The Democracy & Culture Foundation

COP30 is a once-in-a-generation moment to put citizens at the heart of climate action. A Citizens’ Track could connect community solutions to global governance, strengthens trust, and ensures policies are effective.
Read more: www.iswe.org/insights-res...
#COP30 #CitizensTrack #GlobalMutirão

"For us freedom of speech is one of the very fundamental values of the European Union." - Henna Virkkunen, Executive Vice President, Technological Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, European Commission

#athensdemocracyforum

"[all over asia] Young are there to stand up against corrupt power." - Seoul Sohee Yang, Co-Founder and C.E.O., VALID and Founder, YOUNAN Movement

#athensdemocracyforum

"Ukraine really is Europe’s shield, Europe needs Ukraine" - Chrystia Freeland, Former Deputy Prime Minister and Former Minister of Finance, Canada

#athensdemocracyforum

"For so long we have treated nature as something we are not part of."
Stewart Patrick, Senior Fellow and Director, Global Order and Institutions Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

#athensdemocracyforum

"Can deliberation cure the ills of democracy?" - James S. Fishkin, Professor and Janet M. Peck Chair in International Communication, Stanford University

#athensdemocracyforum

"Civic education is the key to confront the challenges that we have today." Julián Sastoque, Economist and Councilor, Bogotá City Council, Winner of The Kofi Annan NextGen Democracy Prize 2025.

@kofiannanfdn.bsky.social
#athensdemocracyforum

"The older you get the narrower the choices become until you have one." - Maria Ressa, Co-Founder and C.E.O., Rappler

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"The immediate effect of the tariffs has been great uncertainty." - Mary Beth Goodman, Deputy Secretary General, O.E.C.D.

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"If you look at the last ten or even 15 years, [...] what they [the US] are trying to do is bring the manufacturing back to their own country." - Jaeyoung Lee, Former Member, South Korean National Assembly and Adjunct Professor, Kookmin University, Seoul
#athensdemocracyforum

"Every day we wake up waiting for a declaration that could change everything all over again." - Brando Benifei, Member of European Parliament
#athensdemocracyforum

[when the US side was asked whether they are concerned because of the uncertainty]
“No we want uncertainty, because we want to discourage investors from investing anywhere else than the US” - Chrystia Freeland, Former Deputy Prime Minister and Former Minister of Finance, Canada

#athensforum

"There's plenty of money in the world, it's just in the wrong hands." - Bill de Blasio, Former Mayor of New York City

#athensdemocracyforum

"The most difficult job of mayors is to target actions towards social cohesion." - Haris Doukas, Mayor of Athens

#athensdemocracyforum

"The idea of democracy is the best form of argument" - Namatai Kwekweza, Founder and Director, WELEAD Africa

"Cybercrime is about the same size as the global construction industry." - Evan Kotsovinos, Vice President for Privacy, Safety and Security, Google

#athensdemocracyforum

"Ethics and security go hand in hand, together. I believe this is not something we can rely only on companies [to take care of] alone" - Martin Hojsík, Vice President, European Parliament

#athensdemocracyforum

"Democracy dies when people lose faith" - Jacob Udo-Udo Jacob, Scholar and Policy Adviser

#athensdemocracyforum

“We need to find ways to integrate technology in decision making.” - Stefanos Kasselakis, Founder and President, Movement for Democracy, Greece

“[There is] a double discrimination LGBTQ people [of Namibia] are facing: Traditional and Cultural values and religious and political phobia.” - Omar Van Reenen, Co Founder and Campaign Manager Equal Namibia

#athensdemocracyforum

“The most stable systems that had delivered to the citizens… were Democracies.” - Rashid Al Mohanadi, Middle East Council on Global Affairs

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“Democracies have shown that they can learn from failures and reinvent themselves” - Hélène Landemore, Professor of Political Science Yale University

“Authoritarianism only benefits one type of people: the authoritarianists.” - Namatai Kwekweza, Founder and Director WELEAD Africa.

“This award… I’d like to dedicate to those who really deserve it. It’s not me. It’s the journalists of the Gaza.” - Gideon Levy, Journalist and Author - Winner of the City of Athens Democracy Award

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“We hope because peace in the region would mean food for the children.” - Harris Doukas, Mayor of Athens

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“We forgot to focus on people, so we need to invest in people.” - Mandeep Tiwan, Secretary General CIVICUS

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“It’s extremely important to make it [A.I.] more efficient and easy to access for citizens.” - Brando Benifei, Member of the European Parliament and Former Co-Rapporteur, European Union Artificial Intelligence Act

“I think threat detection using Ai can become a point of collaboration across the world.” - Despina Spanou, Principal Adviser for Cybersecurity Coordination, European Commission

#athensdemocracyforum

“Geopolitically we are in an incredibly difficult position. Humans are not interchangeable with AI.” - Ann Kristin Glenster, Deputy Director, Minderoo Center for Technology and Democracy, University of Cambridge and Executive Director, Glenlead Center

“The talent that we want/wish to attract is from greece and from diaspora. We have 3 focus, one is health care.. Culture and language …and of course, sustainability.” - Stefanos Kollias - National Technical University of Athens

#athensdemocracyforum

“Europe has the potential to succeed, not by copying what’s happening to the west or the east, but by following a different model.” - Constantine Dovrolis, Professor and Director, Center for Computational Science and Technology, Cyprus Institute