The United Nations University Operating Unit on Policy-Driven Electronic Governance (UNU-EGOV) is at the Mozilla Festival 2026, taking place in Barcelona, Spain, from 28 to 30 October 2026. Representing UNU-EGOV as a speaker, Bushra Ebadi, Lead Research Associate, will contribute to the session “Deeply Rooted: Co-Creative and Relational Practices for Just (Digital) Futures”, which explores how participatory and values-based approaches can help shape more equitable digital futures.
The session invites participants to reflect on the relationships among culture, technology, communities, and governance amid interconnected global challenges, including climate change, political violence, public health crises, and threats to cultural and natural heritage. Through a collaborative and interdisciplinary approach, speakers and participants will examine how digital transformations in the arts, culture, media, and creative sectors can be better grounded in principles of inclusion, care, and social justice.
Discussions will focus on identifying structural limitations in existing digital governance models and exploring alternative relational governance frameworks. Participants will collectively envision new approaches to digital systems that prioritise accountability, community participation, knowledge stewardship, intergenerational safeguarding, and collective care.
The session also aims to foster collaboration across academia, policymaking, activism, and practice, while contributing to the development of methodological tools for relational digital design.
Alongside Bushra Ebadi, the session brings together a diverse group of experts and practitioners, including Agus Las Peñas, Software Developer; Estrella Luna Muñoz, Researcher, Visual Artist, and Media and Information Literacy (MIL) Expert and Trainer; Rama Salahat, AI Specialist; Āryā Jeipea Karijo, Narratives Weaver; and Chipo Mapondera, Artist, Creative Technologist, and Director at Global Digital Futures.
Organised by the Mozilla Foundation, the Mozilla Festival (MozFest) is one of the world’s leading gatherings focused on building a healthier internet and advancing trustworthy, human-centred technology. Bringing together technologists, researchers, policymakers, artists, activists, and community leaders from around the world, the festival serves as a platform for exchanging ideas and developing innovative responses to some of the most pressing social and technological challenges of our time.
