Over the course of nine years, Freedom Games has grown year by year into an event that is both national and international. The six stages located in the center of EC1 – a restored power plant – have hosted nearly 400 speakers and presenters, including a whole bunch of notable personalities such as Dr. Jane Goodall, Etgar Keret, Martyna Wojciechowska, Rafał Trzaskowski, Timothy Garton Ash, Jolanta Kwasniewska, Mariusz Szczygieł, Johan Norberg, Adam Bodnar, Krystyna Kurczab-Redlich, Joanna Ostrowska, Adam Michnik, Robert Makłowicz and the others.
The event consisted of nearly one hundred sessions: panel discussions, roundtables, literary meetings and lectures, which allowed speakers and the audience to exchange views and debate on topics such as climate crisis, equality, business, the economy, the future of Europe and the European Union, security challenges, changes in the energy sector, feminism, culture, or animal rights.
However, the leading theme of this year’s edition was “Green Independence.” In today’s world, green transformation is a synonym for green independence. Our climate and environmental goals are identical to geopolitical ones. Thus, we talked, among other things, about the impact of the war in Ukraine on the green transition and green development as an opportunity for Central and Eastern Europe. We also asked how to counter populist opposition to the green transition, and we reflected on what the war in Ukraine changes in our moral compass.
But first and foremost, Freedom Games is a unique community experience, providing an egalitarian platform for the exchange of ideas and opinions. This year’s event was attended by more than 2,500 male and female participants, who contributed to the forum by enriching the debates with their questions and comments (including from in front of their computer screens).
In addition, a standing ovation belongs to the entire technical team of Last Minute Events, which is responsible for the production of the event under the leadership of the irreplaceable Agnieszka Durmaj. During each day of the forum there are dozens of people working on the backstage – sound engineers, cameramen, online streaming people and many, many others – without whom all this would not have been possible.
We would like to thank to our fantastic photography team: Agnieszka Cytacka photography, Zuza Balcerzak ᴾᴴᴼᵀᴼ and Raspberry Workshop.
We are also grateful to the translators and interpreters, to Marek Lewoc, who took care of the graphic design of the event, and to our good spirits, i.e. volunteers – you really are wonderful!
Finally, we also would like to thank our partners:
Strategic Partner: City of Lodz, Lodz Event Center
Co-organizer: European Liberal Forum
Partners: Friedrich-Naumann-Stiftung für die Freiheit, Open Society Foundations, Atlas Network, Wildland, RadicalxChange, Google
Supporting partners: Velux, Orange, Incredible Inspirations, Economic Freedom Foundation, Amazon, IKEA, European Climate Foundation, Meta
Publishing partner: Wydawnictwo Literackie
Substantive partners: 4liberty.eu, FOR Foundation (Civil Development Forum), Republikon Institute, Inštitut Visio, Lithuanian Free Market Institute, Institute of Economics and Social Studies, Institute for Politics and Society, MLS – Movimento Liberal Social, Projekt: Polska Foundation, Strategie 2050, European Committee of the Regions, Tygodnik Powszechny Foundation, Bronisław Geremek Center Foundation, Forum for the European Climate Change. Bronisław Geremek, Dialogue Forum, The Paddy Ashdown Forum, Greenpeace Poland, Civic Institute, HEAL Poland, Committee for Defense of Democracy, Protest with an exclamation mark, KIG Social Dialogue Committee, Campaign Against Homophobia, Viva Foundation! Stefan Batory Foundation, Inspiring Girls Poland, Young People’s Parliament of the Republic of Poland, UNICEF Poland, ECFR Roma – European Council on Foreign Relations, “Defensor Iuris” Bar Association #DI, Kontakt Magazine, Lodz Women’s Trail, Free Courts, Political Criticism
Idea Partners: City Library of Lodz, Center for International Relations, Ciekaweliczby.pl, EduKABE Foundation for Creative Solutions, Gazeta Kongresy, Koper Pomaga, KORD, Foundation “Space for Education”, Local Government Movement YES! for Polsk, Tour de Konstytucja PL, Free School
Networking partner: Green Cafe Nero
Media partners: Onet, Gazeta Wyborcza, Radio TOK FM, Ksiazki. Magazine to read, Newsweek Polska, Angora, TOYA TV
Accompanying event: Alt:work
Side event organizers: Inwedo, Hycom, Bluerank, binarapps
See you next year!
