IPA was involved in a number of sessions with IPA President, Karine Pansa, participating in the opening ceremony and at the BOP Awards, of which IPA is a partner. At the opening ceremony Pansa congratulated the Guest of Honour, Slovenia, for its Ljubljana Manifesto released in 2023. That manifesto goes to the heart of why publishing is so vital to our societies, to our democracies. Just walking around this fair you see all of the creativity and passion and care that goes into crafting these wonderful books that we hope will kindle that love of reading for pleasure that will last a lifetime.
Pansa then spoke at the session Reading for a Healthy Planet: Inspiring Children’s Books to Help Achieve a Sustainable Future which looked at how children’s books about sustainability are a powerful tool to introduce global issues to young audiences, inspiring them to become active participants in creating a sustainable future. Pansa was interviewed alongside other panelist on Deutsche Welle, you can hear that interview here (from 46 minutes).
Later Pansa joined the session Higher-Level Reading, AI and Book Publishing: Ljubljana Reading Manifesto which looked at the special role of books and publishing in developing the ability for readers’ to delve into complex topics and to be critical of the information they are confronted with in an increasingly digital world.
Finally, Kristenn Einarsson, the Chair of IPA’s Freedom to Publish Committee was at BBPlus in the session Supporting a Trinity of Freedom: To Express, To Publish, To Read alongside Italian publisher and bookseller Barbara Hoepli and Italian librarian Enrica Manenti. The discussion, moderated by Publishing Perspectives’, followed up on the launch of the international book sector’s joint statement on the freedom to read, freedom to publish and freedom of expression.