actively shape the future we want for us and the generations to come. Over the years, GLOBSEC's guests of honour have included Pope Francis, Emmanuel Macron, Zuzana Čaputová, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, Kersti Kaljulaid, Jens Stoltenberg, John Allen, Ursula von der Leyen, Harjit Sajjan, Madeleine Albright, Donald Tusk, Joseph Nye, Timothy Garton Ash, Paul Collier, Francis Fukuyama, Brad Smith, and many other influential stakeholders.

In June 2022, Bratislava will once again serve as the central meeting place for stakeholders from all walks of life to contribute solutions to the most pressing issues of today and tomorrow.

REVIVING TRUST IN THE TIME OF CHANGE

For the past two years, the global community has been fighting a plague that can be described as “the pandemic that knows no borders and respects no boundaries”.

Countries have faced myriad of challenges either caused or exaggerated by the pandemic where every nation has been taught valuable lessons on collective action, the need to work and power of a resilient society. Given these new experiences and lessons, and the need not to repeat them, the time has come to seize the opportunities ahead of us and set out a path of prosperity and renewal.

At the 17th edition of the GLOBSEC Bratislava Forum, we aspire to look beyond the current state of global affairs and focus on 3 acute challenges of today: sustainability, trust and change. What is the pathway towards a sustainable future resemble? What are the elements needed to produce sustainable economic growth? How can we sustain our way of life, our security, our democracy, given the new network of threats and ever-changing geopolitical dynamics? What event or movement is needed to overcome the crisis of trust in our institutions, society, economy, and trust between ourselves?

"How can we make our democracies more resilient and better able to counter authoritarian regimes in a divided world?" We must take this as an inspiration for our discussions on the necessity of change, as only through change and transformation we will be able to overcome today’s challenges. The 2022 Bratislava Forum will therefore search for answers through 3 thematical pillars:

• Mobilise Support & Action for Ukraine and the Broader European Neighbourhood 
• Mobilise Resources of the West to Strengthen Resilience at Home
• Mobilise Global Coalitions to Defy Authoritarian Powers

To answer the fundamental question: What do we need to change in order to survive and thrive?

 A key part of the GLOBSEC success story is the fact that it grew out of a student project to become a major international forum. Youth engagement has always been an integral part of our work and we continuously look for ways to strengthen that element. In 2013, the first GLOBSEC Young Leaders Forum took place on the sidelines of the annual GLOBSEC Bratislava Forum. The only well-established forum of its kind in Central Europe, GYLF has since grown to become one of the most prestigious meetings of young professionals and decision-makers in the world. In 2018, GLOBSEC Tatra Summit welcomed its first cohort of the Tatra Summit Young Professionals programme. With the exception of 2020, the three successful editions of this programme allowed for deeper cooperation between GLOBSEC and its growing community of distinguished young experts and policymakers.

Recent policy developments in Ukraine, Europe, the United States and other parts of the world only underline the demand for a strong policy-making platform where solutions to the most urgent issues can be discussed and enacted, and we believe it is of crucial importance to engage young leaders in this process. GLOBSEC Young Leaders Forum enables 25 young professionals to participate in formal and informal, off-the-record discussions with high-profile politicians, decision makers, thought leaders and think-thankers. GYLF 2022 will largely take place at the same venue as the GLOBSEC Bratislava Forum, giving our young professionals the chance to actively participate in several main sessions of the GLOBSEC Forum and engage in the Q&A parts of debates. Finally, participants may also take part in the process of formulating strategic policy proposals and suggest plans for action on the most pressing issues, with the GLOBSEC Bratislava Forum’s 17th edition focusing on three acute challenges of today: sustainability, trust and change.

Over the course of its 8 editions, GYLF has welcomed over 220 participants from 50 countries and from nearly 150 leading institutions in the realm of politics, business and the non-governmental sector. Previous policy recommendations include the GYLF 2019 short policy response to the 2018 NATO Secretary General’s Annual Report and TSYP 2019 analysis of Ursula von der Leyen’s manifesto ‘A Union that Strives for More.’

Are you an “under 35” professional with expertise in European and global politics and economy, defense and security, strategic communication, digital policies, or energy and sustainability? This is your chance to be part of the GYLF cohort of 2022.  The call for applications remains open between 4th February – 11th March 2022. The final selection will be announced by the end of March, with the Forum taking place between 1st – 4th June 2022. Apply HERE.