Sunday, November 22, 2015

How to maintain a balance between security and freedom in a democratic society under threat? Can democracies resist the escalation of fear and formulate responses based on civic responsibility and active citizenship? Can they deal with security risks without jeopardising individual rights and freedoms? These were the core questions at the fourth World Forum for Democracy organised by the Council of Europe from 18 to 20 November 2015 in Strasbourg.

This event gathered some 1,500 participants – participants of 21 Schools of Political Studies, political leaders, militants from civil society, media representatives and young people – from 100 countries on three themes:
1. Surveillance – what is the right dose?
2. Building trust in diverse societies
3. Media responsibility in a context of terrorist threat.

Nineteen labs intended to use concrete initiatives as an illustration of how these challenges can be taken up helped to formulate a democratic response to the concerns discussed at the Forum.

The event served also as the finalisation of the 2015 academic cycle of the Schools of Political Studies. The certificates for the participants of the Albanian School were awarded in a special diploma ceremony by the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Thorbjørn Jagland.   

The forum was organised a few days after the terrorist attack in Paris and the topic of violent radicalization and terrorism was the focus of most of the debates. Over 96 percent of participants voted that the education is the best solution against the radicalization and discrimination on our societies. Based on this evaluation, the theme of the 2016 World Forum for Democracy will be: “education: the new social divide”.

For more information on WFD 2015 click here