The 5th day of Liberty Seminars Slovenia 2016 was dedicated to participants' presentations of the state of freedom in their countries, based on Worldwide Index of Human Freedom. We continued with the final item on the Liberty Seminars agenda - the graduation. Congratulations to all our graduates!

We ended the seminars by evaluation of lectures and the programme and thus wrapped up the beautful and very knowledgeable week at the Lake Bohinj.

We started the fourth day of the Liberty Seminars 2016 with a lecture by mag. Miso Alkalaj, dealing with the deceptive practices of environmentalism. After the rich educational experience, we relaxed by canoeing on Lake Bohinj, before having lunch and returning to two lectures by dr. Mateja Rek, titled “Political Participation: Influence and Power” and “Constructing Reality: Creating Shared Meanings Through Communication.”

The third day of the 2016 Liberty Seminars Slovenia started with discussion “From Idea to the Realizaton” led by the founder of The Fraser Institute, Michael Walker. Afterwards, Robert Lawson presented “The Human Face Behind the Economic Freedom of the World Report”. We continued with Fred McMahon discussion about how might the economic freedom be improved.

After lunch at the Lake Bled we visited Bled Castle. The day ended with a discussion about the history of ideas of liberalism and liberal democracy led by Andreas Paulsen.

The second day of the Liberty Seminars 2016 started with a discussion about libertarianism (liberalism) led by Tanja Porcnik. We continued with discussion about »Open Borders = Prosperity? Free Trade as a Chance for Developing Countries« by Dr. Detmar Doering.

Afternoon was devoted to the debate among the participants. Both groups had been well prepared for arguing whether the state taxation of sugar drinks is acceptable or not.

On Thursday, September 1, 2016 the 9th annual Liberty Seminar Slovenia kicked off at Hotel Jezero on Lake Bohinj. This year’s participants and speakers are from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Macedonia, Nepal, Slovenia, and the USA.

Thanks to our generous supporters (the Ayn Rand Institute, Cato Institute, Heritage Foundation, and Institute of Economic Affairs), our participants have received a stack of books and other material. We truly appreciate their generosity!

After the opening remarks by the staff, Tanja Porcnik laid the foundations of the seminars by discussing “Individual Rights vs Government Powers.” We continued with another session lead by Tanja, which focused on the measurements of human freedom. The first day ended with a session on "Debating the Ideas," where the participants—while sitting on a pier of the Lake Bohinj—made initial preparations for the debate that will take place the next day.

The 9th annual Liberty Seminars will be held September 1-5, 2016 at Hotel Jezero, Lake Bohinj, Slovenia. The Liberty Seminars are a life-time opportunity to DISCUSS, PRESENT & DEBATE human rights through a lens of economics, public policy, history, philosophy and law in breathtaking scenery of the Julian Alps. The 2016 Liberty Seminars will offer top notch speakers.

ALL ABOUT THE LIBERTY SEMINARS.

How Liberty Seminars alumni remember the experience:
- 2014 participants
- 2013 participants
- 2011 participants
- 2010 participants
- 2009 participants
- 2008 participants

To spend an unforgettable week with other exceptional individuals who share a passion for the ideas of liberty apply to the 2016 Liberty Seminars HERE by August 15, 2016 (VISA applicants by July 1, 2016).

"The Liberty Seminars proved to be a great personal and professional experience for me. During those few days I met great people, learnt about challenging ideas and had the chance to listen to outstanding lectures from experts all over the world. The seminars provided me with a much better understanding on the idea of liberty, and its political and economic implications. I met amazing people from all over the world and I will always treasure their friendship. Participating in the Liberty Seminars is an essential experience for everyone interested in freedom and liberty."
Peter Bence Stumpf, Hungary



"Liberty seminar was one of the best experience I had, it is a very nicely designed conference which brings people from different backgrounds and countries to discuss on liberal ideas and helps us to understand liberal ideas and free markets in better way! The conference is not only discussion but it is nicely planed to have a mixed experience of adventure and knowledge."
Roomani Shah, India






"Liberty Seminars are a wonderful experience. For people who like to seek the truth, who like to discuss economics, history and politics this is a gold-mine. I really enjoyed the experience and hope that more people go through the seminars and have their horizons opened. In an environment which doesn't value entrepreneurship, truth, history and rational thinking, Liberty Seminars is definitely a place where one can openly and freely be a libertarian and share ideas that matter as well as spend time with the fellow libertarians from elsewhere in the World as well."
Matic Jelovcan, Slovenia



"When I think back of the Liberty Seminar in Slovenia in 2015, I can only recall nice memories which immediately put a smile on my face. The whole seminar was a truly enriching experience, both academically and personally. The combination of discussion based exercises, teamwork activities and some leisure time created an environment in which a person's mind naturally relaxes and opens up to new ideas. The discussions which we had on liberty topics might have ended but in my head I continue to think over them long after the seminar has finished. I hope that in the future more people will have the same chance as I had to experience this unique libertarian seminar and meet new friends."
Boris Kirov, Bulgaria


"Liberty Seminars Slovenia were very fruitful and inspirational for me. Seminars helped me to widen my views about individual liberty and importance of liberal economy to uplift the living conditions and create jobs. Free market is definitely much better alternative than state controlled economy. The material provided at the seminar was very helpful as it covered a wide range of policy issues."
Puskar Dhungel, Nepal

We started our last full day of the Liberty Seminars Slovenia 2015 with two great sessions by Mateja Rek. After lunch, we welcomed Vit Jedlicka who founded the self-declared libertarian micronation Free Republic of Liberland. We continued with eagerly awaited debate between participants who had another opportunity to shine while arguing whether homeschooling is civil liberty or not. The final item on the Liberty Seminars agenda was the announcement of the winners of the debates and the graduation. Congratulations to all our graduates and thank you for the amazing week that we spent together!

The 4th day of the 2015 Liberty Seminars Slovenia started with very interesting discussion on "Popular Myths about Capitalism" led by IEA's Christopher Snowdon. Afterwards, the participants and visitors enjoyed in two highly informative sessions held by Michael Tanner of the Cato Institute. We spent the rest of the day at Lake Bohinj, where we enjoyed canoeing, hiking, and sightseeing of Waterfall Savica.

We started the third day of the Liberty Seminars 2015 with "A Student's Essay That Changed the World" by Zoltan Kesz. Later, Chris Snowdon of the Institute of Economic Affairs explained why inequality matters. After lunch, the participants engaged in a discussion about the solutions to poverty and inequality, and a discussion about a guaranteed national income ran by Cato Institute's Michael Tanner. The academic program in evening hours was devoted to sessions about lifestyle regulation and its consequences, and to a case of crony capitalism in Hungary.

The second day of the Liberty Seminars 2015 started with a discussion about libertarianism (liberalism) led by Tanja Porcnik. We continued with David Greenwald's workshops "Beyond Supply and Demand: How Prices Produce Altruistic Outcomes" and "The Anarchy and the Law".

The afternoon was devoted to the presentations of our participants. Each participant presented in 15 minutes an evaluation of civil, personal, and economic freedom in their own country, based on the Human Freedom Index. Day two ended with a session on "Debating the Ideas", where participants made initial preparations for the debate, which shall take place on Sunday, September 27.

On Wednesday, September 23 we started our first day of the 2015 Liberty Seminars Slovenia. Our participants and speakers are from Nepal, Bulgaria, Germany, India, Switzerland, USA, Montenegro, United Kingdom, Hungary, Pakistan, and Slovenia. Due to our generous supporters (Cato Institute, Institute of Economic Affairs, Foundation for Economic Education, and Ayn Rand Institute) our participants received a stack of books and other material. We would like to thank them for their very kind support!

After the opening remarks by the staffers Tanja Porcnik and Katja Kos, the Liberty Seminars' first session delved into the topic of "Human Rights vs. Government Powers". We continued with another session lead by Tanja Porcnik, which focused on the measurements of human freedom. We ended the day with a session "Why We Love State & How We Can Talk About It" lead by David Greenwald.

If you are unable to join us at a week long seminar, we invite you for a short visit on Friday, September 25 or Saturday, September 26. More information here.

Participants are expected to read the assigned readings in order to be able to engage critically with the readings and the issues discussed at all sessions of the Liberty Seminars. The latter differ from other seminars by being based on active participation of the participants, so they will not be a passive listeners but, rather, active participants in the discussions. The list of readings is available here.

The 8th annual Liberty Seminars will be held September 23-28, 2015 at Hotel Jezero, Lake Bohinj, Slovenia. The Liberty Seminars are a life-time opportunity to DISCUSS, PRESENT & DEBATE human rights through a lens of economics, public policy, history, philosophy and law in breathtaking scenery of the Julian Alps.

ALL ABOUT THE LIBERTY SEMINARS.

How Liberty Seminars alumni remember the experience:
- 2014 participants
- 2013 participants
- 2011 participants
- 2010 participants
- 2009 participants
- 2008 participants

The deadline for the applications has been extended until August 23, 2015, but only for those applicants who do not need visa to enter Slovenia. To spend an unforgettable week with other 40 exceptional individuals who share a passion for the ideas of liberty apply to the 2015 Liberty Seminars HERE!

Due to the generous support of our private donors wishing to encourage a better grasp of the ideas of liberty the Liberty Seminars Scholarship Fund offers the Liberty Seminars participants scholarships of up to 500 euro for attending one of the available seminars. Application for the scholarship ought to be submitted along with the application to the seminar. We strongly encourage all applicants to the Liberty Seminars to also apply for a scholarship, which will help them with the participation fee.

Katja has joined the Liberty Seminars as Program Manager, where her main responsibility will be communication with the participants of the Liberty Seminars.

Outside her responsibilities with the Liberty Seminars, Katja is a student of a masters program in Policy Analysis and Public Administration at the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. She is also active in Svetilnik, a leading Slovene classical liberal organization. Katja strongly believes that the advancement of human liberty is one of the most efficient and just ways of improving the human conditions. When not promoting ideas of liberty, Katja's non-academic interests include observing seals and traveling, in particular through post-Soviet countries.

Katja Kos, Program Manager, katja@svetilnik-slovenija.org

By Katja Kos, Svetilnik

Around 500 students from all over Europe and beyond, and more than 40 speakers gathered at the Humboldt University in Berlin for the 4th annual European Students for Liberty Conference (ESFLC15) from 10-12 April 2015. The main topic of this year's three-day long conference was open borders. However, the purpose of the conference was not only to deal with practical and philosophical issues of immigration within the context of libertarian principles but also to meet and connect with other people who believe in the idea of liberty and/or to meet old friends with whom your paths were already crossed on the way towards a freer society.

Among the attendees of the conference were also many Liberty Seminars alumni. I was happy to see them stop by my the Liberty Seminars booth and share their memories of an unforgettable, enriching, knowledgeable, inspiring and life-changing week in Slovenia.

At the same time, I was very happy to had an opportunity to present Liberty Seminars to potential participants, who share passion for liberty and are therefore kindly welcomed to apply for the 8th annual Liberty Seminars Slovenia to be held in September 2015 (applications will open in May 2015).