The UN’s Internet Governance Forum (IGF) is a multi-stakeholder governance group for policy and debate related to internet governance. It brings together representatives from governments, civil society, the private sector, academia and the technical community. The Pirate movement fights for the internet to remain a grassroots-and-user-driven entity and embodies the political side of this struggle. The IGF is therefore a highly appropriate platform for the movement to be present at. This year, the conference was held in Lillestrøm, Norway, offering a perfect hub for participation for pirates from northern Europe.
Registration and preparation
The PPEU board registered participation for the event through the official UN website for conference participation. We also registered as a speaker. Our application was soon accepted, providing us with a physical and digital booth along with opportunities for further exposure and participation.
In collaboration with the PPI, we developed and submitted a proposal for a workshop on the first day of the event. This workshop was approved and formally listed as an event at the conference.
Ahead of the event, the PPEU board submitted an up-to-date copy of the organisation’s logo and received regular updates from the organisers. With the help of the Secretary General, local parties in the Nordic region were contacted, so they could register participants. YPSE, YPFI and ÅU (Alternativets Unge) collaborated to secure a grant that funded travel and accommodation for 15 youth participants from Sweden, Denmark and Finland for the week-long event.
Participation
Sara Hjalmarsson, Alessandro and Mattias Bjärnemalm from the PPEU attended the conference. Keith Goldstein from the PPI and Sara Hjalmarsson from the PPEU moderated a panel discussion on ethics in networking. Additionally, individuals from YPSE, YPFI, PPIS, PPDE, PPSE and PPI attended the conference. They attended several workshops, talks and panels and filmed many of them. Our booth was staffed daily between 09:30-16:30.
Networking and member recruitment
During the IGF conference, there were many opportunities for networking and recruitment of new members. Representatives from several countries visited our booth to discuss the pirate movement and how to take the next steps. Those from countries outside of Europe were connected with PPI and those from within Europe were connected with local parties or the Secretary General of the PPEU.
Networking events were provided daily. Some of the more noteworthy organisations that the PPEU networked with included:
- Internet society
- Oslo university
- Wikimedia
- Pirate Parties International
- Young Pirates of Europe
- Alternativets Unge (https://alternativetsunge.dk)
- Electronic Frontier Norway
The connections built during this event could benefit the movement in many ways. Connections could provide keynote speeches or talks during or in connection with local pirate events. We could also connect with other organisations to build collaborative networks and attend events of common interest. This would give the movement both credibility and exposure.
Media and documentation
The IGF conference was an excellent opportunity for obtaining photos, video and other documentation of our activities at a multi-stakeholder forum.
Photos taken by the official event photographer can be downloaded from the IGF 2025 dropbox:
Recordings of the panels, discussions, etc. are available on the IGF Youtube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/user/igf/videos
Video footage was also filmed by the event organisers, YPSE and individual pirate delegates.
Lessons learned and recommendations
This was the first time the PPEU participated at a global forum for stakeholders of the internet. In addition to gaining insight into the world of internet governance, we also learned several valuable lessons from this process:
- Our presence at the IGF and similar events is vital for establishing our credibility and retaining and motivating our members
- Our presence at IGF and similar events is valuable for recruitment, building networks with key stakeholders and for creating a foundation to support our members.
- We should strive to be better prepared to register early. The process is quick and easy - especially if you have participated before.
- We should plan ahead so that more of us can participate in person. It could be worthwhile listing relevant events to decide on at the start of the year.
- We should make it easy for volunteers to sign up for volunteer assignments, such as sitting in the booth, recording video footage or conducting interviews.
- We should ensure that we have suitable information materials and merchandise ready to go ahead of time
- We should get better at collaborating with our members, partners and stakeholders internationally for these types of events.
I would recommend future boards and members of the PPEU to consider attending at least one international, multi-stakeholder event per year going forward. This would offer a strong target to work towards, help grow our exposure and credibility and support our member parties with a valuable platform for their own members.
I also wish to thank all the individual pirates who worked hard and put time and effort into making our participation at the UN Internet Governance Forum possible.
Written by Sara Hjalmarsson, Vice-chair of the European Pirate Party