In June 2022, prior to Professor John Morijn’s inaugural lecture, we hosted a pre-event for students of the University of Groningen to celebrate liberal democracy and highlight student engagement in the subject.
Our event hosted a range of inspiring speakers, including Prof Laurent Pech (Middlesex University), Prof Adam Bodnar (former Polish Ombudsman), Prof Wojciech Sadurski (Sydney and Warsaw University), Prof Kim Lane Scheppele (Princeton University), Dr Radosveta Vassileva (Middlesex University), Dr Léonie de Jonge (University of Groningen - Faculty of Arts), Akudo-Kyoshia McGee-Osuagwu (Studio Europa Maastricht), Judge Tamara Trotman (Judges4Judges), Polish Judge Tomek Posluszny (Iustitia - Polish Judges' Association), Evin Dalkilic (Verfassungsblog), Yasmine Bouzoraa (the University of Groningen, Faculty of Law), Elena Kukovica (LLM student at the University of Groningen, Faculty of Law), Sophie in 't Veld (Member of European Parliament), Marta Pardavi (Helsinki Committee), Jakub Jaraczewski (Democracy Reporting International), Prof Jan Wouters (RECONNECT EU and KU Leuven) and Prof Petra Bard (ELTE University).
The topics discussed focused on, among others, deliberations about why people vote for illiberals, why judicial solidarity across borders is important, what the role of young people is in protecting liberal democracy and what can we learn from women working in the field.
The event attracted around 200 students and professionals from the University of Groningen and beyond.
See the detailed program and pictures from the event below:
