The European Dialogues presents an opportunity to bring the European reality to urban, cultural spaces and to transform a community into a directly participative forum for European reflection and debate. Each month, international experts and citizens gather to consider and reconsider a diverse and relevant issue. The events are held from 19:00-21:00 (GMT+1). Interested participants are invited to pose their questions to the speakers in advance via social media (Facebook/European Dialogues or Twitter @EUdialogues). Events are free and streamed live via the project website.

THE MAKING OF A EUROPEAN CAPITAL OF CULTURE

21 January 2016

San Telmo Museum, San Sebastian

   

Jiří Suchánek, Director, 2015 European Capital of Culture Plzen, Czech Republic

Jiri Suchanek, originally from Sobotka, Cezch Republic, graduated from the Faculty of Economics at the University of Economics in Prague, with a focus on Regional Studies, public administration and commercial communications. Most notably, from 2007 to 2009, he worked as the director of the festival SOBOfest, a multicultural festival of music, sports, and workshops. Later in 2008 up to December 2010, he worked as a production manager and a representative of the Czech pavilion at Expo 2010 in Shanghai. Since 2011, he is the Director of the OKD Foundation, a foundation that provides support to non-profit organizations assisting those in need and improving social care, leisure and environmental protection. Most recently, Jiri served as the Director of the 2015 European Capital of Culture Plzen, which centered on four themes: Arts and Technologies; Relationships and Emotions; Transit and Minorities; and Stories and Sources, both in relation to Pilsen and the European debate.

 

Yves Vasseur, Director, 2015 European Capital of Culture Mons, Belgium

Yves Vasseur was born in Quiévrain, Belgium, a graduate in social communication and theater studies, a journalist at the RTBF (Radio Television Belge Francophone) in Belgium for ten years, coordinator of the Drama Centre Hennuyer, Director of Le Manège, a unique cross-border cultural centre, but also a playwright and author of comics. Most recently, Yves served as the Director of the 2015 European Capital of Culture Mons, whose transformation included the opening of five new museums, a concert hall, and some 15 urban art installations. Passionate for theater and books, he was quoted in an interview saying that his motto is “Faites-moi rêver!” Make me dream…

 

MIGRANTS, REFUGEES AND THE FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT IN THE EUROPEAN UNION

17 February 2016

San Telmo Museum, San Sebastian

          

Dr. Joanna Anneke Rummens, Sociologist, Anthropologist, Professor, University of Toronto

Dr. Joanna Anneke Rummens is a multilingual anthropologist/sociologist whose research explores the links between diverse child/youth identities, health/wellbeing, and actual life outcomes. Her programme of integrated research and knowledge transfer focuses on disadvantaged, marginalized, vulnerable or ‘invisible’ child/youth populations, including those from immigrant/refugee/migrant newcomer communities, ethno-racial and mixed heritage backgrounds, and children and youth living in challenging contexts. Both her national and international work reflects a strong commitment to policy-and-practice-relevant research, collaborative research partnerships that link academia, communities, service providers, and government, as well as effective knowledge transfer/exchange and uptake/implementation with a broad range of key stakeholders. Dr. Rummens is a Health Systems Research Scientist, Psychiatry, and Project Investigator, Child Health Evaluative Sciences, Research Institute, at The Hospital for Sick Children. She is an Associate Professor in Equity, Gender and Populations & Child and Youth Mental Health with the Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto; Adjunct Professor, Early Childhood Studies, Faculty of Community Services at Ryerson University; former Full Member of the Institute of Medical Sciences; and Honorary Fellow of the Centre for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean at York University. A Senior Scholar and Former Director of CERIS-The Ontario Metropolis Centre of excellence for research on immigration and settlement, Dr. Rummens is Executive Director and founding lead of IMPAKT – The Ontario Institute for Child and Youth Success.

 

Mario Rodríguez, Newcomer to San Sebastian, Spain from Honduras

Abdelilah Guenouni, Newcomer to San Sebastian, Spain from Morocco

Menezes Vunge, Newcomer to San Sebastian, Spain from Angola

THE POWER OF WOMEN IN EUROPEAN POLICY

18 March 2016

San Telmo Museum, San Sebastian

       

Izaskun Bilbao Barandica, Member of the European Parliament (Basque National Party, Spain)

Izaskun Bilbao Barandica is a Member of the European Parliament for Spain (2009-present), Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) Party.  From 1996 to 1998 she was the Director of services for the Basque Department of the Interior, and then held the same position in Culture. A member of the city council of Bermeo and interventora of the City Council of Cortézubi. Member of the Basque Nationalist Party, a deputy in the Basque Parliament since 1998. She was President of the Basque Parliament between 2005 and 2009, the first woman to preside over the Basque Chamber in 25 years. She received her law Degree from the University of Deusto.

Rosa Martínez Rodríguez, Diputada, Cortes Generales, Spain (Podemos)

Rosa Martínez Rodríguez is a Spanish ecologist and eco-feminist politician. She has coordinated educational projects related to collective memory, archaeological heritage and sustainability in the Aranzadi Science Society. Since November 2014 she is the co-spokeswoman of Equo. In 2015 she was elected diputada to the Cortes Generales of Spain from Vizcaya.

Amets Jauregizar Baraiazarra, Mayor, Bakio (EH Bildu)

Amets Jauregizar Baraiazarra, elected in 2015, is the mayor of Bakio, the first female to ever hold this office. In addition to having participated in different cultural and sporting associations, Amets has held various public offices. From 2007 to 2011 she was part of the ANV support group in the Bakio City Council, and a city council member since 2011.

TRANSATLANTIC TRADE AND INVESTMENT PARTNERSHIP (T-TIP)

28 April 2016

San Telmo Museum, San Sebastian

     

Miguel Ceballos Barón, Deputy Head of Cabinet, European Commission DG Trade

Laura González de Txabarri Etxaniz, Member of the Executive Committee of ELA Labour Union, Head of International Relations

EUROPE: FREEDOM TO OR FREEDOM FROM?

31 May 2016

San Telmo Museum, San Sebastian

                  

Eben Moglen, Founder, Director-Counsel and Chairman, Software Freedom Law Center, Professor of law and legal history at Columbia University

Jule Goikoetxea Mentxaka, Professor of Political Science at the University of the Basque Country

SPORT AND THE CREATION OF COLLECTIVE IDENTITIES

30 June 2016

San Telmo Museum, San Sebastian

Xabier Alonso, Professional Football player Bayern Munich

Maialen Chourraut, Olympic medalist, Canoe slalom

John Carlin, Journalist, Author

30 SEPTEMBER 2016

BREXIT

San Telmo Museum, San Sebastian

  

Sejal Parmar,  Lawyer, Professor, Central European University

David Gardner, Financial Times correspondent

27 OCTOBER 2016

THE EUROPEAN UNION AS A GLOBAL ACTOR: LOOKING EAST

San Telmo Museum, San Sebastian

         

Rula Amin, Al-Jazeera Correspondent (Lebanon)

Mario Esteban, Senior Researcher (Asia Pacific), Real Instituto Elcano

Nicolas de Pedro, Senior Researcher (Russia, Central Asia, India), Barcelona Centre for International Affairs CIDOB

8 NOVEMBER 2016

COSMOPOLITAN EUROPE: DEMOCRATIZING COMMON CHALLENGES

Azkuna Centre, Bilbao

        

Javier Solana, President of ESADE Center for Global Economy and Geopolitics. Former European Union High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy and Former Secretary General of NATO

Daniel Innerarity,  Professor of Political and Social Philosophy, IKERBASQUE Researcher, Director Globernance Institute for Democratic Governance

FREE SOFTWARE FOR YOUR PRIVACY AND  FOR THE CONTROL OF YOUR DATA

22 NOVEMBER 2016: Baluarte Convention Centre, Pamplona

24 NOVEMBER 2016: San Telmo Museum, San Sebastian

                

Richard Stallman, Software developer, Founder of the software freedom movement and the Free Software Foundation

Richard Matthew Stallman is a software developer and software freedom activist. Born in 1953, he attended Harvard starting in 1970 and graduated in 1974 with a Bachelor of Arts in physics. From September 1974 to June 1975 he was a graduate student in physics at MIT. He worked at the Artificial Intelligence Lab at MIT from 1971 to 1984, learning operating system development by doing it, except for the year he was a graduate student. He wrote the first extensible Emacs text editor there in 1976, and developed the AI technique of dependency-directed backtracking, also known as truth maintenance. In 1983 Stallman announced the project to develop the GNU operating system, a Unix-like operating system meant to be entirely free software, and has been the project’s leader ever since. With that announcement he also launched the Free Software Movement. Stallman began working on this project on January 5, 1984, resigning from MIT employment in order to do so. In October 1985 he started the Free Software Foundation, of which he is president as a full-time volunteer. Stallman developed a number of widely used software components of the GNU system: the GNU Compiler Collection, the GNU symbolic debugger (gdb), GNU Emacs, and various others. The GNU/Linux system, which is a variant of GNU that also contains the kernel Linux developed by Linus Torvalds, are used in tens or hundreds of millions of computers, and are now preinstalled in computers available in retail stores. However, the distributors of these systems often disregard the ideas of freedom which make free software important, and even include nonfree software in those systems.

 

15 DECEMBER 2016

END OF YEAR EVENT

DESIGNING THE EUROPEAN NARRATIVE THROUGH CREATIVITY

San Telmo Museum, San Sebastian

This event will be held in collaboration with the European Commission New Narrative for Europe Programme

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