The Inclusive Liberal Futures project is a multi-year initiative strengthening how liberal parties engage with and represent minority communities.
Advancing Structural Inclusion and Political Voices
The Inclusive Liberal Futures project is a multi-year initiative strengthening how liberal parties engage with and represent minority communities. Through structured dialogue between political actors, people with lived experience, civil society and policy experts, the project supports more inclusive party cultures and more representative liberal leadership. The 2026 cycle focuses on persons with disabilities, LGBTQI+ communities and Roma communities, laying the groundwork for a collaborative roadmap that will help shape future inclusive liberal politics.
About the event
This session is designed to move beyond intention and into action. It creates a space where lived experience, political leadership and organisational responsibility meet to create meaningful progress. We will bring together political actors and experts to examine where our own structures, cultures and decision-making processes still create barriers and what it will take to dismantle them.
Participants will confront difficult questions: Who has access to leadership pathways? Whose expertise is recognised? Where does diversity and inclusion stop being a priority? At the same time, the session will spotlight practical examples of progress and identify replicable strategies that can strengthen representation, participation and influence within liberal movements.
Grounded in co-creation and people-first design, the discussion centres lived experience not as testimony, but as political expertise. Together we will generate actionable insights that shape party structures, inform future work under the Inclusive Liberal Futures framework, and ensure that inclusive liberal politics begins within our own organisations
10-12 June 2026, Vilnius, Lithuania
Programme
Day 1: Tuesday, 5 May
Arrival
19:00 Dinner
Location TBC
Day 2: Wednesday, 6 May
Location: TBC, Sarajevo
09:00 Arrivals & Registration
09:25 Welcome
Speaker: Milosz Hodun, Board Member, European Liberal Forum
09:30 Framing the Space
Facilitator: Ajna Katica, BDF
Introduction to the objectives and guiding principles of the session. Exchange on anonymous reflections to frame the discussion.
10:00 Exploring the Different Country Contexts
Facilitator: Ajna Katica, BDF
Exchange on varying lived realities of Roma Communities and liberal actors across participant countries.
11:00 Coffee Break
11:30 Lived Experiences and Internal Barriers
Closed session for pol. party participants.
Facilitator: Harisa Bojčić, BDF
Facilitated discussion among party representatives on internal barriers, misconceptions, and structural challenges affecting the inclusion of Roma people.
13:00 Lunch-Time Conversations with Roma Rights Activists
Facilitator: Smail Lokvančić, BDF
Speaker: Almir Agić, Roma Rights Activist
Speaker: Selma Selman, Roma Rights Activist
14:00 Liberal Practices and Success Stories
Facilitator: Jana Sproul, Rainbow Platform
Short inputs highlighting party-level reforms and practical approaches to visibility and inclusion of Roma people, followed by moderated exchange on best practices and lessons learned with all participants
Speaker: Irena Bihariová, Member of Parliament, Progressive Slovakia
Speaker: Anna Donáth, Form. Member of the European Parliament, Momentum (Hungary)
15:00 Practical Perspectives from the Civil Society Sector
Facilitator: Ajna Katica, BDF
Inputs from civil society actors, highlighting existing gaps, best-practices and the value of investing in diversity for liberal organizations.
16:00 Coffee Break
16:15 Ask Me Anything!
Facilitator: Smail Lokvančić, BDF
Discussion with Dervo Sejdić, on his work as Roma Rights Activist and the successful case he brought before the ECHR on standing in elections as Roma people.
Speaker: Dervo Sejdić, Roma Rights Activists
16:45 Day 1 Wrap-Up
18:30 Dinner
Location TBC
Day 3: Thursday, 7 May
Location: TBC
09:00 Recap of Day 1 and Lessons Learned
Facilitator: Ajna Katica, BDF
09:30 Why Inclusivity Strengthens Liberal Organisations
Facilitator: Harisa Bojčić, BDF
Exchange on the strategic value of inclusivity and its role in strengthening party structures and leadership.
11:00 Looking Ahead: Partnerships and Next Steps
Facilitator: Ajna Katica, BDF
Discussion on priority issues, potential partnerships, and follow-up actions beyond the workshop.
12:00 Lunch
13:30 Departure of Participants