'Time to ReThink' is the theme of the 9th edition of the Estoril Conferences, which returns to the campus of Nova School of Business & Economics (Nova SBE) in Carcavelos, on October 24 and 25, 2024, to foster dialogue towards collective action to overcome the most pressing global challenges. Peace, Policies, Planet, Artificial Intelligence (AI) & Technology, and Longevity are the five pillars that will guide the reflection of the many national and international leaders attending the event.
Organized by Nova SBE and NOVA Medical School (NMS), this year's edition of the Estoril Conferences will include, for the first time, the participation of Harvard’s Digital Data Design Institute (D^3), a prestigious Harvard institute dedicated to studying the impact of new technologies on the world, which joins the co-organization of the event, together with Cascais City Council and Turismo de Portugal.
2024 is expected to be a year of profound transformation - the world hasn’t witnessed so many armed conflicts and devastating wars (United Nations, 2023) since World War II. This year, there will be more elections and consequent geopolitical changes (The Economist, 2023), and the demographic transition intersects all the changes and transitions as, from this year, the population over 65 begins to overtake the population under 18 (WHO, 2023). Technology and artificial intelligence (AI) continue to develop exponentially, while environmental degradation is reaching alarming levels, with six of the nine planetary boundaries already exceeded (Science, 2023).
In this context, the Estoril 2024 Conferences will again suggest an incisive and wide-ranging debate on the most pressing challenges with the most significant impact on the future, in the certainty that it is imperative to reevaluate our thinking and actions to drive collective progress.
'In this Edition of the Estoril Conferences, we renew our commitment to inspiring society to promote a better world. We want to reaffirm our role and contribute again to action that improves people's lives, in all its aspects,' states Laurinda Alves, Executive Director of the Estoril Conferences.
Presenting itself as a local initiative with a global impact, the Estoril Conferences once again invites society, politicians, world leaders, and, above all, the new generations to an inspiring debate that embraces the potential of technology and AI as allies for progress, respects nature and favors solutions based on living systems while emphasizing holistic approaches to well-being, empowering people to become agents of change and opposing polarization, reinforcing the importance of multilateralism.