Save the date: the 2026 edition of the Supranational Democracy Dialogue is going to happen on April 23-24!

The Supranational Democracy Dialogue is a recurring event, now organised by the Centre of Excellence EUmanity Demos of Università del Salento (Italy), together with the Association for Supranational Democracy. It is a two-day event – the only one of its kind – aimed at bringing together scholars from any background, activists, European and international officials, and innovative thinkers to discuss the most significant challenges facing humanity and how to address them democratically. In each session, panelists from different backgrounds interact with each other and engage the audience.

The event has gained traction over the years, being the only one focused on democratic governance beyond borders. The 2026 edition will be the 8th. Due to the current democratic regressions at the national level and the deep crisis of international law and multilateralism, we have decided to focus on education for democracy and the culture of democracy. 
While the current (many!) global issues and commons remain in the background and may be presented as case studies, the questions behind the 2026 call for papers are: 

Why are populist and antidemocratic leaders elected and supported? How are their messages amplified in the virtual space (and what could we do about it)?

Why this regression now? And – more importantly – does democracy need some kind of
rethinking or reshaping fit for the new millennium, to bring people back to politics and to
democracy? 

Whoever you are, if you are concerned about these topics and willing to contribute, you are very welcome to send an abstract and bionote, answering to the call for papers below, or just to travel to Brindisi, on April 23-24, to join the conversation!

Once again, the focus is on the European and global dimension, yet the local engagement remains at the very root of civic activism and democratic formulas – from consultations to citizens’ assemblies, from access to justice to political accountability – are often scalable.    

Over the years, a rich list of international public and private partners has supported this event, including the United Nations General Service Centre, Robert Triffin International, the Atlas movement, Democracy Without Borders, the Streit Council for a Union of Democracies, CesUE, and Euractiv.it, The Democracy School, the Italian Association of International Law Professors (SIDI) and the Association of Italian Experts of  European Law  (AISDUE). Among the partners, we are particularly grateful to the Maison Jean Monnet – European Parliament, in Paris, and to the Democracy and Culture Foundation, organizer of the Athens Democracy Forum.

The event is held in Brindisi, an ancient town historically at the crossroads of three continents – Europe, Africa, and Asia – and the seat of the United Nations General Service Centre (UNGSC) and the United Nations Humanitarian Response Depot (UNHRD).