OUR SUPPORTERS

Under the auspices of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Ms Marija Pejčinović Burić


Under the patronage of the European Commission Vice-President for Democracy & Demography,
Ms Dubravka Šuica


Under the patronage of the Mayor of Warsaw, Mr Rafał Trzaskowski
OUR SPEAKERS

The great finalists of the Innovation in Politics Awards 2023

Birgitta Ohlsson
Director for Political Parties
National Democratic Institute
USA

Eamon Gilmore
EU Special Representative for Human Rights
Ireland

Pepijn van Dijk
Executive Director
VVD7b>
Netherlands

Carla Semedo
Executive Councillor
Health, Social Affairs and Human Rights
Portugal

Louise Pettersson
Project Manager
Centerpartiet
Sweden

Wietse Van Ransbeeck
Co-Founder and CEO
CitizenLab
Belgium

Arnaud Pinxteren
Alderman
The Young Child, Citizen Participation and Urban Renewal
Belgium

Adrien Duguet
President
Association Civic Tech Europe (ACTE)
France

Jacob Gyldenkærne
CEO and Founder
Assembly Voting
Denmark

Courteney Mukoyi
Founder & Director
Justice Code Foundation
Zimbabwe

Juliana Sakai
Executive Director
Transparência Brasil
Brasil

Dovydas Kaminkas
Mayor of Taurage district municipality
Lithuania

Beata Klimek
Mayor of Ostrów Wielpolski
Poland

Marij Preneel
District Mayor, Borgerhout-Antwerpen
Belgium

Ulrich Hoerning
Deputy Mayor of Leipzig
Germany

Arnau Monterde
Director of Democratic Innovation at Barcelona City Council - Coordinator of Decidim Project, Barcelona (ES)
Spain

Benedicta Lasi
Secretary-General
Socialist International
Ghana

José Manuel Ribeiro
Mayor of Valongo
Portugal

Tim Gordon
Co-Founder of Best Practice AI
Great Britain

Dagmar Monett
Professor of Computer Science at the Berlin School of Economics and Law
Germany

Nikolaos Zenetos
Mayor of Ilion Municipality
GREECE

Sam van der Staak
Director of IDEA's Regional Europe Programme
The Netherlands

Van Doan
Senior Executive at Decision 21
Czech Republic

Matt Stempeck
Curator, Civic Tech Field Guide
USA

Pepijn van Dijk
Executive Director
VVD
Netherlands
Pepijn van Dijk is an entrepreneur by character and an optimist at heart. He currently serves as the director of the Dutch People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD). He is also a board member with CarbonFix, supporting promising climate innovations.
14:00
The future of political parties

Carla Semedo
Executive Councillor
Health, Social Affairs and Human Rights
Portugal
Carla has extensive experience in volunteering, consultancy and working together with civil society and social sector, with her work and passion being centered around health, social solidarity, equity and social cohesion. She became a member of the Champagnat Foundation in 2014, and in February 2021, Carla joined the Cascais Municipal Council to work on the Vida Cascais project which makes it easier to access social rights. Later on, Carla was elected Councilwoman in the Cascais City Council.
14:00
Digital Participation in Cities – Possibilities & Limitations

Louise Pettersson
Project Manager
Centerpartiet
Denmark
Louise Pettersson is a Project Manager for the Swedish Centerpartiet and focuses on organisational development. Her previous roles include Campaign Management and Communications.
14:00
The future of political parties

Wietse Van Ransbeeck
Co-Founder and CEO
CitizenLab
Belgium
Wietse Van Ransbeeck is passionate about participation in democracy and working towards making governments more inclusive and responsive. As such, in 2015, Wietse Co-founded CitizenLab, a technologically innovative platform that increases democratic participation and public decision-making. In 2028, he was recognised in Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe.
14:00
Democracy Technologies Circle

Arnaud Pinxteren
Alderman
the Young Child, Citizen Participation and Urban Renewal
Belgium
Arnaud’s background is in Economics, Research and Politics, with passion for the Environment. Prior to his appointment as Alderman of the Young Child, Citizen Participation and Urban Renewal, and the 5th candidate on the Ecolo-Groen list for the City of Brussels in 2018, Arnaud was a researcher at the CORE (UCL), a political advisor in Brussels and has been a member of the Brussels Parliament since 2009 where he works on the Environment, Territorial Development and Infrastructure Committees.
14:00
Digital Participation in Cities – Possibilities & Limitations

Adrien Duguet
President
Association Civic Tech Europe (ACTE)
France
In 2022, Adrien Duguet was elected the President of Association Civic Tech Europe (ACTE), an organisation that works on finding solutions for the challenges democracy faces. To do so, ACTE was founded in 2019 to represent civic techs at the European level. ACTE empowers citizens by making use of ethical technologies to increase participation. Adrien Duguet is also the Co-Founder of Citipo, a platform that supports activist organisations grow.
14:00
Democracy Technologies Circle

Jacob Gyldenkærne
CEO and Founder
Assembly Voting
Denmark
Jacob Gyldenkærne is the CEO and Founder of Assembly Voting, a Danish company providing advanced voting software which documents and proves the integrity of democratic processes in public and private elections. Since the start-up in 2001, more than 42 Million voters in 7400 election events have trusted Assembly Voting's platform and services to handle key democratic processes in societies and member-based organisations around the world.
14:00
Democracy Technologies Circle

Birgitta Ohlsson
Director for Political Parties
National Democratic Institute
USA
Birgitta Ohlsson serves as the National Democratic Institute’s director of political parties. She has over twenty years of experience as a leader at the national level in political parties, leadership, feminism, civil society and foreign policy, among which member of the Swedish Parliament (2002-2018), Swedish Minister for European Affairs and Democracy issues (2010 - 2014) and President of the women´s wing of the Liberal Party (2007-2010).
Keynote @Gala

Courteney Mukoyi
Founder & Director
Justice Code Foundation
Zimbabwe
lawyer, innovator, Founder and Director of Justice Code Foundation- a CivicTech organization based in Zimbabwe using technology to enhance democracy. He is the winner of the 2022 Council of Europe, Democracy Innovation Award.

Juliana Sakai
Executive Director
Transparência Brasil
Brasil
Juliana Sakai is the executive director at Transparência Brasil, where she has been working for ten years. Sakai has an MA in Public Economics, Law, and Politics from Leuphana Universität Lüneburg and a BA in International Relations from the University of São Paulo. She also contributed to Transparency International and UNDP Timor Leste.

Dovydas Kaminkas
Mayor of Taurage district municipality
Lithuania
D.Kaminkas is the mayor of the Tauragė district municipality. He holds a Master of International Law from the University of Copenhagen and in 2017 D. Kaminskas was awarded the Global Lithuania Award for International Experience in Lithuanian Regions, which was presented by the President of the Republic of Lithuania. D. Kaminskas actively participates in community and social activities: he is a member of Tauragė district and city local action groups, the Tauragė’s youth organisation union “Tauragė round table”, the Baltic city union board “Lithuanian Riflemen’s Union”, and he gives motivational lectures for Tauragė’s youth.
15:00
How to translate best practices into local reality?

Beata Klimek
Mayor of Ostrów Wielpolski
Poland
Since 2014 Beata Klimek has been the Mayor of Ostrów Wielkopolski. Since 2015, she has been a member of the Team for Functional Metropolitan and Urban Areas as part of the Joint Commission of the Government and Local Government and the Smart City Forum’s Program Council. Beta Klimek focuses primarily on developing pro- family policy and on acquiring external funds for investments. Equally important for her is environmental protection.
She is the founder of the municipal maternity grant “miejskie becikowe”, introduced in 2015 in Ostrów Wielkopolski. She also launched the Senior Citizen Card and the Participatory Budget. She is among the best polish cities mayors in the N15 ranking published in 2017, 2019 and 2021 by “Newsweek”. In 2021, “for managing the city in the spirit of sustainable development and implementing activities for the development of local government in Poland" she received Złoty Klucz / the Gold Key/, a prestigious award of the magazine "Wprost”. In 2022, she took the 1st place in the ranking “Perły Samorządu” / Pearls of local government/ organised by “Dziennik Gazeta Prawna”, in the category of the mayor of the cities up to 100 000 of residents.
15:00
How to translate best practices into local reality?

Marij Preneel
District Mayor, Borgerhout-Antwerpen
Belgium
Marij Preneel (1971) studied Contemporary History at the University of Leuven. Since 2010, she has been alderman and mayor in Borgerhout, district of Antwerp. Borgerhout is very densely populated and has 45 000 inhabitants with 115 nationalities. Participation is a focal point of the district council.
15:00
How to translate best practices into local reality?

Ulrich Hoerning
Deputy Mayor of Leipzig
Germany
Ulrich Hoerning is the Deputy Mayor for General Services at the City of Leipzig, Germany (pop. 620k). In his role, he is responsible for the operation and modernization of core administrative processes as well as the HR, legal and information technology functions. Across all these functions, deputy mayor Hoerning translates the city’s commitment to democracy and the rule of law into daily operations. In previous public sector positions, Mr. Hoerning worked was a senior economist at the World Bank in Washington, lead a comprehensive administrative reform project at the City of Mannheim and served as a strategy officer at the Federal Ministry of Finance in Berlin. As a project manager with strategy consulting firm Booz & Company, he led projects for private and public sector clients alike in Europe and Asia. Mr. Hoerning holds a diploma in economics from the University of Tübingen (Germany), a certificate from the Institut d'Etudes Politiques in Paris and a Masters degree from Harvard Kennedy School.
15:00
Local leadership-How to translate best practices into local reality?

Arnau Monterde
Director of Democratic Innovation at Barcelona City Council - Coordinator of Decidim Project, Barcelona (ES)
Spain
Arnau Monterde is Director of Democratic Innovation at Barcelona City Council. He is responsible for the participatory platform decidim.barcelona and one of the co-founders of the decidim.org project. He is also responsible for Canodrom, the Barcelona Centre for Digital and Democratic Innovation, a public innovation and research laboratory working at the intersection between technology, democracy and society. He has coordinated the tecnopolitica.net project at the Internet Interdisciplinary Institute (IN3-UOC). He participates in several programmes and projects on digital rights, technological sovereignty, open source and democratisation of the network society. He holds a PhD in Information and Knowledge Society from the Open University of Catalonia.
14:00
Digital Participation in Cities - Possibilities & Limitations

Benedicta Lasi
Secretary-General
Socialist International
Ghana
Benedicta Lasi is a Ghanaian Lawyer and political leader of the National Democratic Congress of Ghana.
Benedicta Lasi had her Bachelor’s Degree at the University of Ghana, where she studied Political Science and Sociology. She pursued a Master's Degree in International Conflict, Peace, and Security at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre and later pursued her law degree at the University of Ghana and the Ghana School of Law where she earned her professional law practice certificate. Benedicta Lasi also holds another Master’s degree in Economic Policy Management from the University of Ghana, where her research work focused on ‘Africa-European Union Trade and Development Cooperation’.
Benedicta Lasi has a diverse background in law, politics, and impact investing on the African continent. In politics, she was a member of the National Manifesto Committee of the National Democratic Congress for the 2020 General elections in Ghana and has served on several national policy committees including the governance, youth, energy, and legal committees. She also served as a Vice President of the International Union of Socialist Youth and Coordinator of the Africa Committee.
Benedicta Lasi has co-founded a number of non-government organizations including Noble Law Group - a Law and Public Policy think tank, African Leadership Society, and African Trade Chamber.
Benedicta Lasi was recently elected as the Secretary-General of the Socialist International making her the first African, first woman, and youngest person to serve as Secretary-General of the organization.
14:00
The future of Political Parties

José Manuel Ribeiro
Mayor of Valongo
Portugal
José Manuel Ribeiro, Mayor of Valongo since 2013. He has a degree in International
Relations, with an MBA in Business Administration and is a senior member of the
Portuguese Trade and Investment Agency. He is also, among others, a Member of the
European Committee of the Regions; Member of the Political Board of the Covenant of
Mayors for Climate & Energy, President of Board of LIPOR - Municipalities Association
for Sustainable Waste Management of Greater Porto; President of the Portuguese
Network of Participatory Municipalities; Member of the General Council of the National
Association of Portuguese Municipalities; Policy Advisor of the United Cities and Local
Governments (UCLG). During the X (2006-2007) and XI Legislatures (2009-2011), he
was a Member of the National Parliament, Consumer National Ombudsman between
2006 and 2009, and member of several Regulators Consultative Bodies.
José Manuel Ribeiro is a strong advocate of active citizenship and democratic values.
Committed to building a plural society in which all citizens take part in the creation of
solutions for the problems that affect their lives and the communities in which they live,
he is a leading force in the implementation of varied and transversal municipal
initiatives that promote active participation of citizens.
10:15
Exchange with the Awards Finalists: Democracy Technologies

Tim Gordon
Co-Founder of Best Practice AI
Great Britain
Tim Gordon has more than 25 years of experience in international leadership, in business, NGOs, media and politics. He has held positions at The Financial Times, European Directories and The Boston Consulting Group. He was Chief Executive of the Liberal Democrats and adviser to the Deputy Prime Minister of the UK. In 2018, Tim Gordon co-founded Best Practice AI, an organisation that advices on AI strategy and governance.
15:00
Can Artificial Intelligence replace politicians?

Dagmar Monett
Professor of Computer Science at the Berlin School of Economics and Law
Germany
Dagmar Monett is Professor of Computer Science at the Berlin School of Economics and Law (HWR Berlin), Director of the Computer Science Dept. (April/2022–), Co-Director of the Master's study programme Digital Transformation (December/2020–), and Co-Founding Member of the Institute for Data-Driven Digital Transformation (d-cube). She is also a Mentor at the Startup Incubator Berlin; Co-founder of the AGI Sentinel Initiative, AGISI.org; AI expert at several international initiatives; Board member of the Berlin Federation of Professors, hlb LV Berlin e. V.; and professional member of the ACM, Association for Computing Machinery. With over 33 years of research and teaching experience in different countries, her current research fields include AI, AI ethics, software engineering, and computer science education, among others.
15:00
Can Artificial Intelligence replace politicians?

Nikolaos Zenetos
Mayor of Ilion Municipality
GREECE
Nikolaos Zenetos has been serving as Mayor of Ilion Municipality since 2006. He has more than 30 years of experience in Local Governance in high-ranking positions, having an active participation in political and social struggles.
He was born and raised in Kalyvakia, a very small Greek village of Gortynia, Arcadia in Peloponnese. He left his birthplace at a young age to work as an entrepreneur in electronics sector and become founder of an Electronic Applications Business Group specializing in the fields of R&D and production of IT products.
Currently, he is the Mayor of Ilion Municipality, Vice-President of the Development Association of Western Athens (ASDA) and member of the Institutions and Transparency Committee of the Central Union of Municipalities of Greece.
As the Mayor of Ilion Municipality, he firmly believes that in order to be efficient and respond to its mission, a municipality should function with transparency in economic management, public consultation and respect for the democratic principles. As he points out, "The economic, healthcare and energy crisis combined have changed our priorities. In order to support the vulnerable social groups, we have given more emphasis to social policy and our actions focus on the people and their needs. Thus, to better serve our citizens we should be them who wake up the city in the morning and put it to sleep at night. Only then we can rest for a while, though even then, the city still lingers in our dreams.”
11:00
Exchange with Awards Finalists: Education

Sam van der Staak
Director of IDEA's Regional Europe Programme
The Netherlands
Sam van der Staak is Director for Europe at the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA). His work focuses on supporting democratic developments in Europe, with a special emphasis on the topics of political parties, money in politics, and ICT in democracy. Van der Staak manages International IDEA's Regional Europe Programme, in which capacity he also leads International IDEA’s representation to the European Union in Brussels. Samhas been involved in International IDEA publications on Cybersecurity in elections, Citizen movements, Money in politics, and Political party dialogue. He makes regular media contributions on the state of democracy in Europe.
14:00
Democracy Technologies Circle

Eamon Gilmore
EU Special Representative for Human Rights
Ireland
Eamon Gilmore is the European Union’s Special Representative for Human Rights and the EU Special Envoy for the Colombian Peace Process. He was Ireland’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade from 2011 until July 2014. During this time, Eamon Gilmore led Ireland’s successful Presidency of the European Union, was President of the EU’s General Affairs Council, Chairperson-in-Office of the OSCE and managed the Northern Ireland Peace Process on behalf of the Irish Government with responsibility for implementation of the Good Friday Agreement. He is the recipient of the 2017 Innovation in Politics Award for his role in Ireland's Marriage Equality Referendum, which approved same-sex marriage, and for his idea in 2010 to establish the Constitutional Convention (later the Citizen's Assembly), which recommended the holding of the referendum.
13:00
Saving Democracy - for real

Van Doan
Senior Executive at Decision 21
Czech Republic
Van Doan is a senior executive at Decision 21, a Prague based company that helps municipalities across the globe to engage their citizens in policy-making. With a wealth of experience in citizen engagement, she has led the world's largest participatory budget project in New York City, school participation in Central Europe, and many more.
11:00
Winning Hearts, Minds and Votes

Matt Stempeck
EU Curator, Civic Tech Field Guide
USA
Matt Stempeck curates the Civic Tech Field Guide, the most comprehensive collection of democracy tech projects in the world. He's also Technologist in Residence at Cornell Tech, where he organizes the Siegel PiTech Impact Fellowship, embedding highly technical PhD students with public interest organizations across sectors.
In 2016, Matt led the Digital Mobilization team at Hillary for America, which included running the campaign’s organizing, registration, and messaging technologies and programs. Matt also served as Director of Civic Technology at Microsoft in New York City, establishing strategic partnerships and re-orienting the company's public sector efforts for the participatory era.
Matt became / earned a Master of Science at the MIT Media Lab’s Center for Civic Media. While at the Media Lab, he quantified global media attention to stories like Trayvon Martin’s, designed a peer-to-peer humanitarian aid marketplace, and built an award-winning product to fight misinformation online way back in 2013. Matt also holds a Bachelor of Arts with high honors from the University of Maryland College Park, where he wrote his undergraduate thesis on the disruption participatory media brought to political journalism.
11:00
Winning Hearts, Minds and Votes

The great finalists of the Innovation in Politics Awards 2023

Birgitta Ohlsson
Director for Political Parties
National Democratic Institute
USA

Eamon Gilmore
EU Special Representative for Human Rights
Ireland

Pepijn van Dijk
Executive Director
VVD
Netherlands

Carla Semedo
Executive Councillor
Health, Social Affairs and Human Rights
Portugal

Louise Pettersson
Project Manager
Centerpartiet
Sweden

Wietse Van Ransbeeck
Co-Founder and CEO
CitizenLab
Belgium

Arnaud Pinxteren
Alderman
The Young Child, Citizen Participation and Urban Renewal
Belgium

Adrien Duguet
President
Association Civic Tech Europe (ACTE)
France

Jacob Gyldenkærne
CEO and Founder
Assembly Voting
Denmark

Courteney Mukoyi
Founder & Director
Justice Code Foundation
Zimbabwe

Juliana Sakai
Executive Director
Transparência Brasil
Brasil

Dovydas Kaminkas
Mayor of Taurage district municipality
Lithuania

Beata Klimek
Mayor of Ostrów Wielpolski
Poland

Marij Preneel
District Mayor, Borgerhout-Antwerpen
Belgium

Ulrich Hoerning
Deputy Mayor of Leipzig
Germany

Arnau Monterde
Director of Democratic Innovation at Barcelona City Council - Coordinator of Decidim Project, Barcelona (ES)
Spain

Benedicta Lasi
Secretary-General
Socialist International
Ghana

José Manuel Ribeiro
Mayor of Valongo
Portugal

Tim Gordon
Co-Founder of Best Practice AI
United Kingdom

Dagmar Monett
Professor of Computer Science at the Berlin School of Economics and Law
Germany

Nikolaos Zenetos
Mayor of Ilion Municipality
Greece

Sam van der Staak
Director of IDEA's Regional Europe Programme
The Netherlands

Van Doan
Senior Executive at Decision 21
Czech Republic

Matt Stempeck
Curator, Civic Tech Field Guide
USA

Pepijn van Dijk
Executive Director
VVD
Netherlands
Pepijn van Dijk is an entrepreneur by character and an optimist at heart. He currently serves as the director of the Dutch People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD). He is also a board member with CarbonFix, supporting promising climate innovations.
14:00
The future of political parties

Carla Semedo
Executive Councillor
Health, Social Affairs and Human Rights
Portugal
Carla has extensive experience in volunteering, consultancy and working together with civil society and social sector, with her work and passion being centered around health, social solidarity, equity and social cohesion. She became a member of the Champagnat Foundation in 2014, and in February 2021, Carla joined the Cascais Municipal Council to work on the Vida Cascais project which makes it easier to access social rights. Later on, Carla was elected Councilwoman in the Cascais City Council.
14:00
Digital Participation in Cities – Possibilities & Limitations

Louise Pettersson
Project Manager
Centerpartiet
Sweden
Louise Pettersson is a Project Manager for the Swedish Centerpartiet and focuses on organisational development. Her previous roles include Campaign Management and Communications.
14:00
The future of political parties

Wietse Van Ransbeeck
Co-Founder and CEO
CitizenLab
Belgium
Wietse Van Ransbeeck is passionate about participation in democracy and working towards making governments more inclusive and responsive. As such, in 2015, Wietse Co-founded CitizenLab, a technologically innovative platform that increases democratic participation and public decision-making. In 2028, he was recognised in Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe.
14:00
Democracy Technologies Circle

Arnaud Pinxteren
Alderman
the Young Child, Citizen Participation and Urban Renewal
Belgium
Arnaud’s background is in Economics, Research and Politics, with passion for the Environment. Prior to his appointment as Alderman of the Young Child, Citizen Participation and Urban Renewal, and the 5th candidate on the Ecolo-Groen list for the City of Brussels in 2018, Arnaud was a researcher at the CORE (UCL), a political advisor in Brussels and has been a member of the Brussels Parliament since 2009 where he works on the Environment, Territorial Development and Infrastructure Committees.
14:00
Digital Participation in Cities – Possibilities & Limitations

Adrien Duguet
President
Association Civic Tech Europe (ACTE)
France
In 2022, Adrien Duguet was elected the President of Association Civic Tech Europe (ACTE), an organisation that works on finding solutions for the challenges democracy faces. To do so, ACTE was founded in 2019 to represent civic techs at the European level. ACTE empowers citizens by making use of ethical technologies to increase participation. Adrien Duguet is also the Co-Founder of Citipo, a platform that supports activist organisations grow.
14:00
Democracy Technologies Circle

Jacob Gyldenkærne
CEO and Founder
Assembly Voting
Denmark
Jacob Gyldenkærne is the CEO and Founder of Assembly Voting, a Danish company providing advanced voting software which documents and proves the integrity of democratic processes in public and private elections. Since the start-up in 2001, more than 42 Million voters in 7400 election events have trusted Assembly Voting's platform and services to handle key democratic processes in societies and member-based organisations around the world.
14:00
Democracy Technologies Circle

Birgitta Ohlsson
Director for Political Parties
National Democratic Institute
USA
Birgitta Ohlsson serves as the National Democratic Institute’s director of political parties. She has over twenty years of experience as a leader at the national level in political parties, leadership, feminism, civil society and foreign policy, among which member of the Swedish Parliament (2002-2018), Swedish Minister for European Affairs and Democracy issues (2010 - 2014) and President of the women´s wing of the Liberal Party (2007-2010).
Keynote @Gala

Courteney Mukoyi
Founder & Director
Justice Code Foundation
Zimbabwe
lawyer, innovator, Founder and Director of Justice Code Foundation- a CivicTech organization based in Zimbabwe using technology to enhance democracy. He is the winner of the 2022 Council of Europe, Democracy Innovation Award.
13:00
Saving Democracy - for real

Juliana Sakai
Executive Director
Transparência Brasil
Brasil
Juliana Sakai is the executive director at Transparência Brasil, where she has been working for ten years. Sakai has an MA in Public Economics, Law, and Politics from Leuphana Universität Lüneburg and a BA in International Relations from the University of São Paulo. She also contributed to Transparency International and UNDP Timor Leste.

Dovydas Kaminkas
Mayor of Taurage district municipality
Lithuania
D.Kaminkas is the mayor of the Tauragė district municipality. He holds a Master of International Law from the University of Copenhagen and in 2017 D. Kaminskas was awarded the Global Lithuania Award for International Experience in Lithuanian Regions, which was presented by the President of the Republic of Lithuania. D. Kaminskas actively participates in community and social activities: he is a member of Tauragė district and city local action groups, the Tauragė’s youth organisation union “Tauragė round table”, the Baltic city union board “Lithuanian Riflemen’s Union”, and he gives motivational lectures for Tauragė’s youth.
15:00
Local leadership-How to translate best practices into local reality?

Beata Klimek
Mayor of Ostrów Wielpolski
Poland
Since 2014 Beata Klimek has been the Mayor of Ostrów Wielkopolski. Since 2015, she has been a member of the Team for Functional Metropolitan and Urban Areas as part of the Joint Commission of the Government and Local Government and the Smart City Forum’s Program Council. Beta Klimek focuses primarily on developing pro- family policy and on acquiring external funds for investments. Equally important for her is environmental protection.
She is the founder of the municipal maternity grant “miejskie becikowe”, introduced in 2015 in Ostrów Wielkopolski. She also launched the Senior Citizen Card and the Participatory Budget. She is among the best polish cities mayors in the N15 ranking published in 2017, 2019 and 2021 by “Newsweek”. In 2021, “for managing the city in the spirit of sustainable development and implementing activities for the development of local government in Poland" she received Złoty Klucz / the Gold Key/, a prestigious award of the magazine "Wprost”. In 2022, she took the 1st place in the ranking “Perły Samorządu” / Pearls of local government/ organised by “Dziennik Gazeta Prawna”, in the category of the mayor of the cities up to 100 000 of residents.
15:00
Local leadership-How to translate best practices into local reality?

Marij Preneel
District Mayor, Borgerhout-Antwerpen
Belgium
Marij Preneel (1971) studied Contemporary History at the University of Leuven. Since 2010, she has been alderman and mayor in Borgerhout, district of Antwerp. Borgerhout is very densely populated and has 45 000 inhabitants with 115 nationalities. Participation is a focal point of the district council.
15:00
Local leadership-How to translate best practices into local reality?

Ulrich Hoerning
Deputy Mayor of Leipzig
Germany
Ulrich Hoerning is the Deputy Mayor for General Services at the City of Leipzig, Germany (pop. 620k). In his role, he is responsible for the operation and modernization of core administrative processes as well as the HR, legal and information technology functions. Across all these functions, deputy mayor Hoerning translates the city’s commitment to democracy and the rule of law into daily operations. In previous public sector positions, Mr. Hoerning worked was a senior economist at the World Bank in Washington, lead a comprehensive administrative reform project at the City of Mannheim and served as a strategy officer at the Federal Ministry of Finance in Berlin. As a project manager with strategy consulting firm Booz & Company, he led projects for private and public sector clients alike in Europe and Asia. Mr. Hoerning holds a diploma in economics from the University of Tübingen (Germany), a certificate from the Institut d'Etudes Politiques in Paris and a Masters degree from Harvard Kennedy School.
15:00
Local leadership-How to translate best practices into local reality?

Arnau Monterde
Director of Democratic Innovation at Barcelona City Council - Coordinator of Decidim Project, Barcelona (ES)
Spain
Arnau Monterde is Director of Democratic Innovation at Barcelona City Council. He is responsible for the participatory platform decidim.barcelona and one of the co-founders of the decidim.org project. He is also responsible for Canodrom, the Barcelona Centre for Digital and Democratic Innovation, a public innovation and research laboratory working at the intersection between technology, democracy and society. He has coordinated the tecnopolitica.net project at the Internet Interdisciplinary Institute (IN3-UOC). He participates in several programmes and projects on digital rights, technological sovereignty, open source and democratisation of the network society. He holds a PhD in Information and Knowledge Society from the Open University of Catalonia.
14:00
Digital Participation in Cities - Possibilities & Limitations

Benedicta Lasi
Secretary-General
Socialist International
Ghana
Benedicta Lasi is a Ghanaian Lawyer and political leader of the National Democratic Congress of Ghana.
Benedicta Lasi had her Bachelor’s Degree at the University of Ghana, where she studied Political Science and Sociology. She pursued a Master's Degree in International Conflict, Peace, and Security at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre and later pursued her law degree at the University of Ghana and the Ghana School of Law where she earned her professional law practice certificate. Benedicta Lasi also holds another Master’s degree in Economic Policy Management from the University of Ghana, where her research work focused on ‘Africa-European Union Trade and Development Cooperation’.
Benedicta Lasi has a diverse background in law, politics, and impact investing on the African continent. In politics, she was a member of the National Manifesto Committee of the National Democratic Congress for the 2020 General elections in Ghana and has served on several national policy committees including the governance, youth, energy, and legal committees. She also served as a Vice President of the International Union of Socialist Youth and Coordinator of the Africa Committee.
Benedicta Lasi has co-founded a number of non-government organizations including Noble Law Group - a Law and Public Policy think tank, African Leadership Society, and African Trade Chamber.
Benedicta Lasi was recently elected as the Secretary-General of the Socialist International making her the first African, first woman, and youngest person to serve as Secretary-General of the organization.
14:00
The future of Political Parties

José Manuel Ribeiro
Mayor of Valongo
Portugal
José Manuel Ribeiro, Mayor of Valongo since 2013. He has a degree in International
Relations, with an MBA in Business Administration and is a senior member of the
Portuguese Trade and Investment Agency. He is also, among others, a Member of the
European Committee of the Regions; Member of the Political Board of the Covenant of
Mayors for Climate & Energy, President of Board of LIPOR - Municipalities Association
for Sustainable Waste Management of Greater Porto; President of the Portuguese
Network of Participatory Municipalities; Member of the General Council of the National
Association of Portuguese Municipalities; Policy Advisor of the United Cities and Local
Governments (UCLG). During the X (2006-2007) and XI Legislatures (2009-2011), he
was a Member of the National Parliament, Consumer National Ombudsman between
2006 and 2009, and member of several Regulators Consultative Bodies.
José Manuel Ribeiro is a strong advocate of active citizenship and democratic values.
Committed to building a plural society in which all citizens take part in the creation of
solutions for the problems that affect their lives and the communities in which they live,
he is a leading force in the implementation of varied and transversal municipal
initiatives that promote active participation of citizens.
10:15
Exchange with the Awards Finalists: Democracy Technologies

Tim Gordon
Co-Founder of Best Practice AI
United Kingdom
Tim Gordon has more than 25 years of experience in international leadership, in business, NGOs, media and politics. He has held positions at The Financial Times, European Directories and The Boston Consulting Group. He was Chief Executive of the Liberal Democrats and adviser to the Deputy Prime Minister of the UK. In 2018, Tim Gordon co-founded Best Practice AI, an organisation that advices on AI strategy and governance.
15:00
Can Artificial Intelligence replace politicians?

Dagmar Monett
Professor of Computer Science at the Berlin School of Economics and Law
Germany
Dagmar Monett is Professor of Computer Science at the Berlin School of Economics and Law (HWR Berlin), Director of the Computer Science Dept. (April/2022–), Co-Director of the Master's study programme Digital Transformation (December/2020–), and Co-Founding Member of the Institute for Data-Driven Digital Transformation (d-cube). She is also a Mentor at the Startup Incubator Berlin; Co-founder of the AGI Sentinel Initiative, AGISI.org; AI expert at several international initiatives; Board member of the Berlin Federation of Professors, hlb LV Berlin e. V.; and professional member of the ACM, Association for Computing Machinery. With over 33 years of research and teaching experience in different countries, her current research fields include AI, AI ethics, software engineering, and computer science education, among others.
15:00
Can Artificial Intelligence replace politicians?

Nikolaos Zenetos
Mayor of Ilion Municipality
GREECE
Nikolaos Zenetos has been serving as Mayor of Ilion Municipality since 2006. He has more than 30 years of experience in Local Governance in high-ranking positions, having an active participation in political and social struggles.
He was born and raised in Kalyvakia, a very small Greek village of Gortynia, Arcadia in Peloponnese. He left his birthplace at a young age to work as an entrepreneur in electronics sector and become founder of an Electronic Applications Business Group specializing in the fields of R&D and production of IT products.
Currently, he is the Mayor of Ilion Municipality, Vice-President of the Development Association of Western Athens (ASDA) and member of the Institutions and Transparency Committee of the Central Union of Municipalities of Greece.
As the Mayor of Ilion Municipality, he firmly believes that in order to be efficient and respond to its mission, a municipality should function with transparency in economic management, public consultation and respect for the democratic principles. As he points out, "The economic, healthcare and energy crisis combined have changed our priorities. In order to support the vulnerable social groups, we have given more emphasis to social policy and our actions focus on the people and their needs. Thus, to better serve our citizens we should be them who wake up the city in the morning and put it to sleep at night. Only then we can rest for a while, though even then, the city still lingers in our dreams.”
11:00
Exchange with Awards Finalists: Education

Sam van der Staak
Director of IDEA's Regional Europe Programme
The Netherlands
Sam van der Staak is Director for Europe at the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA). His work focuses on supporting democratic developments in Europe, with a special emphasis on the topics of political parties, money in politics, and ICT in democracy. Van der Staak manages International IDEA's Regional Europe Programme, in which capacity he also leads International IDEA’s representation to the European Union in Brussels. Samhas been involved in International IDEA publications on Cybersecurity in elections, Citizen movements, Money in politics, and Political party dialogue. He makes regular media contributions on the state of democracy in Europe.
14:00
Democracy Technologies Circle

Eamon Gilmore
EU Special Representative for Human Rights
Ireland
Eamon Gilmore is the European Union’s Special Representative for Human Rights and the EU Special Envoy for the Colombian Peace Process. He was Ireland’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade from 2011 until July 2014. During this time, Eamon Gilmore led Ireland’s successful Presidency of the European Union, was President of the EU’s General Affairs Council, Chairperson-in-Office of the OSCE and managed the Northern Ireland Peace Process on behalf of the Irish Government with responsibility for implementation of the Good Friday Agreement. He is the recipient of the 2017 Innovation in Politics Award for his role in Ireland's Marriage Equality Referendum, which approved same-sex marriage, and for his idea in 2010 to establish the Constitutional Convention (later the Citizen's Assembly), which recommended the holding of the referendum.
13:00
Saving Democracy - for real

Van Doan
Senior Executive at Decision 21
Czech Republic
Van Doan is a senior executive at Decision 21, a Prague based company that helps municipalities across the globe to engage their citizens in policy-making. With a wealth of experience in citizen engagement, she has led the world's largest participatory budget project in New York City, school participation in Central Europe, and many more.
11:00
Winning Hearts, Minds and Votes

Matt Stempeck
EU Curator, Civic Tech Field Guide
USA
Matt Stempeck curates the Civic Tech Field Guide, the most comprehensive collection of democracy tech projects in the world. He's also Technologist in Residence at Cornell Tech, where he organizes the Siegel PiTech Impact Fellowship, embedding highly technical PhD students with public interest organizations across sectors.
In 2016, Matt led the Digital Mobilization team at Hillary for America, which included running the campaign’s organizing, registration, and messaging technologies and programs. Matt also served as Director of Civic Technology at Microsoft in New York City, establishing strategic partnerships and re-orienting the company's public sector efforts for the participatory era.
Matt became / earned a Master of Science at the MIT Media Lab’s Center for Civic Media. While at the Media Lab, he quantified global media attention to stories like Trayvon Martin’s, designed a peer-to-peer humanitarian aid marketplace, and built an award-winning product to fight misinformation online way back in 2013. Matt also holds a Bachelor of Arts with high honors from the University of Maryland College Park, where he wrote his undergraduate thesis on the disruption participatory media brought to political journalism.
11:00
Winning Hearts, Minds and Votes
All Speakers
Pepijn van Dijk
Executive Director
VVD
Netherlands
Carla Semedo
Executive Councillor
Health, Social Affairs and Human Rights
Portugal
Louise Pettersson
Project Manager
Centerpartiet
Sweden
Wietse Van Ransbeeck
Co-Founder and CEO
CitizenLab
Belgium
Arnaud Pinxteren
Alderman
The Young Child, Citizen
Participation and Urban Renewal
Belgium
Adrien Duguet
President
Association Civic Tech Europe (ACTE)
France
Jacob Gyldenkærne
CEO and Founder
Assembly Voting
Denmark
Birgitta Ohlsson
Director
Political Parties National
Democratic Institute
USA
Courteney Mukoyi
Founder & Director
Justice Code Foundation
Zimbabwe
Juliana Sakai
Executive Director
Transparência Brasil
Brasil
Dovydas Kaminkas
Mayor of Taurage district municipality
Lithuania
Beata Klimek
Mayor of Ostrów Wielpolski
Poland
Marij Preneel
District Mayor, Borgerhout-Antwerpen
Belgium
Ulrich Hoerning
Deputy Mayor of Leipzig
Germany
ARNAU MONTERDE
Director of Democratic Innovation at
Barcelona City Council - Coordinator
of Decidim Project, Barcelona (ES)
Spain
BENEDICTA LASI
Secretary-General Socialist International
Ghana
José Manuel Ribeiro
Mayor of Valongo
Portugal
Tim Gordon
Co-Founder of Best Practice AI
United Kingdom
Dagmar Monett
Professor of Computer Science at
the Berlin School of Economics and Law
Germany
Nikolaos Zenetos
Mayor of Ilion Municipality
Greece
Sam van der Staak
Director of IDEA's Regional Europe Programme
The Netherlands
Eamon Gilmore
EU Special Representative for Human Rights
Ireland
Van Doan
Senior Executive at Decision 21
Czech Republic
Matt Stempeck
Curator, Civic Tech Field Guide
USA

About the Innovation in Politics Awards
The annual Innovation in Politics Awards recognise creative politicians from across Europe who are breaking new ground with innovative solutions for today’s challenges. The Awards are presented to those politicians in recognition of their exemplary projects based on European values of social balance, democracy and human rights – regardless of their party affiliation or level of government.
Each year, a Citizen Jury of more than 1,000 Europeans evaluate all projects to determine the finalists and winners in the Awards’ categories: democracy, climate protection, democracy technologies, government improvement, social cohesion, local development, education, and party innovation.
Programme
09:30
Open Doors
10:00
Welcome
10:15 - 11:00
Exchange with the Awards Finalists: Democracy Technologies
Join the Finalists in the Awards category Democracy Technologies, who were chosen by a jury of over 1,000 citizens. In these projects, technologies were used in democratic processes with a focus on citizen participation.
In this exchange format, they will present their exemplary projects and answer your questions about what went well, what they would do differently today and what we can learn from them.
Speakers:
Finalists of the Innovation in Politics Awards 2023
José Manuel Ribeiro Mayor of Valongo, Portugal Finalist in Democracy Technology Category - Valongo Switch to Innovation - Portugal Presenter in Exchange with the Awards Finalists Democracy Technologies
10:15
Exchange with the awards finalists: Democracy, Government Improvement and Local Development
Join the Finalists of the categories Democracy, Government Improvement, and Local Development. Tap into projects that are building stronger democracies by enhancing participation in decision making and embracing democratic values. Meet project owners who improve the work of public institutions, advance government performance and make government services more transparent, accountable and fit for the future. Discover the projects that foster local initiatives, embrace local economy, promote regional cooperation and development.
Speakers:
Finalists of the Innovation in Politics Awards 2023
11:00
Winning Hearts, Minds and Votes – with Online Participation
Welcome to a sales pitch for participatory democracy. Bringing thousands or even millions of citizens online together to struggle things out and develop policies – that’s new to representative democracy, and it’s a challenge. See in this session what works best, where online participation and deliberation is most useful, how to get more citizens on board – and which technologies can help.
Speakers:
- Isabel Xavier Canning, Director, City of Cascais, Portugal
- Van Doan, Senior Executive at Decision 21, Czech Republic
- Matt Stempeck, Curator, Civic Tech Field Guide, USA
This session is curated by our partner PARTICIPATION FACTORY.
11:00
Exchange with the awards finalists: Climate Protection, Education and Social Cohesion
Dive into the most innovative political projects in the field of Education, Social Cohesion and Climate Protection. Meet innovators that promote and facilitate life-long learning, providing knowledge as well as skills needed by resilient communities and individuals. Join us at a session which shines light on projects that help secure a safe living environment and a positive standard of living for all members of all communities. Last but not least, get inspired by innovative political solutions to tackle climate change and address pressing issues such as sustainable energy, mobility, or housing.
Speakers:
- Nikolaos Zenetos, Mayor of Ilion Municipality, Greece: Education
- Finalists of the Innovation in Politics Awards 2023
11:00

Stakeholder Workshop: Smart City Leadership Academy
Official partner of DemTech Convention
11:00
Winning Hearts, Minds and Votes – with Online Participation
Welcome to a sales pitch for participatory democracy. Bringing thousands or even millions of citizens online together to struggle things out and develop policies – that’s new to representative democracy, and it’s a challenge. See in this session what works best, where online participation and deliberation is most useful, how to get more citizens on board – and which technologies can help.
Speakers:
- Isabel Xavier Canning, Director, City of Cascais, Portugal
- Van Doan, Senior Executive at Decision 21, Czech Republic
- Matt Stempeck, Curator, Civic Tech Field Guide, USA
This session is curated by our partner PARTICIPATION FACTORY.
12:00 – 13:00
Lunch Break
13:00
Saving Democracy - for real
Attacks on democracy have shown that digital participation is vital for civil societies in their effort to overcome authoritarian threats. In times of crisis, different rules apply – fewer regulations, smaller budgets and more urgent demands set the stage for democracy technologies. In this session, people who have decisively contributed to saving democracy in their countries will provide their know-how, and tell us what Europe can learn from it.
Speakers:
- Courteney Mukoyi, Justice Code, Zimbabwe
- Juliana Sakai, Transparência Brasil, Brasil
- Eamon Gilmore, EU Special Representative for Human Rights, Ireland
14:00
Democracy Technologies Circle
Democracy technologies are flourishing and a growing ecosystem of platforms and tools is evolving in Europe. This “new democratic infrastructure” has strong impact on politics and government in Europe. Should it be controlled by governments? Should we develop binding quality standards? What can we do to support the growing market of democracy technologies in Europe? In this session, representatives of the industry and of institutions will provide their expertise and vision for the development of this new market in Europe.
Speakers:
- Adrien Duguet, President of Association Civic Tech Europe (ACTE), France.
- Jacob Gyldenkærne, CEO of Assembly Voting, Denmark
- Wietse Van Ransbeeck, CEO of CitizenLab, Belgium.
- Sam van der Staak, Director of IDEA's Regional Europe Programme, The Netherlands.
14:00
The future of Political Parties
Trust in political parties is at an all-time low. Many see them as part of the problem of democratic decline. A growing movement even envisages democracy without them. If political parties are to have a future, they must change. What needs to change is less clear - but the key question is how political parties can actually change.
This panel brings together expert practitioners from the front line of European party politics. They will all share their first-hand experiences and views on party innovation.
Speakers:
- Pepijn van Dijk, Executive Director, VVD
- Birgitta Ohlsson, Director for Political Parties, National Democratic Institute.
- Louise Pettersson, Project Manager, Centerpartiet.
- Benedicta Lasi Secretary-General Socialist International.
14:00
Digital Participation in Cities – Possibilities & Limitations
The experts of the European Capital of Democracy City Network discuss strengths and weaknesses of digital participation formats in the urban context. The discussion will explore whether digital tools and processes really deliver in practice what they promise in theory. The panel will illuminate questions, such as: How can silent groups be reached and involved? Can digital tools improve the outcome and sustainability of engagement processes? And many more.
About City Network
The City Network consists of democracy and participation experts from cities which applied to become a European Capital of Democracy. This network of currently thirteen cities provides a platform to showcase how we can change the ways we become involved in and decide political developments for the better. Representatives of the cities come together regularly to share their expertise and best practices in democracy promotion at the municipal level.
Speakers:
- Arnaud Pinxteren, Alderman of the Young Child, Citizen Participation and Urban Renewal
- Carla Semedo, Executive Councillor for Health, Social Affairs and Human Rights
- Arnau Monterde - Director of Democratic Innovation at Barcelona City Council - Coordinator of Decidim Project, Barcelona (ES)
15:00
Can Artificial Intelligence replace politicians?
Your digital press secretary may already exist. Health care and travel systems are being improved with artificial intelligence. Politicians around the globe lately use AI to write laws and speeches. Where does this lead to? Where does it stop? Will politics lose control?
This session is about the potential role of AI in governments and political work. Experts in the field of AI and government provide insights into their work and vision.
Speakers:
- Tim Gordon, Founder of Best Practice AI and former CEO of Liberal Democrats, United Kingdom.
- Dagmar Monett, Professor of Computer Science, Berlin School of Economics and Law, Germany.
15:00
Exchange with the Awards Finalists: Party Innovation
Party innovation is essential for democratic change to occur. Join us for a session that acknowledges the importance of up-to-date political party organisations and guides you through exemplary projects that make political parties more accessible and motivate citizens to engage in political work.
Speakers:
- Finalists of the Innovation in Politics Awards 2023
15:00
Local leadership-How to translate best practices into local reality?
Best practices are a great source of inspiration but what does it take for decision-makers to actually learn from and implement them? Following up on the Innovation in Politics Awards extensive collection of Best Practices, this panel explores how best practices can be translated into diverse local contexts.
Members of the ACT NOW Mayors’ Network share their experiences and discuss possibilities and obstacles of the implementation process.
Speakers:
- Dovydas Kaminkas, Mayor of Taurage district municipality, Lithuania
- Beata Klimek, Mayor of Ostrów Wielpolski, Poland
- Marij Preneel, District Mayor, Borgerhout-Antwerpen, Belgium
- Ulrich Hoerning, Deputy Mayor of Leipzig, Germany
16:00 – 17:00
One-on-one exchange
THE GALA
19:00
Open doors
19:30
Opening/ Welcome address
19:35
Gala Ceremony – Discover the winners in the categories: Democracy, Social Cohesion, Education, Local Development
20:15
Keynote
Birgitta Ohlsson
Director for Political Parties
National Democratic Institute
USA
20:45
Gala Ceremony – Discover the winners in the categories: Party Innovation, Democracy Technologies, Climate Protection, Government Improvement
21:30
Dinner
Finalists
- 4 Day Week Campaign, United Kingdom
- Improving the Living Environment in Kedainiai District Municipality, Lithuania
- Innovation.linz.at – Citizen Participation Platform, Austria
- Megafon – My Voice for My Neighbourhood, Belgium
- Nothing about youth without youth!, Lithuania
- Participatory Methods in the Process of Revitalisation, Poland
- Politik Akademie der Vielfalt (Politics Academy of Diversity, Germany
- Vienna Climate Teams, Austria
- WoMeN’s Regional Caucus, Ireland
- Youth Travel Card, Ireland
- Amorgorama, Greece
- Hamburger Gründachstrategie (Hamburg’s Green Roof Strategy), Germany
- Just Go Zero Tilos, Greece
- Mettons fin au #GaspillageAlimentaire en Europe! (#StopFoodWaste in Europe!), France
- People-Owned Wind Turbine Against Fuel Poverty, United Kingdom
- Poligono Circular, Spain
- Rexcatering – for intelligent food consumption, Spain
- Rybnik’s Model of Action for Sustainable Consumption and Production, Poland
- Tamarinden – where people meet and buildings share energy, Sweden
- Tirana Orbital Forest, Albania
- Digital Participation in Legislation in Latvia, Latvia
- Gdynia Dialogue Platform, Poland
- Helsinki Youth Budget – Participatory Budgeting with Youth, Finland
- Kyiv Digital – Public Services and E-Democracy in one App, Ukraine
- Open Parliament TV, Germany
- Participatory Budgeting in Rybnik, Poland
- PLACEm – the Democracy-App, Germany
- Smart Maps – Information at a glance, Slovakia
- The Local Level of Rahvaalgatus.ee – People’s Initiative, Estonia
- Valongo Switch to Innovation, Portugal
- Bridging the Digital Gap (AL21, Cyberkiosks, and Smart Centres), Spain
- BRISE-Vienna, Austria
- Communication without barriers, Slovakia
- Design-Thinking Reform of Support Measures in the Estonian Public Sector, Estonia
- Easy-to-Read: enhancing information accessibility in the public sector, Lithuania
- Gdynia – Deaf-Friendly City, Poland
- Suomi.fi Quality Tools, Finland
- TEP – Transparency in Private Entities, Spain
- Vorarlberg mitdenken & Bürger*innenrat – Faire Wahlen (Digital Consultation Platform & Citizens Council – Fair Elections), Austria
- War & Sanctions Database, Ukraine
- Anstellung und Bezahlte Pflege für Angehörige – Employment and paid care for relatives, Austria
- Creative Home(less), Lithuania
- Feel Free, Belgium
- HEROES Berlin – against oppression in the name of honour, Germany
- Housing and Work for the Homeless, Greece
- OV-Coaches for Public Transport, The Netherlands
- Points4Action, Austria
- Second Home for Ukraine – Connecting Communities, Organisations and Individuals in Plovdiv, Bulgaria
- Solution for Vertical Transportation-Assistance, France
- The Family Card, Spain
- Cultural H.ID.RA.N.T. (Cultural Hidden IDentities ReAppear through Networks of WaTer), Greece
- H22: the making of a smarter, thoughtful, and sustainable city, Sweden
- Improving Energy Efficiency in Lithuania, Lithuania
- International House Vilnius, Lithuania
- Kindred LCR, United Kingdom
- Madrid Innovation Sandbox, Spain
- MAGMA : the world’s first job guarantee project for long-term unemployed, Austria
- Mobilli – accelerating a modal shift to public transport at a regional level, Belgium
- Reims Grand Centre, France
- Wiener Gusto: the new organic brand from the City of Vienna, Austria
- Ausbildungscampus (Training Campus): Advise, Education, Accompaniment, Encounter, Social Cohesion, Germany
- Creating STEAM – An Open-Access Centre, Lithuania
- Digital Transformation of Education (EdTech), Lithuania
- Entrepreneurial Kids, Poland
- Escuela de Pequeñ@s Cientific@s Espiciencia (School of Little Scientists), Spain
- future_fabric: demokratie digital denken (thinking democracy digitally), Germany
- HackShield in the Class, The Netherlands
- Municipal University of Ilion: paving the way towards a sustainable learning city, Greece
- Preschoolers from Ostrów Wielkopolski Catch the Rain, Poland
- Sophia: the world’s first chatbot for survivors of domestic violence, Switzerland
- Brand New Bundestag, Germany
- Camp Bratislava – Embracing emerging leaders, Slovakia
- Empowering a Party for Agile Interactions, Germany
- Engaging Citizens in Deliberative Assemblies and Presenting their Proposals in the Brussels’ Parliament, Belgium
- Il fera beau demain – Mouvement positif (Tomorrow will be Sunny – Positive Movement), Belgium
- JoinPolitics: empowering more talent to join politics and incubate innovative approaches for party politics, Germany
- Online Voting in the Hungarian Opposition Primaries, Hungary
- Podemos Participation System, Spain
- Policy Sprint: fostering cross-party collaboration for effective political solutions, Switzerland
- Primarie Siciliane del Campo Progressista (Progressive Primaries in Sicily), Italy
All Finalists
Maxi Mustermensch
Innovation in Politics Institute
Maxi Mustermensch
Innovation in Politics Institute
Maxi Mustermensch
Innovation in Politics Institute
Maxi Mustermensch
Innovation in Politics Institute
Maxi Mustermensch
Innovation in Politics Institute
Maxi Mustermensch
Innovation in Politics Institute
Maxi Mustermensch
Innovation in Politics Institute
Maxi Mustermensch
Innovation in Politics Institute
Maxi Mustermensch
Innovation in Politics Institute
Maxi Mustermensch
Innovation in Politics Institute
Tickets
Reserve your ticket now, as we will be fully booked.
If you have any questions please contact us at office@innovationinpolitics.eu
- Finalists of the Innovation in Politics Awards and companions (all years)
- Government representatives, public officials, politicians and their staff
- Party managers and NGO representatives
- Media, academia and students
- Philanthropic foundations
- Representatives of companies
We invite you and your company! Check out our Premium Package and get in touch for more details.
THE VENUE
The Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw is the venue for this year’s Innovation in Politics Awards.
The palace is one of the most recognisable landmarks in the beautiful city of Warsaw. Standing (very) tall since 1955, the building was gifted to Poland by the Soviet Union. Today, the palace symbolises Poland’s rich and complex history and we are excited to be able to host this year’s Innovation in Politics Awards in this historical venue.
If you travel to Warsaw by train, your best option is to arrive at Warszawa Centralna. From there, you can walk to the venue within a few minutes.
If you arrive elsewhere, you can take the metro line M2 to the station Centrum, which is located right next to the venue.
If you fly to Warsaw, you will arrive at the Chopin Airport. From there, you have several options to get to the Palace of Culture and Science. You can take a taxi or public transportation. The bus line 175 will take you close to Warszawa Centralna, from where you can walk to the venue. The train line S3 also goes directly from the airport to the central train station.
If you are coming to Poland with a car, you can either leave your car at the accommodation and use public transportation, or park directly at the Palace of Culture and Science. The parking garage at the venue is available 24/7, but charges up to 25 euros for 24 hours of parking.
If you want to take a taxi, you can flag down one of the many taxis that are located around the Chopin Airport or the Warsaw city centre. Alternatively, you can call a taxi company to book a ride. The popular company Warsaw Taxi can be reached under this phone number: +48 60 119 1919
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