Festival of Complexity

Understanding complexity, living in a complex world. Civil society, journalism, and the social sciences in an increasingly divided world.

In a world where democratic norms are eroding, conflicts are multiplying across continents, and digital infrastructures are reshaping everyday life, the Festival of Complexity, part of GO! 2025, offers a space for asking difficult and uncomfortable questions—and for resisting simplistic answers.

From the Sahel to the South Caucasus, from Ukraine to Palestine, from university campuses to the streets, the boundaries between governance, advocacy, and repression are shifting. The Festival of Complexity brings together researchers, journalists, and civil society actors who operate within these cracks. We will not smooth them over—we will think them through, together.

How do we understand complexity today?

• How do researchers navigate censorship, surveillance, and the shrinking of academic freedom?
• What is the role of journalism when truth itself is under question?
• How does civil society persist under regimes that criminalize dissent?

These are not rhetorical questions. They are everyday dilemmas faced by our speakers, audiences, and institutions.

The Festival of Complexity is curated by Dan Sanaren, M.A., PhD candidate at the Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS) in Paris and research coordinator at the Carter Center in Atlanta (USA).

A Festival, Not a Conference

The Festival of Complexity is not a conventional academic gathering. It is a festival of contradictions, unfinished thoughts, and deep disagreements. Panels will take place both in formal and informal settings—from conference halls to cafés and bars. Side events will further explore protest imaginaries, repression, and the idealization of risky journalism. A traveling photo exhibition curated by CERI–Sciences Po will present visual insights from field research around the world.

The festival offers a rare opportunity to hear voices working at the intersection of research, reporting, and advocacy — an invitation to engage with the concrete realities of governance, resistance, and dissent.

The Festival of Complexity is part of GO! 2025 – European Capital of Culture, taking place in Nova Gorica and Gorizia. It reflects the spirit of borderless dialogue and intellectual audacity.

 

Main Panels and Participants

Opening Address: Ervin Hladnik Milharčič

Panel 1: Social Sciences in an Increasingly Complex World

Speakers:

• Dr. Virginie Baudais (SIPRI, France) – Director for the Sahel and West Africa, Political Scientist
• Boukary Sangaré (The Carter Center, Mali) – Peace Coordinator and Sociologist
• Dr. Shreya Parikh (Sciences Po / UNC Chapel Hill, India) – Sociologist of Race and Migration
• Prof. Dr. Gilles Favarel-Garrigues (Sciences Po, France) – Political Scientist, Expert on Repression

Panel 2: Journalism in Times of Crisis

Moderator: Dr. Marko Milosavljević (FDV, Slovenia)

Speakers:

• Caroline Chauvet Abalo (TV5 Monde, France) – Correspondent in Central Africa and Togo
• Prof. Dr. Laurent Gayer (Sciences Po, France) – Political Scientist and Author

Panel 3: Civil Society and the Struggle for Rights

Moderator: Kristina Božič (Slovenia)

Speakers:

• Mathieu Pourchier (Tournons La Page, France) – Democracy Activist
• Daniil Beilinson (OVD-Info, Russia) – Researcher on Repression
• Siniša Šikman (CANVAS, Serbia) – Nonviolent Resistance Strategist

Institutional Support

The Festival of Complexity is proudly supported by the French Embassy in Slovenia, the French Institute, promoting intellectual exchange and democratic dialogue and Zavod Škrateljc. It is organized in partnership with the Bled Strategic Forum, Slovenia’s leading platform for global diplomacy and strategic reflection.

Free entry, no registration fees.

Press Contacts

Slovenian media: press@go2025.eu; Italian media: press@euro-go.eu; International media: press@go2025.eu, press@euro-go.eu