In this inaugural session of the 2022 edition of International Democracy Day in Brussels, experts will lay out the geopolitical context of this watershed moment for democracy and high-level representatives from Africa, Asia, Europe and North America will discuss possible solutions to the challenges of this new era of geopolitics.

This workshop aims at gathering insights on the EU democracy agenda 2022 and 2023 and recommendations from the Brussels democracy community and stakeholders for shaping future agendas. The session will be moderated on the basis of guiding questions.

The European Commission and the European Partnership for Democracy have launched the Youth Political and Civic Engagement Cohort as part of the Summit for Democracy’s Year of Action to take action toward implementing Summit for Democracy commitments on youth political and civic engagement. This session will launch the Youth Cohort and discuss avenues for meaningful dialogue and collaboration between many types of actors working to advance democratic participation of youth across the globe. Bringing together youth activists in the EU and globally as well as key decision-makers involved in youth engagement worldwide, this session will be an opportunity for debate and collaboration on the issue of youth political engagement.

With the urgency to stand for democracy, this session will explore the non-military notion of ‘’hybrid threats to democracy’’. It will bring representatives from the EU institutions and experts from political foundations and their partners to discuss how to respond to disinformation threats and foreign election interventions. It will also look into our role as political foundations in empowering civil society and political actors in facing such realities, and discuss the role of China and Russia in this new geopolitical context.