Citizen Agora Dialogues 2026

This year, we have organized a cycle of five dialogues divided during five weeks with a common theme:

THE BRAIN

From mental health to consciousness, memory, ageing and the relationship between the brain and technology, the conversations bring together world-class researchers to share what we know today – and what we still don’t know – about the organ that defines who we are. With an understandable language and an open spirit, these dialogues aim to bring neuroscience closer to citizens and stimulate curiosity to better understand the brain, mind and future we are building.

Brain and mental health

A current look at what we mean by mental health and where we place the limits of the disease in a context of accelerated social changes. We will explore the main advances in research, the challenges in prevention and treatment, and how we can build more integrative and humane models of care.

Session 1. Monday, February 23, 2026 at 6:30 p.m.
Vil·la Urània Civic Centre. C. Saragossa, 29 Barcelona.

Víctor Pérez Sola
Medical director of the Hospital del Mar, professor at UPF, psychiatrist and researcher at CIBERSAM.

Susana Ochoa Güerre
Head of Research at the Sant Joan de Déu Health Park, coordinator of the MERITT group at the Sant Joan de Déu Research Institute, and researcher at CIBERSAM.

Moderator: Juan Benjamin Calderón Vega, doctor, student of the master’s degree in neurosciences

To register: https://projectes.fundaciorecerca.cat/dialegs_sessio_1/

The brain and ageing

How does the brain change throughout life and to what extent can it maintain its plasticity? We will analyze the mechanisms in brain aging, the main neurodegenerative diseases and new ways to promote healthy aging.

Session 2.- Monday, March 2, 2026 at 6:30 p.m.
Guinardó Civic Centre. Ronda Guinardó, 113-141. Barcelona

Mercè Boada Rovira

neurologist, co-founder of Ace Alzheimer Center Barcelona and medical director.

Marc Suárez-Calvet

neorologist, Barcelonaβeta Brain Research Center and Hospital del Mar.

Moderator: Josep Corbella, journalist at La Vanguardia specialized in Science and Health.

To register: https://projectes.fundaciorecerca.cat/dialegs_sessio_2

Brain and consciousness

What do we know —and what we still don’t know— about what consciousness is and how it emerges? A dialogue between neuroscience, philosophy and artificial intelligence to better understand how the brain gives rise to subjective experience and perception of the world.

Session 3.- Monday, March 9, 2016 at 6:30 p.m.
Guinardó Civic Centre. Ronda Guinardó, 113-141. Barcelona

Rodrigo Quian Quiroga,

ICREA professor and head of the perception and memory laboratory at the Research Institute of the Hospital del Mar.

Gustavo Deco

ICREA professor at Pompeu Fabra University where he directs the Computational Neuroscience group.

Moderator: Cristina Sáez Torres, science journalist.

To register: https://projectes.fundaciorecerca.cat/dialegs_sessio_3

How is memory stored and modified?

From the hippocampus to the synapse, we will explore the neural and molecular basis of memory. We will talk about how memories are formed, why they are forgotten, how they transform over time and what the existence of false memories about the functioning of the mind reveals to us.

Session 4.- Monday, March 16, 2026 at 6:30 p.m.
Library of the Sagrada Familia- Josep M. Ainaud de Lasarte . Carrer de Provença, 480. Barcelona

Mara Dierssen i Sotos

directs the Cellular and Systems Neurobiology laboratory at the Center for Genomic Regulation of Barcelona and is a researcher at the Medical Research Institute of the Hospital del Mar, and the Network Center for Rare Disease Research.

Pilar Segura Torres

Professor of Psychobiology at the Institute of Neuroscience at the Faculty of Psychology of the UAB.

Moderator: Pere Estupinyà, scientific communicator and writer.

To register: https://projectes.fundaciorecerca.cat/dialegs_sessio_4

Brain and technology

New brain-machine interfaces, neurostimulation and artificial intelligence pose surprising opportunities, but also ethical and social challenges. We will discuss how these technologies transform our relationship with the brain and what future they draw.

Session 5.- Monday, March 23, 2026 at 6:30 p.m.
Library of the Sagrada Familia – Josep M. Ainaud de Lasarte. Carrer de Provença, 480. Barcelona

Mavi Sánchez-Vives
ICREA · August Pi i Sunyer Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBAPS)

Javier Solana Sánchez
Director of Research at the Institut Guttmann

Moderator: Valentina Raffio, journalist specialising in science and the environment.

To register: https://projectes.fundaciorecerca.cat/dialegs_sessio_5

2Citizen Agora Dialogues 2025

Its main objective is to promote social commitment and the inclusion of citizen participation in scientific discussion, especially within the Barcelona area. These sessions are conducted in Catalan and/or Spanish and deal with scientific topics closer to the interests of citizens, at a level of discussion appropriate for the general public. Attendees are offered the opportunity to express their voice and participate in the debate.

29-09-2025: Qui defineix què som? Ciència, gènere i poder

Per a inscripcions: https://projectes.fundaciorecerca.cat/agora_29/

30-06-2025: El llop gegant extingit torna: ciència, ficció i els límits de la vida.

To register: https://projectes.fundaciorecerca.cat/agora_25

09-04-2025 : Com pot la literatura de ciència-ficció ajudar-nos a pensar críticament sobre els avenços científics?

19-02-2025 : Determinants socials i ciència mèdica

2Citizen Agora Dialogues 2024

Past Agora:

04-12-2024 Animal experimentation

To watch the session click here

09-10-2024 Overmedication

To watch the session click here

5-06-2024 Cooking and science

To watch the session click here

17-04-2024 Affective, sexual and gender diversity: nature and culture

To watch the session click here

21-02-2024 The challengues of human reproduction

To watch the session click here

Citizen Agora Dialogues 2023

08-11-2023 Podrem parar l’envelliment I la mort?

Click here to watch the session

13-12-2023 Intel·ligència artificial generativa: bases tecnològiques I implicacions socials

Click here to watch the session

Agora, referring to the meeting place used by the citizens of ancient Greek cities for a variety of public activities, is the name of the second new series of scientific discussions introduced by the AE-BKH. Similar to the Frontiers series, Agora also promotes interdisciplinary dialogue between two experts on scientific advances that are of high social relevance and/or pose major challenges to humanity, addressing their implications from the standpoint of the social sciences, and the humanities.

However, the main aim of Agora is to boost societal engagement and the inclusion of citizen participation in scientific discussion, particularly within the Barcelona area. Thus, Agora sessions are conducted in Catalan and/or Spanish and deal with science topics closer to the interests of citizens, at a level of discussion suitable for the general public. Attendees are offered the opportunity to express their voices and participate in the discussion. Furthermore, the sessions plan to incorporate science journalists as convenors or moderators in order to attract a wider audience.

Agora sessions are grounded in science, clearly breaking away from merely subjective impressions and/or ideologically anti-scientific attitudes that involve a rejection of science. The discussions are rooted in objectivity and the scientific method and explore potential social and humanistic -including ethical and moral- implications.