Reporting Democracy Conference

FROM

31/05/19

UNTIL

31/05/19

Across Europe, populist movements are changing the political landscape and eroding faith in democratic institutions. In some countries, they are cracking down on independent media, the judiciary and civil society. The result is Europe’s biggest political transformation since the end of the Cold War.

In the immediate aftermath of EU elections, the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network and ERSTE Foundation will host a conference in Budapest to explore the factors eroding democracy, from populism and authoritarianism to demographic change.

The Reporting Democracy Conference will also focus on the role of media in countering such threats and consider how civic activism can help defend freedom.

Distinguished speakers from across Europe and the Balkans will look at what is at stake, how independent media outlets can reassert themselves and what happens when the people start to push back.

For the full programme and registration, follow the links.


The conference marks the launch of Reporting Democracy, a new cross-border journalism platform aimed at unleashing the power of fact-based journalism to scrutinise the issues, trends and events shaping the future of democracy in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe.

In partnership with “Europe’s Futures – Ideas for Action” a strategic partnership of ERSTE Foundation and Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna.

Florian Bauer

Director Social Finance, Sustainability and Innovation
Since 2023, Florian Bauer has been responsible for social finance, sustainability and social innovation at ERSTE Foundation. Prior to this role, Florian worked in the NGO & Social Entrepreneurship sector for more than 13 years. He led the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP), an international multilateral NGO that works to accelerate market-based deployment of renewable energy and energy efficient systems in developing countries, and was Managing Director & COO of the Impact Hub Vienna. From 2020-2023, Florian established strategic alliances with key partners and helped to create innovative semantic technology solutions at Semantic Web Company (SWC), a leading IT company in semantic AI solutions.