Contributor(s): Ruben Lapa Maximiano, Natura Gracia, Roberto Alimonti | As the world slowly comes out of the pandemic, a number of policy questions arise: was state intervention sufficient? Were the instruments appropriate? Has the level-playing field been altered by the uneven capacity of states to dip into their own pockets? Would a European coordinated strategy have been more appropriate?

The panel's aims is twofold: first, to evaluate what happened during the pandemic, taking stock of the effectiveness of the state aid measures and the competition tools used to respond to and manage the crisis; second, to assess whether any policy changes are necessary to upgrade the toolkit for the next crisis to come.

Contributor(s): Professor Nicholas Barr, Andrew Dilnot, Michelle Dyson, Lord MacPherson | A decade after the Dilnot Report called attention to the fact that the finance of social care had been ignored for too long and that the system was "confusing, unfair and unsustainable", the government announced an overhaul to the way adult social care is financed in England.

The government’s proposal, to increase finance for social care through an increase in National Insurance contributions (NICs), has attracted a range of diverging opinions. The speakers will debate current proposals and possible alternatives.

Contributor(s): Dr Orla Lynskey, Professor Andrew Murray | Globally, we are seeing increasing regulatory alignment to rights-based data protection frameworks. However, a wide variety of alternative data governance initiatives with diverse objectives and conceptual starting points are also emerging. In this session we discuss the legal challenges this entails as well as the opportunities it presents for more effective data governance.

Contributor(s): Dr Jason Wong, Lara Pohl-Martell, Jocelyn Blériot | The idea of a circular economy, in which waste and pollution are eliminated through better design, reuse of resources and regeneration, is a radical solution to climate change and biodiversity loss, as well as social problems. But is a shift away from a linear economy achievable, and how?

Contributor(s): Professor Kristina Spohr, Dr Fiona Hill | A leading national security expert and best-selling author discusses Putin’s Russia, America’s future, and the implications of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine for the future of European security and democracy.

Contributor(s): Dr Jonathan Roberts | In this session, Dr Jonathan Roberts discusses these questions and more and how they relate to new institutions, organisations and mechanisms that aim to create significant social change. He will explore how social entrepreneurs recognise opportunities, how they mobilise resources, how they often use commercial mechanisms for the public good, and how they should always work in partnership with those they seek to help.

Contributor(s): Dr Mukulika Banerjee, Dr Yascha Mounk, Professor Lea Ypi | Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the recent changes in the US electoral system, the introduction of additional documentation in the UK and growing electoral authoritarianism in the world’s largest democracy India – all indicate a distortion of democratic institutions as well of their democratic cultures.

This panel examines the future of democracy as a political system and explores the importance of cultivation of values and institutions in the preservation of democracy.

Contributor(s): Professor Oya Dursun-Özkanca, Colonel (retired) Rich Outzen, Professor Gencer Özcan | The questions that will be addressed include the following: How have relations between Turkey and NATO evolved in the past 70 years? What has been the Turkish strategy toward NATO in the past two decades? How have the US and the NATO alliance approached Turkey since the early 2000s? The talk will also assess the future prospects of Turkey’s role in NATO given the changing regional circumstances in the Black Sea region.

Contributor(s): Dr Anna Valero, Rebecca McDonald, Dr Carl Benedikt Frey | Accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, underlying structural changes have placed significant pressure on labour markets. This has profound implications for inter-personal and inter-place inequalities.

The challenge, therefore, is how we create good jobs in a time of crisis, where everyone and everywhere benefits. This event will discuss the opportunities a transition to net zero presents, and how skills policy needs to be reframed to support strong, sustainable and inclusive job creation.

Contributor(s): Dr Grace Lordan | The world of work is being shaped by the Great Resignation, technology changes and varying policies around hybrid working. But what does this all mean for skills? What skill-set should you hone to be a future leader? What skills should you acquire to be in demand on the labour market? Do we all need to be tech savvy? And what are the skills that will allow a person be in demand in the labour market a decade from now.

Join Dr Grace Lordan, author of Think Big, where she will answer these questions and more. Grace will also be telling you more about the value of investing in becoming an inclusive leader through a behavioural science approach.