Additional Forum for Discussing Ideas  Battle of Ideas
- The weekend, initiated by the Institute of Ideas and organized and supported by a wide range of partners and sponsors, makes virtues of free-thinking and lively exchanges of views. Aims to:
- to showcase new arguments about the core issues of the day, while avoiding getting bogged down in the minutiae of everyday policy
- to initiate open-ended discussions regardless of the demands for immediate practical outcomes, which too frequently act as a brake on innovative thinking
Emulating the best of academia, the Battle of Ideas fosters an atmosphere of intellectual freedom and open-ended exploration of new ideas, research and trends. Additionally we challenge academics to distil their insights for a public intellectual gathering, creating a truly accessible university. The IoI seeks to identify a new generation of public intellectuals, and create a space where they can meet and have their ideas held to account.
Listen to discussions at the 2009 festival online in preparation for the 2010 Battle of Ideas which will be held on 30 and 31 October 2010, and is hosted by the Royal College of Art - click on Battle of Ideas website link.  Belfast Salon
"In homage to the spirit of 18th century political salons, Pauline Hadaway and Siobhan O’Dwyer founded the Belfast Salon last year, wanting to broaden public space for argument and debate. Membership is growing substantially as the Salon meets monthly to discuss and debate the big ideas of the day. The French Salons were typically organized by aristocratic ladies and yet become centres of radical thought and intellectual ferment ushering in a new revolutionary age. We may lack aristocratic credentials, but we share a passion for ideas and argument, not only for enjoyment’s sake, but because we believe ideas are important and because we want to know where the world is going and how we can play a part in shaping its future."  Birmingham Salon
Birmingham Salon is a public forum for debate where ideas are vigorously scrutinised and no topic is off limits. The Salon is a fully participative group, not a series of pre-programmed lectures in which people sit passively and listen. Most months we host a debate on a controversial or topical issue. The meetings are open to all.  Brighton Salon
"The idea of a Salon was invented in 18th Century France, and were central to the intellectual ferment of the end of 18th Century. They hosted the great thinkers of the time; Diderot, Rousseau, Voltaire. They were the scenes of excitement, outrage, the shock of the new, in a time when ‘the new’ still seemed possible. They signalled a time when the future was still an unwritten book. The Brighton Salon is organised in homage to those days which only came to end with the eruption of the French Revolution and the arrival of a new constellation: the age of revolutions. Many historians think the Salons helped develop the ideas that ushered in that age. Here’s to that." Rob Clowes, Brighton Salon Chairman.  Leeds Salon
Leeds Salon is a recent initiative that has grown out of a book club held regularly in Leeds since early 2008. The Salon aims to provide a public forum for lively and enlightening debate around contemporary political and cultural issues.
If you want to know more about our discussions, please ask to be added to the Leeds Salon Email list.  Spiked
spiked is an independent online phenomenon dedicated to raising the horizons of humanity by waging a culture war of words against misanthropy, priggishness, prejudice, luddism, illiberalism and irrationalism in all their ancient and modern forms. spiked is endorsed by free-thinkers such as John Stuart Mill and Karl Marx, and hated by the narrow-minded such as Torquemada and Stalin.
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