Battle of Ideas Helsinki 2026

Saturday 31 October · 11:30 – 19:30
Balderin sali, Aleksanterinkatu 12, 00170 Helsinki

Suomenkielinen versio

WHAT IS BATTLE OF IDEAS?

Battle of Ideas is an annual, international festival of debate which been running for over 20 years.

Each year, the festival starts with a two-day event in London in October and then expands across Europe throughout the autumn.

In Helsinki, we host a day of panel discussions on important political, social and cultural issues of our times, featuring a diverse lineup of European and Finnish speakers.

The festival is a meeting place for people and ideas. We promote discussion and debate.

Language: Three debates will be in Finnish and three in English.

WHY ATTEND BATTLE OF IDEAS?

We host a series of conversations for the public, with the public, in public.

Unlike many other public events, our speakers are there to provide opening ideas to stimulate debate rather than dominate the discussion. The views of our audience are just as important.

These will be passionate discussions that involve everyone. Our mottos are FREE SPEECH ALLOWED and FREE THINKERS WELCOME.

So if you are inquisitive and have opinions – and are willing to have that opinion challenged by others – then the Battle of Ideas is for you!

PROGRAMME

11:30 – 12:30
Registration and coffee

12:30
Welcomes and introductions

12:35-14:00 PANEL DEBATE
Populism: giving the people a voice?

14:15 – 15:15: PANEL DEBATES
OPTION 1
War on words? The battles over language 
OPTION 2
Dystopia versus Utopia: is AI changing everything?

15:15 – 16:15: LUNCH BREAK

15:20 – 16:05  LUNCHTIME SHORTS
‘Meet the author’ interviews
1. Frank Furedi: The War on History
2. Eric Kaufmann: Taboo

16:15-17:15 PANEL DEBATES
OPTION 1
GenZ: the lost generation? 
OPTION 2
Independence: does the nation state still matter?

17:30-18:45 CLOSING PANEL DEBATE
Free speech: should we have the right to be offensive?

18:45-19:30
Drinks reception

Tickets

Full Price: €12.50

To buy a ticket, please click here.

Battle of Ideas Helsinki is organised by Academy of Ideas in association with Suomalaisuuden Liitto