Theme and First Announced Speakers of Ideas Festival 2020

WORLD IN FEVER: SURVIVING THE CRISIS TOGETHER is the theme of Ideas Festival 2020 that will take place online on June 25-27. Empathic leaders from different fields and countries — representatives of the International Monetary Fund and the World Health Organization, current and former ministers, civic activists, philosophers, scientists, writers and businesspersons — will look for a common way to deal with the crisis and stand through this difficult time. You are welcome to register too!

Ideas Festival 2020 focuses on the world in fever affected by the new pandemic, and ideas that shape our joint efforts. The program covers seven tracks — public health, economics and entrepreneurship, science and technology, art and media, education, security and well-being. These topics will be considered in three dimensions: global (25 June), national (26 June) and personal (27 June).

“Although the festival has a new online format, the audience is the same — leaders in the broadest sense: changemakers and those who are interested in new ideas. It is very important to reflect on and come up with solutions to the current world situation. That’s why we are focused on the world in fever and the changes brought by the pandemic and its consequences,” explains Maryna Goncharenko, co-founder of Impact Hub Odessa and Program Coordinator at Ideas Festival 2020.

“2020 is a challenging year. In times of uncertainty and insecurity, it is important to find room for reflections, intellectual conversations, comprehension of social processes, discussions and exchange of opinions. This year, our Festival is all about sharing ideas, being in sync with intellectuals and contemporary thinkers, getting inspired, seeing a bigger picture and gaining insight into challenges the world is facing nowadays”, says Yuliya Tychkivska, Executive Director at the Aspen Institute Kyiv, co-head of Ideas Festival 2020.

The following speakers have already confirmed their participation:

Dr Sridhar Venkatapuram, King’s College London,
Valerii Pekar, businessman, civic activist,
Vakhtang Kebuladze, philosopher,
Natalie Jaresko, former Minister of Finance of Ukraine, Chair of the Board of Trustees of Aspen Institute Kyiv,
Vladyslav Rashkovan, Alternate Executive Director at the International Monetary Fund,
Yuriy Gorodnichenko, professor of economics at the University of California, Berkeley,
Anders Åslund, Swedish economist and Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council, expert on national economies of Ukraine, Russia and other former USSR countries,
Yuriy Andrukhovych, writer,
Oleksandr Lytvynenko, Director of the National Institute for Strategic Studies,
Lubomyra Mandziy, acting Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine.