The Forum of the Future evokes its fundamental purpose of boosting happiness and honours former Councilman for Culture Paulo Cunha e Silva

The Forum of the Future is an event that was born out of a desire for a society where we are happier. It started in Porto in 2014 and its mentors are Rui Moreira, Mayor of Porto and Councilman for the Cultural Department Paulo Cunha e Silva.

Saturday, 11 November, two years after the passing of former Councilman Paulo Cunha e Silva, the re-elected Mayor Rui Moreira explained that the fundamental goal of this "creative thinking festival" is to demonstrate new ideas and to boost forward thinking and vision towards a society that can make us happy and, concurrently, lead to the concept of a "liquid city", in the words of Paulo Cunha e Silva.

The nostalgia of the time the Forum of the Future was created, namely the physical presence of Paulo Cunha e Silva, was alleviated by the rekindle of the councilman's message of happiness by Rui Moreira just minutes before the closing session of this year's edition of the Forum.

The Forum of the Future

The programme is made up of conferences on diverse matters, making the Forum "a living platform to exchange best ideas and enhance change" and at the same time "an area of innovation, venture and uneasiness", highlighted Mayor Rui Moreira, also responsible for Culture policy.

"This event does not present solutions or reduce critical thinking", Rui Moreira further added, "on the contrary, it welcomes speakers from different points of the Globe, who present various ideas, from the field of philosophy to artistic creation, from science to investigation".

The last session, which was attended by the Ambassador of the United States - George Glass and wife, Ambassadress Mary Glass - featured Psychology Professor Steven Pinker, from Harvard University. Pinker says violence is at a low in global terms; conversely, the general perception of violence occurrence is high.

All the conferences were recorded on video and will be made available to the public on the Forum of the Future website.

Mayor Rui Moreira announced that next year's theme is "Ruínas" [Ruins] oriented towards the impact of the Classical Antiquity on contemporary knowledge and creation.