Vision, Europe of the Future conference – in partnership with The Conversation

0 June 8, 2026 13:25

The Conversation is a media partner of the think tank Vision’s seventh ‘Europe of the Future’ conference in Siena, Italy.

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View of the Dome and Bell Tower of Siena Cathedral. Shutterstock/RastoSKThe Conversation is once again delighted to be a media partner of the think tank Vision, as it hosts its seventh ‘Europe of the Future’ conference in Siena, Italy.

The partnership has seen Conversation editors and authors engage in previous editions of the conference, which brings together media, academics, policymakers and industry from across the continent. The aim being to tackle key issues facing Europe countries.

For a flavour of the event, check out this blog post I wrote a couple of years ago and this podcast produced and presented from last year’s conference by Gemma Ware, our head of audio. Defence, of course, promises to be a key subject for discussion this week.

And the event goes beyond the format of traditional institutional debates. Francesco Grillo is the Director of Vision and a serial Conversation author. He explained the project’s approach: “The conference is designed as a concrete problem-solving platform rather than a purely academic forum. Its distinctive feature is the interaction between students and established experts within original problem setting, then solving, groups.”

This year core subjects presenting challenges will include democracy, regulation, defence and former Italian Prime Minister and Governor of the European Central Bank Mario Draghi’s paradigm of “Pragmatic Federalism” – a governance philosophy designed to achieve deeper European integration by prioritizing action over consensus.

Grillo continued: “Alongside these discussions, the pillars of Europe’s transformation will be assessed by multipartisan political foundations and leading corporate and media partners.

“The insights emerging from these exchanges will feed into the Pontignano Paper, the Conference’s final policy document which, far from being a concluding text, will continue to be developed through public debate and engagement with European institutions in the months following the conference.”

The Seventh Conference on the Europe of the Future is at Certosa di Pontignano from 11–13 June

Tags: Academic Journalism, The Conversation, The Conversation Academic News