Full Circle upcoming events

[Ideas] Act On Democracy: Rights and Protections Online, the EU's Digital Services Act (18/06/2026)

Thu, 18 Jun 2026 16:30:00 GMT

Act on DEMOCRACY

Understanding Our Rights and Protections Online:
The EU's Digital Services Act

with Maria Koomen & Cindy Zheng

Ideas / Action | Thurs 18th Jun | 6:30-8:30 pm

*Act On sessions offer quarterly action-oriented get-togethers that go beyond discussion. Experts and general public share the willingness to take action.

The internet shapes how we access information, organise, and participate in public life — but who is actually responsible for what happens on digital platforms, and what rights do we have as users? The EU's Digital Services Act (DSA) is one of the most significant pieces of online regulation in a generation, yet what do we really know about what it means in practice?

This Act on Democracy session brings together two experts to help us understand the DSA: what it does, what it doesn't do, and what citizens, civil society and advocates can do to make it work better for democracy.

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ABOUT THE HOSTS

Maria Koomen is a Democracy, governance & tech analyst and advocacy specialist. She is the former governance director at the Centre for Future Generations, working on the challenges at the intersection of emerging technologies, democracy, and governance. Her work focused on ensuring that governance systems evolve to keep pace with technological and societal change. Maria led the Open Governance Network for Europe, a joint initiative of Open Government Partnership and Democratic Society to drive connection, dialogue, and learning around public participation, transparency, and accountability with an eye to improving democracy and governance in and across the European Union. Prior to that Maria was senior programme manager on the Democracy Conflict & Governance program at the Carnegie Europe.

Cindy Zheng is a young professional engaged in digital policy. She previously worked in digital transformation in the area of EU projects, development cooperation, and global governance, with the aim to contribute to a more responsible and human-centred digital future.

ADDITIONAL INFO


FOOD & DRINK	EVENT SIZE	ACCESS
Bar & snacks	Medium <30	Available on request

What's Behind the News: A podcast launch (24/06/2026)

Wed, 24 Jun 2026 17:00:00 GMT

WHAT'S BEHIND THE NEWs

The Inside Story

A news commentary with

James Kanter

Ideas / Conversations / Wed 24th Jun / 7-8.30 pm

Live & On the Record: A Podcast Launch with James Kanter

Europe’s news is loud and moving fast. What’s Behind the News keeps up and cuts through the noise.

Join us for the live debut of the show bringing Europe's most consequential stories to life - on the record, in the room, in front of you.

Hosted by veteran Brussels journalist James Kanter, each episode brings together a rotating cast of fellow reporters and analysts to break through the clutter: EU power plays, the fault lines, the stories that shaped the week and the ones that slipped past the front page. Unscripted. Unfiltered. Live in front of you.

This is journalism doing what it's supposed to do: telling it as it is. And this is a live show for people who want to know what's really going on behind and beyond the headlines.

This first recording is where it all begins. Come join us and dig into the stories defining Europe right now.

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ABOUT THE HOST

James Kanter is an American and British award-winning journalist and Brussels-based commentator on EU affairs. Previously at Herald Tribune and The New York Times. He's co-founder and editor of the Podcast EU Scream.

[Conversations] Deep Thought: Theme coming soon (27/06/2026)

Sat, 27 Jun 2026 15:00:00 GMT

Deep Thought

A Series with Andreea Petre-Goncalves

Ideas / Conversations | Sat 27th Jun | 5-7 pm

Join us for a hopeful conversation with Andreea

* Stay tuned, more details coming soon *

In the Deep Thought series, Andreea offers opportunities to interrogate our ideas of what is normal and desirable in society. Together we walk towards the mindset shifts that are needed to protect our planet, make the world safe and ensure lives and dignity and meaning for all. Deep Thought is a space for courage and authenticity, with no stone left unturned. We build trust, encourage each other and take action together.

What happens to trust in a transactional world? What does a selfish society do for our happiness? What does meaningful work mean in an era of precarity, automation and uncertainty? What is society for? Join us for our monthly conversations.

Open to everyone

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ABOUT THE HOST

Andreea Petre-Goncalves was 8 years old when totalitarian Communism collapsed overnight in her native Romania. She saw then how quickly yesterday’s absolute truth can become tomorrow reviled atrocity. She knows that societal narratives can shift fast, and when they do, they make deep system re-set possible. For two decades she worked for international development, human rights, health and sustainability in the EU institutions and international NGOs. In 2019 she set up Flare, a Brussels-based think-and-do tank that experiments with practical ways of shifting the collective ideas we hold of what is normal and desirable. This work builds on 15 years of her researching and writing about societal narrative shifts. She is a BMW Foundation Responsible Leader and a member of Global Diplomacy Lab.

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ADDITIONAL INFO


FOOD & DRINK	EVENT SIZE	ACCESS
Bar & snacks	Small (10-15)	Available on request

[Conversations] Critical Conversations on Conflict & Peace: (27/06/2026)

Sat, 27 Jun 2026 15:00:00 GMT

CRITICAL CONVERSATIONS ON
CONFLICT & PEACE

The New Map of Europe:
Decoding the EU-Ukraine Integration and What it Means for Us

with Sandra Melone & Diego de Ojeda

Conversations | Sat 27th Jun | 5-7pm

For our last session before the summer break, we talk about the tangible, current institutional relationship between the EU and Ukraine, and what that structural reality transforms for everyday Europeans.

Right now, the relationship has moved past emergency solidarity into a highly technical, high-stakes phase: the formal opening of the first negotiation clusters for Ukraine's EU accession. Meanwhile, the massive Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC 2026) in Gdańsk takes place on June 25–26, the day before our session.

We are no longer just talking about a neighbour in crisis, but also about the future borders, economy, and identity of the European Union itself. With Ukraine's accession negotiations moving into the rigorous "Fundamentals" phase and major recovery frameworks shifting from emergency aid to deep economic coupling, integration is actively happening.

For EU citizens, this is not a distant foreign policy file, it is a domestic reality. It challenges the Union's very architecture: how decisions are made, how agricultural and regional funds are distributed, and what it means to share a single market and a security umbrella with a nation under martial law.

This session is a space to unpack the realities of this transition. We will look past the macro-bureaucratic language to ask what an integrated EU-Ukraine actually looks like on the ground, and how it reshapes the rights, responsibilities, and future of every EU citizen.

Open to everyone | Booking required

Bar open

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ABOUT THE HOSTS

Diego de Ojeda is currently Head of Unit for Defence and Preparedness at the Secretariat General of the European Commission. He has over 20 years of experience in international relations, with a specialisation in the Common Foreign Security Policy, the Middle East, Russia and Public Communication.

Hosting the Series is Sandra Djuvara Melone, CEO of Zancora Consulting, which she founded in 2021, with a strong expertise in peacebuilding, conflict resolution, crisis management, human rights and, not last, gender. With a vast experience on the ground, she has worked across Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. She knows first hand what living through civil war is like. Sandra is the Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of Search for Common Ground, Europe, one of the world’s leading international non-governmental organisations working in peacebuilding and conflict transformation, where she's been involved in various roles since 1995. Sandra is a founding member of the European Platform for Conflict Prevention and Transformation (EPCPT), of the European Peacebuilding Liaison Office (EPLO), and of the Child Soldiers Initiative (CSI). Before dedicating her career to conflict transformation, Sandra worked in human rights advocacy with Amnesty International, and in international education.

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ADDITIONAL INFO


FOOD & DRINK	EVENT SIZE	ACCESS
Bar & snacks	Small (10-20)	Available on request

[Ideas] Ideas Festival 2026 WEEKEND or DAY Pass (20/11/2026)

Fri, 20 Nov 2026 17:00:00 GMT

FESTIVAL OF IDEAS 2026

"CONNECTION"

Fri 20th - Sat 21st - Sun 22nd Nov

You already know us, you know what we do, and that by coming YOU make this a great event!

Get your EARLYBIRD pass for the entire weekend today!

Full Circle upcoming events

[Ideas] Act On Democracy: Rights and Protections Online, the EU's Digital Services Act (18/06/2026)

Act on DEMOCRACY

ABOUT THE HOSTS

What's Behind the News: A podcast launch (24/06/2026)

WHAT'S BEHIND THE NEWs

The Inside Story

ABOUT THE HOST

[Conversations] Deep Thought: Theme coming soon (27/06/2026)

Deep Thought

ABOUT THE HOST

[Conversations] Critical Conversations on Conflict & Peace: (27/06/2026)

CRITICAL CONVERSATIONS ON CONFLICT & PEACE

ABOUT THE HOSTS

[Ideas] Ideas Festival 2026 WEEKEND or DAY Pass (20/11/2026)

FESTIVAL OF IDEAS 2026

"CONNECTION"

Fri 20th - Sat 21st - Sun 22nd Nov

CRITICAL CONVERSATIONS ON
CONFLICT & PEACE