IDP presents the Demographic Briefing at Castle Festival for the first time
A new format for public communication of demographic challenges has successfully completed its first live public test.
The Institute for Demographic Future publicly presented its new communication format, the Demographic Briefing, for the first time at this year's Castle Festival. The format is designed to bring demographic questions closer to a wider audience, especially young people.
Approximately 10,000 visitors attended the festival over three days, while several hundred people followed the presentation. It was the first public delivery of a format that IDP is developing alongside its research, educational activities and public discussions.
The Demographic Briefing combines verified demographic data, visual material and direct communication with the audience. The purpose of the first delivery was not to present a final lecture, but to test how demanding demographic subjects can be communicated to an audience attending a festival for social, musical and cultural experiences rather than an academic programme.
The first Demographic Briefing was delivered by Florjan Žiga Sedevčič, co-founder of the Institute for Demographic Future. It was designed as an professional stand-up format: a combination of data, personal delivery, direct audience engagement and a more relaxed approach that first attracts attention, then raises a question and only afterwards introduces the evidence.
Demography in the language of everyday life
The presentation addressed global population growth over the past two centuries, the reasons for declining fertility in developed societies, and the consequences of persistently low fertility for Slovenia. Particular attention was paid to how demographic change becomes visible in practice: in kindergartens, schools, local services, healthcare institutions, companies, municipalities and everyday community life.
The presentation was not intended to moralise about individual life choices. Instead, it opened a broader discussion about why modern societies are becoming increasingly individualised, isolated and less connected through community, and how these processes interact with fertility, ageing and migration.
A first test and the development of the next version
The first delivery showed that this way of communicating demanding content has clear potential. The experience will be used to improve the structure, strengthen the visual material and connect global demographic trends more clearly with everyday life in Slovenia.
IDP will adapt the format for festivals, youth events, secondary schools, universities, municipalities and other public discussions. The objective remains unchanged: to present demographic data not as distant statistics, but as a framework shaping the future of people and communities.
Connected to The Cost of Growing Up project
The Demographic Briefing was delivered as the first public step within the wider project The Cost of Growing Up – What does the path to independence cost?, which examines the private and public costs of growing up, young people's transition to independence and society's overall investment in a new generation.
Explore The Cost of Growing Up project →Watch the Demographic Briefing on YouTube →