The Alexis Tsipras Institute for Peace, Justice and Sustainable Growth is organizing its “2nd International Conference, on Democracy & Social Justice”, at Megaron – The Athens Concert Hall, Nikos Skalkotas Hall on Tuesday, June 10th, 2025 with the participation of progressive politicians, prominent academics, researchers, and activists from both sides of the Atlantic.
The 2025 Prespa Peace Prize will be awarded to the four Palestinian and Israeli creators of the Oscar-winning documentary “No Other Land”. Directors Yuval Abraham and Basel Adra will be at the Conference to receive the Prize.
Alexis Tsipras, Bernie Sanders (US Senator), Enrico Letta (former PM of Italy), Yolanda Díaz (Deputy Prime Minister- Spain), Elly Schlein (Secretary of the Democratic Party- Italy), François Ruffin (co-founder of the New Popular Front-France), Ines Schwerdtner (co-Leader of The Left- Germany) will be speaking about “Building a movement for Democracy and Social Justice on both sides of the Atlantic”. The journalist Dora Anagnostopoulou and the actor-director Emilios Chilakis will be coordinating.
On a panel on “The progressive response to the crisis of Democracy”, coordinated by Harry Tzimitras, Director of the Cyprus Center, Peace Research Institute in Oslo, Professors Michael Sandel and Marshall Ganz from Harvard University and Jeffrey Kopstein from University of California, Irvine, will be speaking on political developments in the US following the election of Donald Trump, Leo Gerden will be representing the Harvard’s students’ movement, the Chairman of the Party of Social Democrats of North Macedonia, Venko Filipce, will be speaking on the rise of nationalism in the Balkans, the President of the Workers’ Party of Brazil, Humberto Costa will highlight the struggle against extreme right forces in Latin America, the Rector of Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences Professor Cristina Koulouri will be speaking about challenges to democracy in Europe, Nazlı Akyüz, Chair of the EU and Foreign Relations Commission of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Council and Garo Paylan, former Deputy of the Turkish National Assembly, will be speaking about developments in Turkey.
– Dora Kotsaka research expert on the Commons, Elizabeth Linos, Associate Professor of Public Policy and Management at Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Kostas Gavroglu, former Minister of Education, Emily Tavoulareas, Adjunct Professor at Georgetown’s McCourt School of Public Policy, Konstantinos Kakavoulis, Co-founder of Homo Digitalis and Christos Porios, Founder of Schema Labs & Open Council, will be speaking about “Democracy and Digital Transformation”.
The “1st International Conference, on Peace and Sustainable Growth” held last year, highlighted the significant challenges that Europe and our broader region faced at the time, due to the rise of extreme right and nationalist forces in the European elections and the destabilization on a global and regional level caused by the wars in Ukraine and Palestine.
One year later, with the two wars escalating, President Trump’s re-election, the dominance of the principle of “might makes right” as the reference point for international relations, the institutionalization of the role of powerful economic interests in the executive branch of government, the militarization of European policy and the strengthening of authoritarian regimes globally, have led to the further consolidation and coordination of the far-right on both sides of the Atlantic, the widening of inequalities, and most importantly, the undermining of democracy itself, including its institutions and values.
In this context, the aim of this year’s International Conference is to contribute to the creation of a movement for democracy and social justice on both sides of the Atlantic and to promote progressive policies aimed at safeguarding democratic institutions, confronting inequalities and protecting new social rights in the context of the digital transformation.
2nd International Conference on Democracy & Social Justice
Tuesday, June 10th, 2025 | Megaron the Athens Concert Hall, Nikos Skalkotas Hall
15.00 REGISTRATION
15.45 WELCOME – OPENING REMARKS
Moderators: Dora Anagnostopoulou, Journalist & Emilios Chilakis, Actor & Director
Evangelos Kalpadakis, Director, Alexis Tsipras Institute for Peace, Justice and Sustainable Growth
16.00 SESSION ONE
The progressive response to the crisis of Democracy
Michael Sandel, Professor of Political Philosophy, Harvard University, USA (online)
Jeffrey Kopstein, Dean’s Professor of Political Science, University of California, Irvine, USA
Marshall Ganz, Senior Lecturer in Leadership, Organizing and Civil Society, Harvard Kennedy School of Government, USA (video message)
Leo Gerdén, Representative, Harvard Students for Freedom, USA
Christina Koulouri, Professor in Modern and Contemporary History & Rector, Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences, Greece
Humberto Costa, Provisional President, Partido dos Trabalhadores (Brazil), Second Vice-President, Federal Senate of Brazil (online)
Venko Filipče, Chairman of the Party of Social Democrats, North Macedonia
Nazlı Akyüz, Chair of the EU and Foreign Relations Commission, Member of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Council, Türkiye
Garo Paylan, Visiting scholar, Europe Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Washington DC, Member of the Turkish National Assembly, Halkların Demokratik Partisi -HDP (2015-2023), Türkiye
Chair: Harry Tzimitras, Director, Peace Research Institute Oslo – PRIO Centre, Cyprus
17.30 SESSION TWO
Democracy and Digital Transformation
Emily Tavoulareas, Co-curator, U.S. Digital Services Origins; Adjunct Professor, Georgetown’s McCourt School for Public Policy, USA (online)
Elisabeth Linos, Associate Professor of Public Policy and Management, Harvard Kennedy School of Government, USA (online)
Christos Porios, Founder, Schema Labs & Open Council, Greece
Konstantinos Kakavoulis, Lawyer, Co-Founder, Homo Digitalis, Greece
Kostas Gavroglu, Minister of Education, Research and Religious Affairs (2016–2019), Greece
Chair: Dora Kotsaka, Researcher- Political Sociologist, Greece
18.30 AWARD CEREMONY
Αwarding of the Prespa Peace Award by Alexis Tsipras and Zoran Zaev to the directors of the Documentary “No Other Land” Yuval Abraham and Basel Adra
18.45 SESSION THREE
Building a movement for Democracy and Social Justice on both sides of the Atlantic
Bernie Sanders, Senator (Vermont), Democratic Party, USA (online)
Υοlanda Díaz, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Labour and Social Economy, Spain
François Ruffin, Deputy of the French National Assembly, Founder of Nouveau Front Populaire, France (online)
Elly Schlein, Secretary, Partido Democrático, Italy
Ines Schwerdtner, Co-Leader, Die Linke, Germany (online)
Enrico Letta, Prime Minister of Italy (2013-2014); President, Jacques Delors Institut; Dean, IE University Madrid (online)
Moderators: Dora Anagnostopoulou, Journalist & Emilios Chilakis, Actor & Director
20.15 CONCLUSIONS BY ALEXIS TSIPRAS
Prime Minister of the Hellenic Republic (2015-2019)