2021

Impact Report & 2020 Annual Report

European Tour

European Tour

The Institute’s International Partners host Europe’s future leaders.

Give NowIn June 2020, Aspen Institute Romania launched the Aspen Teen Online Seminar, a new leadership program dedicated to high school students ages 15 to 19, engaging 40 participants from 17 towns and cities from across Romania. The seminar offered students the space to explore complex questions at a decisive stage in their personal and professional development.

Students came away with new views not only of themselves as thinkers but also as leaders. “I loved talking about my personal view of a text and finding out that some of my colleagues were simply seeing a different picture,” said Anna Gheorghe, a high school student in Bucharest. Matei Pleșcan, a high school student in Iași, said, “Learning what a leader is and what their responsibilities are, I found myself wanting not only to be a leader but to be an amazing one—a leader who does everything in the interest of the team.”

In recent years, Aspen Institute España has seen increasing interest from ever-younger audience, and in 2017 decided to invite candidates ages 18 to 30 to participate in a youth leadership and values program. In 2020, Aspen España decided to tackle one of the greatest divides in the Spanish society: the generation gap, a clear divide revealed in voting and consumption trends, political and social values, and priorities for public spending and
political action.

The Intergenerational Justice Program gathers participants across different generations to debate three key elements: the sustainability of the welfare state, climate crisis, and institutional creativity for civil participation. Already the program is creating a diverse network of current and future leaders willing to turn their ideas into action.