DT Dialogues européens - Sofia (Bulgarie)
Dialogues européens à Sofia © Stefan Stefanov

Debating ideas and public issues

From workshops to major forums, the debate of ideas brings together personalities from all sectors to explore the issues affecting societies around the world. These discussions are supported by capacity-building programs for citizen actors, to enable them to take a full part in international debate.

Our missions

Forum "Notre futur" à Maurice (3 au 5 novembre 2023)
Photographie prise lors du forum "Notre futur" à Maurice (3 au 5 novembre 2023) © DR

The French Institute promotes dialogue between cultures through the debate of ideas and support for young people committed to society. Through the debate of ideas, the Institut français contributes to deepening relations between civil society and French thought with societies around the world, accompanies the international development of circles of knowledge, thought and commitment and participates in the promotion of French humanities and social sciences beyond borders. The Institut français pays particular attention to highlighting initiatives, research and thinking carried out by young people.

Our key programs and major projects

Facing war - European dialogues

This series of debates across Europe aims to create discussion forums to better understand local contexts and address the upheavals caused in Europe by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Experts and professionals from Europe and other parts of the world, from research, think tanks, the media, civil society and culture, are invited to share their views with the public. Since 2023, European Dialogues have been held in the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Poland, the Netherlands, Bulgaria, Finland, France, Belgium, Germany, Romania and Bosnia-Herzegovina, in partnership with Arte, Ouest-France, Le Grand

Varsovie - Dialogues européens

Our future - Dialogues Afrique-Europe

Inspired by the proposals put forward by committed young people at the New Africa-France Summit on October 8, 2021 in Montpellier, the Notre futur - Dialogues Afrique-Europe forum cycle was launched by the Institut français in October 2022. Built with African partners, it brought together over 3,000 civil society figures of more than 50 nationalities from the two continents to debate major contemporary issues and think with the African continent about cooperation policies based on sharing and consultation. Since 2022, the Notre Futur forums have been held in South Africa, Cameroon, Algeria

DT Notre futur Média principal

Safir

The program, which runs in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan and Palestine, supports young people committed to building fairer, more inclusive and more sustainable societies, in countries with close ties to France. Safir benefits both young entrepreneurs and young people involved in associations, and the structures that support them, such as universities and incubators. After a major European program piloted by the French Institute, which supported more than 1,000 young personalities of the future and 45 local youth support organizations, the project will continue in 2025 and

Safir

Shared horizons

As part of this vast initiative by the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, led by Expertise France, the Institut français is deploying actions in favor of young people involved in civil society and research in the humanities and social sciences in France and the Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Northern Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia). In these countries, many of which hope one day to join the European Union, the French Institute offers training in civic engagement, professionalization workshops for emerging researchers and two major public debate events with

Night of Ideas

Created in 2016 by the French Institute at the Quai d'Orsay, the Nuit des idées is the major ideas debate event carried by France around the world. Since its birth, Nuit des idées has spread to dozens of countries, with over a hundred events each year and hundreds of thousands of spectators worldwide. Each year, the Institut français proposes a new theme to the French cultural network abroad and its partners: Un monde commun (2017), L'imagination au pouvoir (2018), Face au présent (2019), Être vivant (2020), Proches (2021), Reconstruire ensemble (2022), Plus? (2023), Lignes de faille (2024)

Événement de la Nuit des idées 2018, au Luxembourg

The Débat d'idées call for projects

Every year, the Institut français offers the French cultural network abroad a call for projects to support its activities in the debate of ideas. Open to Instituts français, Alliances françaises, bi-national centers and French research institutes abroad, it enables the French cultural and intellectual ecosystem on every continent to develop its projects with local partners. Each year, the call supports some forty projects in nearly fifty countries.

Le réseau culturel en Corée du Sud, au Japon et à Taïwan organise un cycle de débat d'idées autour de l'intelligence artificielle

Residence and professional mobility

The Institut français implements residency programs, such as Villa Kujoyama in Japan, as well as artistic and professional mobility programs. It supports residency structures and accompanies the French cultural network abroad, from the conception to the implementation of new residency programs.

Villa Kujoyama

Our partners

  • Local authorities:each year, thanks to the Institut français' agreements with French local authorities, organizations from all over France benefit from support to develop their international research and debate activities, in France or around the world.

  • Universities, research institutes and think tanks: the Institut français maintains close relations with French public and private research organizations and their branches abroad. The French Institute is committed to showcasing French expertise and in particular emerging voices.

  • Historical and scientific museums: The mediation of knowledge is a fundamental basis of public debate, and the Institut français works with French organizations that promote historical and scientific culture. In particular, an agreement links the Institut français and Universcience, enabling the Sciences & Actualités exhibitions at the Cité des sciences et de l'industrie to circulate within the French cultural network abroad.

  • Society and debate newspapers and magazines: the Institut français enables society and debate newspapers and magazines, whether specialized or general press, to gain access to intellectual and social figures from other countries and increase their own reputation abroad.

  • Civil society organizations: Through a close relationship with numerous civil society organizations, the programs supported by the Institut Français guarantee the representativeness, diversity and renewal of French voices in the debate of ideas abroad. These organizations cover a wide range of fields and come in all sizes, from local citizens' associations to major French NGOs.

  • Centre National du Livre: Supporting the translation of French works into foreign languages is an essential tool for promoting French humanities and social sciences around the world. The Institut français facilitates this translation through its Programme d'Aide à la Publication, which makes it easier for foreign publishers to buy the rights to works, and sits on the Centre National du Livre's Extraduction SHS commission, which contributes to translation costs.

Discover our other fields of action