Pokljuka, Slovenia, August 28th to August 31st, 2025. The Young Bled Strategic Forum (Young BSF) returns in 2025 under the theme “What values?” – an exploration of values as a fundamental driving force behind world politics at personal, professional, and institutional levels.
Following the Young BSF programme in Pokljuka (August 28th to August 31st), participants will continue their engagement at the Bled Strategic Forum (BSF) on September 1–2, where they will join high-level discussions as panellists, moderators, and keynote listeners.
Against the backdrop of a growing shift toward realpolitik, this year’s programme poses a pressing two-sided question: How do values drive world politics—and what does the state of the world reveal about us and the values we hold?
This year’s Young BSF will bring together 45 promising young leaders and professionals, aged 18–35, from across the globe, representing diverse educational, professional, and cultural backgrounds. Participants will explore global challenges through interactive workshops, discussions with seasoned experts, and peer-to-peer collaboration.
The programme is designed with three goals in mind:
- To encourage participants to think critically about issues from new perspectives.
- To provide practical skills for implementing ideas in professional and civic life.
- To foster connections, networks, and friendships that empower long-term change.
Thematic areas of focus include:
- The crisis of the rules-based international order
- The stalling fight against the climate emergency
- The personal experience of practitioners navigating tensions between individual values and professional realities
Unlike many traditional forums, the Young BSF is fully participant-driven. Alumni contribute to programme design, participants co-create activities, and selected delegates join the main BSF event as panellists, moderators, and keynote listeners.
“The Young BSF is more than just a conference, it’s a safe space, a laboratory, and a testing ground where fresh ideas can take root,” says Magdalena Rakovec, Head of the Young BSF. “By empowering bright young minds to engage in open, values-based dialogue, we strengthen their ability to shape communities and the world at large.”
Launched in 2011 as a side event of the Bled Strategic Forum (BSF), the Young BSF has since grown into a globally recognised platform, while maintaining close ties with its parent event.
For more information about the programme visit the Young BSF webpage.
This event was supported as part of Priority Area 10 Institutional Capacity and Cooperation, an Interreg Danube Region Programme project co-funded by the European Union. The content of this event reflects the opinion of their authors and does not in any way represent opinions of the European Union.
