International Democratic Education Conference

IDEC@EUDEC 2025 Belgium

August 1 to 7, 2025

De Kluis, Sint-Joris-Weert, Belgium

Program

At the IDEC@EUDEC 2025 conference, there will be a pre-planned program featuring keynote speakers. In addition to this, we will have a significant amount of open space within the program where conference attendees, both adults and children, can organize spontaneous activities. These activities may include workshops, games, lectures, or any other creative formats.

Pre-planned program

Panel

Workshop

Talk

Other

Student Voices

Panel

Students from democratic schools

Workshop

QUEST

Talk

Team Gotalk

Karel de Grote Hogeschool

Talk

Gnanasekar Dhanapal

Inclusion & Diversity

Workshop

Ibrahim Issa
Hope Flowers School Palestine

Talk

Olivia Nannono
Enhance Humanity Uganda

Workshop

Charlie Moreno-Romero &
Silvia McClanahan

Workshop

Gladys Schich
Democratic School Fleks Hamburg

Workshop

Dorothea Schütze & Cloe

Online talk

Yasodhara Pathanjali
Independent Collective School Sri Lanka

Talk

Nathalie Fradin

Workshop

Nathalie Fradin

Talk

Walid Malik

Workshop

Walid Malik

Talk

Nuwan Dissanayaka

Workshop

Griffin Toffler

Mainstreaming Democratic Education

Interactive talk

Liliana Carrillo
CollectiveUP

Workshop

Dorianne De Groot & Ruud Van Middelaar
Democratic School 

De Ruimte Soest

Talk

Magi Blagoeva
Democratic School Sofia

Talk

Marie Pons
Orvita

Short presentation followed by an open discussion

Gabriel Groiss

Workshop

Margo Bruins

Workshop

Julischka Fell

Talk & Workshop

Ian Cunningham

Talk

Derry Hannam

Workshop

Luz Olid and David Caballero (Evolving Education)

Workshop

Luz Olid and David Caballero (Evolving Education)

Meeting

Luz Olid and David Caballero (Evolving Education)

Workshop

Abdulvahap Yorgun

Workshop

Abdulvahap Yorgun

Wishes regarding the program

When you register for the conference, you will have the opportunity to share your preferences for the conference program.

This includes:

  • Suggesting a topic you are interested in and would like to see featured in a lecture, workshop, or similar session.
  • Proposing to give a lecture, workshop, … on a topic of your choice.

Open space

The open space allows conference attendees to organize activities of their choice, which can range from serious discussions and workshops to fun games, such as hide and seek. If someone wishes to participate in an activity, they can give their consent to join.

The Principles of open space remind us how to think about uncertainty and surprises:

  • Whoever comes is the right people
  • Whenever it starts is the right time
  • (Wherever it happens is the right place)
  • Whatever happens is the only thing that could have happened
  • When it’s over it’s over

In open space, the “Law of the 2 feets” says that “You, and only you, know when you are learning and contributing as much as you can.” It reminds us that “If you find yourself in a situation where you are neither learning or contributing, use your two feet, and/or whatever you use to get around, to go somewhere you can learn and contribute more.”