AYLP 2021: Opportunity to Inspire Each Other

In the picturesque surroundings of the South Moravian village of Hnanice the tenth gathering of the "Aspen Young Leaders Program" took place in the last week of August. The event organized annually by the Aspen Institute Central Europe brings together young leaders from across the Central European region to share their experience, inspire each other, develop new initiatives and discuss the issues and challenges facing the world today.

This year's AYLP offered a unique program of inspiring lectures, interactive workshops, moderated discussions, and informal activities. As a result, budding leaders from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, and Poland had the opportunity to meet interesting speakers, experts from politics, business, art, sports, science, and the non-profit sector, in addition to developing values-based leadership and networking. Speakers at this year's AYLP 2021 included former Slovak President Andrej Kiska, Aspen Institute CE Vice-President and CEO of Direct Insurance Pavel Rehak, and Swedish-American researcher at the National Institute of Mental Health Anna Kågström, Andrea Basilova, co-founder of the Sensoneo project, Veronika Munk, editor-in-chief of the Hungarian news portal Telex, rapper Radek Banga, computer scientist Tomas Mikolov and archaeologist, anthropologist and popularizer of artificial intelligence Sara Polak.

The European Young Leaders Program follows the AYLP and takes place September 9th- 12th in Liblice, Czech Republic. A total of 24 developing leaders from 16 European countries and the USA are expected to participate. This program rotates annually among European Aspen Institutes and is organized as an integral part of regular meetings in Europe.