As part of the FREI – From Resistance to European Integration project, the next international event will take place in Rome from 6 to 8 November 2025, organised by our Italian partner, Movimento Europeo. The three-day programme will bring together project partners, experts, young activists, and citizens to examine Europe’s historical pathways to democracy and the contemporary challenges faced by democratic societies today.
Program:
Thursday the 6th of November
Arrival in Rome
19.30 - Registration and administration
20.30 - Dinner in autonomy
Friday the 7th of November
9.00 Departure from the hotel
9:45 Registration and welcome coffee in Palazzetto Venezia
10:00 Institutional Welcome
Riccardo Sessa, President of SIOI
Pier Virgilio Dastoli, President of European Movement in Italy
Stefan Lütgenau, Foster Europe
11:00 The memory of integration processes
Pier Virgilio Dastoli, history and current relevance of the Ventotene Manifesto
Susanna Florio, ANPI board member, delegated for European policies, Democratic Resistance and European Integration
Susanne Sellnar, The Relationship Between Trauma and Society – Understanding Trauma and its Effects on Future Generations
Q&A
12:00 The future of integration processes
Antonio Bompani, Base Italia, Young activist, The Ukrainian conflict and the prospects for European integration from the civil society perspective
Q&A
13.15 - 14.00 Light lunch
14.00 - 15.00 Free time
15.15 - 18.00 Resistance walk from the Museum of Liberation to roman resistance sites and informal talk with a resistance witness, in partnership with ANFIM and ANPI
18.30 -19.00 Partner steering group
Saturday the 8th of November
9.00 Balloon launch
9.45 Registration and Institutional welcome at Europa Experience - David Sassoli - in local partnership with the Office of the European Parliament in Italy
10.00 - 11.00 Propaganda and disinformation inside non democratic regimes in Austria, Greece, Portugal and Romania
11.00 - 12.00 World cafe: Disinformation and media freedom, risks for our future democracies in Europe
12.00 - 12.15 Break
12.15 - 13.00 Restitution workshop with Dixit (Feedback session)
13.00 - 13.30 Interview session
13.30 - 14.30 Lunch
This international meeting represents a central milestone within FREI, bringing together diverse historical experiences and promoting cross-border dialogue on democracy, memory, and European integration.
More detailed information on the event and its outcomes will be included in the forthcoming FREI Guide Book, where readers will also find links to related materials and the project’s online exhibition.
