Aspen Junior Seminar
The Aspen Junior Seminar is a 4-day fellowship-based leadership program, modelled on the Aspen Institute Seminar on leadership, values, and the good society and based on the 75-year-old Aspen method of text-based dialogue.
The Aspen Junior Seminar aims to promote and advance leadership within the society among young people who are active in academia, volunteering and with a proven leadership potential, according to the ethical values on which the Aspen Institute is based.
The Aspen Junior Seminar gathers each year approximately 20 students and young professionals, aged 20 to 24. The candidates are selected based on an updated CV, a letter of recommendation and a short essay. The selected participants receive a scholarship covering the costs of accommodation at the location of the seminar, meals and seminar materials.
The discussions at the Seminar are guided by skilled moderators and the working language for the readings and discussions is Romanian. The text-based discussion between participants is an Aspen tradition and in order for the debate to be balanced, everyone is expected to contribute.
During the seminar sessions, the participants Socratically debate a series of readings, from the greatest thinkers of past and present, such as: Thomas Hobbes, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Fareed Zakaria, Nelson Mandela, George Orwell, Aristotle, Andrei Pleșu, Vaclav Havel or Plato.
Thus, by discussing and exploring a high variety of topics, the Seminar offers participants a non-partisan space of dialogue and interaction that gives them the opportunity to debate and question their values. By the end of the Seminar, the participants will have a better understanding of values-based leadership, of themselves and their values.
Starting in 2023, our youth leadership programs diversified and expanded their impact, providing more opportunities for young people to explore contemporary ideas, values, and challenges in a stimulating and inclusive environment. Thus, Aspen Institute Romania organized two editions of the Aspen Junior Seminar in 2023 (Bucharest and Timișoara) and the first edition of the Junior Leaders Program Moldova, a program developed in partnership with the International Republican Institute Moldova.
In 2025, we organized the 15th edition of the Aspen Junior Seminar in Iași.
Find below details about the 2025 and 2023 editions. Also, more information about the Junior Leaders Program Moldova is available here.
Aspen Junior Regional Seminar Iasi (2025)
The 15th edition of the Aspen Junior Seminar was organized in Iași on September 4–6, 2025, in partnership with the “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University of Iași, bringing together 25 young participants from Romania and the Republic of Moldova.
This edition marked a new step in the regional development of the leadership programs of the Aspen Institute Romania and was part of a broader initiative to create the Aspen Regional Hub Iași, a space for dialogue and co-creation, a catalyst for ideas and projects aimed at supporting regional development and strengthening ties between communities.
Junior Leaders Program Moldova (2024)
Building on the success of the first edition, the second edition of the Junior Leaders Program Moldova was organized on May 21–25, 2024, engaging around 20 young individuals with leadership potential. This program continued to empower and inspire the next generation of Moldovan leaders to take an active role in driving change in their communities.
Aspen Junior Seminar Bucharest (2024)
The 14th edition of the Aspen Junior Seminar was successfully organized in Bucharest on September 11–14, 2024. This edition brought together 24 talented students and young professionals, offering them a platform to explore critical ideas and values in a collaborative and thought-provoking environment.
Aspen Junior Seminar Timișoara (2023)
The Aspen Junior Seminar was organized for the first time in Timișoara on August 23–25, 2023, in partnership with the West University of Timișoara (UVT). The event engaged 23 students and young professionals from seven different counties in Western Romania, as well as other regions of the country.
Aspen Junior Seminar Bucharest (2023)
The 13th edition of the Aspen Junior Seminar was held in Bucharest on November 2–5, 2023, bringing together 23 students and young professionals from five counties in Romania.
Junior Leaders Program Moldova (2023)
The first edition of the Junior Leaders Program Moldova, dedicated to the future generation of leaders in the Republic of Moldova, was organized on November 21–25, 2023, near Chișinău, in partnership with the International Republican Institute Moldova. This program brought together 20 dynamic young individuals, aged 18 to 25, active in professional, academic, or volunteer environments, with proven leadership potential and civic initiative. The program aimed to motivate, inspire, and develop future leaders in the Republic of Moldova, equipping them with the skills to become advocates for positive change in society.
The participation to the Aspen Junior Seminars and Junior Leaders Program Moldova offers the access into the community of alumni of the Aspen Junior Seminar, now counting more than 300 individuals and to the various events dedicated to the alumni community.
