The Annenberg Foundation Trust at Sunnylands, the Ditchley Foundation at Ditchley Park and Wilton Park are launching the Listening Series on Revitalizing Democracy. Three virtual dialogues will bring together a transatlantic cohort of participants with diverse perspectives on democracy.
The US, UK and Europe are experiencing a troubling trend of democratic backsliding. According to the 2021 Freedom in the World report, more than half the world’s established democracies deteriorated over the past 15 years. Reversing democratic backsliding by revitalizing democratic processes and institutions is the monumental challenge of our time.
The series is designed to convene a broad cross-section of influential global thinkers to engage in candid dialogue on democratic regression and steps to revitalize democratic values and institutions.
The Wilton Park session is focussed on how the COVID-19 pandemic has undermined global democracy by fostering distrust in democratic institutions, with Sunnylands focussing on Journalism and Democracy and Ditchley Park on Climate Change and Democracy.
This initiative will culminate in a co-branded final report with key themes and lessons learned. We also hope that this series will generate new programmatic ideas for future conferences, dialogues and retreats.
Wilton Park reference number: WP1964V
