Lisbon Conference
January 26 - 28, 20172nd Meeting of the Lead Authors
The second meeting of the Lead Authors of the International Panel on Social Progress (IPSP) took place on January 26-28, 2017, at the University Institute of Lisbon, Portugal.
The first meeting of the IPSP Lead Authors was held at İstanbul Bilgi University in Istanbul, Turkey, in August 2015. That meeting launched the Panel and started the process of writing the report. The first draft of the report was due in July 2016, and in the fall the report was made available for public comment.
The purpose of the Lisbon conference was threefold:
1) to start revising the report in light of the hundreds of comments received on the first draft;
2) to focus attention on the revision and finalization of the action toolkits and policy recommendations in each chapter;
3) to discuss the consistency of the general report and the dissemination plans.
This meeting highlighted the collaborative nature of the IPSP project and reaffirmed the authors’ commitment to the task of creating a comprehensive report on social progress. Chapter meetings were very constructive and allowed the authors to thoroughly explore the best way to revise the report and to incorporate public feedback. A revised version of the report will be assembled and made available in the summer of 2017.
Program
Chapter Summaries
At the end of the conference, the authors from each chapter submitted a brief summary of their work, including key points and recommendations. All of these summaries were compiled into one slideshow, available here.
President Sampaio’s address
The IPSP was honored to have Jorge Sampaio, the former President of the Republic of Portugal, as a speaker at the conference. In his address to the opening plenary meeting, President Sampaio discussed five main points:
1. The year 2017 could well mark a turning point in global affairs, ushering in a new paradigm in international relations.
2. European countries are faced with numerous crises brewing in the near future, including several critical upcoming elections.
3. Europe must take seriously its citizens’ growing anxieties about economic stress and increased cultural, linguistic, and religious diversity.
4. There is a need to strengthen democracy at the national level by revitalizing political parties and increasing voter turnout.
5. The 21st century calls for new forms of governance at all levels, including the global, regional, national, and local levels.
Watch the video of the address here:
Photos from the meeting (click to view)
