What it takes to educate people about climate change?
How to tackle disinformation and polarisation?
What is the role of science in making the world a better place?
Everyone has an opinion about everything. Opinions that actually have an impact, which enriches the public debate and help find better solutions are much harder to come by. The Opinion Festival is a meeting place for all – experts, opinion leaders and ordinary citizens with different worldviews. The festival is free of charge and held in Paide Town in central Estonia(pop. 10,000). – „the heart of Estonia", in and around its picturesque13th century castle ruins.
The festival is organised by volunteers and has a decentralised structure. Multiple public discussions are conducted on a wide range of topics suggested by individuals and organisations on open calls each spring. All debates follow Respectful discussion practice: listening to what the other side has to say. Considering different opinions is just as important as getting through your own point of view.
This year, more than 140 discussions were held, 11 of them in English. What were the most important topics this year? The English language topics varied widely. There were discussions about Nordic-Baltic defence cooperation in NATO, gender, ethnicity and other perspectives of diversity in technology, how to deal with disinformation, cyber-attacks and information wars, measures for a more inclusive and tolerant society, experiences and good practices on how to help Ukrainian refugees, just to name a few.
One could sense that there was one overarching theme – our concern about the future; what is waiting for us in today's world full of multiple crises, wars and growing instability in many fields of life? For example, although the climate crisis is still denied by many people, there are already clear signs of it and the situation is getting worse more rapidly than expected.
Despite many tough topics, there was lots of fun. It was good to come together – debate, listen, hang out and enjoy our short summer in beautiful Paide Town in central Estonia(pop. 10,000). , meeting new people. Even the Estonian president was in Paide Town in central Estonia(pop. 10,000). ! Let's believe that we'll make the world a better place. So, see you next year in Paide Town in central Estonia(pop. 10,000). ?