Each year the Salzburg Global Seminar invites an international group of distinguished guests to join its Board of Directors for a weekend discussion at Schloss Leopoldskron in Salzburg, Austria. 

The purpose of these annual weekends is twofold. The presence of participants from diverse cultures and regions of the world helps expand our thinking about future Seminar programs for emerging leaders as well as policy initiatives that would contribute meaningfully to solving global problems. In turn, thinkers from every part of the world get to know the Seminar's work, and connections are made across fields and backgrounds that are mutually eye-opening and practically beneficial. 

This year's the theme "One World, Diverse Faiths: How far can different religious traditions come together in support of a sustainable world, artistic creativity and the pursuit of peace?" Discussions were moderated by Larry Yarbrough, Pardon Tillinghast Professor of Religion at Middlebury College, and Edward Mortimer, the Seminar's Senior Vice President and Chief Program Officer. Guest speakers included Tariq Ramadan, Professor of Contemporary Islamic Studies at Oxford University and President of the Brussels think tank: European Muslim Network; Christopher Patten, Chancellor of the University of Oxford; Costa Carras founder of Greece's leading environmental organization, Elliniki Etairia Perivallontos kai Politismou (Society for the Environment and the Cultural Heritage); Rebecca Kneale Gould, Associate Professor of Religion, Middlebury College; Famile Arslan, President and Founder, Arslan Lawyers, Netherlands; Daniel R. Fung, Senior Counsel of the Hong Kong Bar; Bill McKibben, American environmentalist and writer, and founder of 350.org, an international climate campaign; Layli Maparyan, Associate Professor and Graduate Director of Women's Studies and African American Studies at Georgia State University; and Sir Gilbert Levine, KCSG, one of today's most distinguished conductors.

 For more than 60 years, the Salzburg Global Seminar has convened people from across cultural, religious and ideological divides to seek common ground. The unequaled ambiance of Schloss Leopoldskron - built in 1736 as the family estate of the Prince Archbishop of Salzburg, and overlooking the snow-capped Alps - provided the perfect backdrop for an intimate, insight-producing weekend.