The Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS) will host and co-promote the 1st International Antifascist Conference for the Sovereignty of Peoples, scheduled to take place from March 26 to 29, 2026. The university’s administration officially confirmed the partnership, which includes granting the use of spaces on the Central Campus for the event, including the main auditorium (Salão de Atos), where the discussions on March 28 and 29 will be held. The initiative is part of the university’s commitment to strengthening democracy, science, and critical thinking.
The discussions began in November of last year, during a meeting between members of the local organizing committee, UFRGS Rector Professor Marcia Barbosa, and the Dean of Extension, Daniela Pavani. According to Raul Carrion, a member of the organizing committee, the invitation for the university to become a co-promoter was met with interest from the outset.
Record of the meeting held in November
“At that time, UFRGS was invited to join as a co-promoter of the Conference, and the Salão de Atos, as well as other spaces on the university’s Central Campus, were requested for the event. The rector and the dean expressed the university’s interest in partnering in this event, which centers on the defense of democracy and the sovereignty of peoples, principles enshrined in our Constitution. Then they asked for time to submit the invitation to UFRGS’s decision-making bodies.”
For Gabi Tolotti, also a member of the organizing committee, the partnership with the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul represents another qualitative leap for the event, which already counts nearly 100 Brazilian organizations as conveners and has an international organizing committee. In addition to its role as co-promoter and host, UFRGS also expressed Rector Márcia Barbosa’s willingness to participate in the panel “Education, Science, and Technology for the Sovereignty of Peoples.”
In justifying the granting of spaces for the conference, Dean Daniela Pavani emphasized the historical and social role of the public university. For her, UFRGS is, by its nature, a space of diversity, where different origins, beliefs, trajectories, and opinions coexist, and where professionals are trained and scientific and technological knowledge essential to the country’s development is produced. In this sense, she argued that academic training and scientific production cannot be separated from the defense of life and human dignity. “The university exists to serve society,” she stated.
Record of the meeting that confirmed UFRGS as host and co-organizer of the 1st International Antifascist Conference for the Sovereignty of the Peoples
According to Pavani, participation in the Conference takes place in an international context marked by crises and the advance of disinformation.
“We are living through a period of major global tensions—environmental, economic, social, and political. In many places, responses to these crises have come through confrontation, disinformation, attacks on democratic institutions, and the devaluation of knowledge. In this scenario, the role of the university and the scientific community is fundamental in confronting scientific denialism and fake news, which seek to manipulate public opinion for various political and economic interests,” she added.
For Pavani, this imposes a clear duty on the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul.
“The university has a duty to be a space for qualified reflection, for the production and dissemination of reliable knowledge, and for open dialogue with society,” she said. By becoming a co-promoter of the International Antifascist Conference, she added, the institution “is not merely providing its physical spaces. It is assuming its public responsibility,” reaffirming its commitment to “democratic coexistence and the defense of diversity, science, and life with dignity.”
Also a member of the organizing committee, Rodrigo Dilélio highlighted the centrality of educational debate in confronting the advance of authoritarianism and praised the university’s decision to host the meeting.
“One of the fronts on which fascism presents itself as a most threatening ideology is in the classroom, whether in schools or at the university. And the fact that the administration of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul is granting its space so that we can hold the International Antifascist Conference is received by us with great pride and also a sense of responsibility for the quality of the discussion we need to promote,” he said, adding that this realization motivated coordination with other education entities such as CPERS, CNTE, APEOESP, ANDES, and ADUFRGS, which have since joined the event’s committee.
Reiterating the institution’s position, Daniela Pavani reaffirmed that co-promoting the conference expresses the university’s public and social function.
“The university has a duty to be a space for qualified reflection, for the production and dissemination of reliable knowledge, and for open dialogue with society,” she reiterated.
According to her, it is up to the institution “to defend the value of evidence, serious research, and responsible debate, always with transparency and public commitment,” contributing to “a plural and respectful debate on issues that directly impact the present and future of society.” The commitment, she concluded, is “to democratic coexistence, to a culture of peace, and to the construction of solutions that address inequalities and crises without relinquishing fundamental rights.”
With each passing day, the 1st International Antifascist Conference for the Sovereignty of Peoples grows stronger. Follow the program and complete your pre-registration at antifas2026.org.