Terms of participation
1. Organiser and scope
The Venice Symposium of 29 October to 1 November 2026 on the island of San Servolo, Venice, is organised by Sovereignty Foundation Asbl., Avenue Marnix 13–17, 1000 Brussels, Belgium (“the Foundation”). These terms govern the contract between the Foundation and the registered participant.
2. Invitation and invitation code
Participation is by invitation. Places are allocated to the participating national delegations, each of which has a fixed contingent of rooms. Rooms are for one or two persons, and room types are allocated in the order in which registrations are received.
Each invitation code is issued personally, is valid for one registration and is blocked once it has been redeemed. Codes may not be passed on, sold or published. If a code is used without authorisation, the Foundation may refuse admission. The right to name a substitute under section 11 remains unaffected.
3. Conclusion of the contract
Your registration is an offer to conclude a contract. Before submitting it you will see a summary of all entries and of the total price and can correct them. The contract is concluded when the Foundation confirms your registration by email.
4. Participation fee and what it covers
The participation fee is 300 euros per person. This is a total price and includes any value added tax payable.
The fee covers accommodation and catering for the duration of the symposium, the boat transfers organised by the Foundation, admission to the Biennale d’Arte, and access to all items of the programme.
It does not cover travel to and from Venice, personal expenses, or any extension of your stay beyond the dates of the symposium.
Speakers and panel participants invited by the Foundation do not pay a participation fee. They are registered by the Foundation directly and do not use the registration form.
5. Under-30 ticket
Participants who are under 30 years of age on the first day of the symposium, that is who were born after 29 October 1996, pay 150 euros with the under-30 ticket. The under-30 ticket is applied automatically on the basis of the date of birth you give during registration.
You must prove your age at check-in with an official photographic identity document showing your date of birth. If you cannot do so, the difference of 150 euros to the regular fee becomes payable.
6. Travel expenses
The Foundation reimburses documented travel expenses up to 500 euros per person on presentation of the corresponding receipts. Receipts are submitted after the symposium through the online form on this website and must reach the Foundation within one week of the end of the symposium, that is by 8 November 2026. Receipts submitted later cannot be taken into account. Reimbursement is made to the bank account stated by the participant in the form.
7. Accommodation
If you request accommodation during registration, the Foundation books it on the basis of your details: the nights you need, and whether you would like a room to yourself, would like to share with a person you name, or would like a room-mate to be allocated. Rooms are for one or two persons; the room type is allocated by the Foundation in the order in which registrations are received. Later changes are possible only within the availability of the accommodation and must be notified in writing without delay. Accommodation is provided on the island of San Servolo by San Servolo s.r.l., Isola di San Servolo 1, 30124 Venice, Italy, which also operates the venue.
8. Payment
After your registration you will receive a confirmation email stating your participation fee, the Foundation’s bank details and your payment reference.
The participation fee is payable by bank transfer within seven days of your registration, and in any event before the start of the symposium, to the account stated in the confirmation email. Please use the payment reference exactly as given, so that your payment can be matched to your registration. If payment is not received by the due date, your registration remains in force and the participation fee remains owed (section 10).
9. No right of withdrawal
Participation includes accommodation, catering and leisure-related services on specific dates (29 October to 1 November 2026). Under Article VI.53, 12° of the Belgian Code of Economic Law, which implements Article 16(l) of Directive 2011/83/EU, consumers therefore have no right of withdrawal. The right to name a substitute under section 11 remains unaffected.
10. Cancellation by the participant
The Foundation books and pays for accommodation and catering for all participants in advance and as a single block. The participation fee is therefore owed as soon as you have registered. It is not discharged by cancelling your registration, by not attending or by not paying, and it is not refunded if you do not attend.
The only way to be released from the participation fee is to name a substitute under section 11.
11. Change of participant
If you cannot attend, you may name a substitute yourself. The Foundation’s approval is not required. The substitute must be named no later than one week before the start of the symposium, that is by 22 October 2026.
To take your place, the substitute registers through the registration form on this website with the same invitation code and gives their own consents in the process. Please let the Foundation know at info@sf-foundation.eu that the substitute is taking your place. Once the substitute has registered, your registration data are deleted.
The substitute takes your place under these terms. With the substitute’s registration, the participation fee is owed by the substitute and you are released from it. If you have already paid, the Foundation refunds your payment.
12. Programme
The programme consists of a keynote address, eight presentations, two panel discussions and a joint visit to the Biennale d’Arte. Speakers, panel participants and the detailed schedule are announced with the final invitation. The Foundation may make changes to speakers, sequence and individual items where this is necessary and the overall character of the symposium is preserved. Such changes do not entitle a participant to cancel free of charge.
13. Admission
Your identity is checked at check-in at the reception desk on San Servolo. Please bring an official photographic identity document. If you use the under-30 ticket, the identification must also show your date of birth (section 5). The Foundation exercises the house rules on site together with the operator of the island of San Servolo.
14. Cancellation by the Foundation
The Foundation may cancel the symposium, in particular in the event of force majeure, official orders, or the failure of the venue or of essential transport connections. If the symposium is cancelled, the participation fee is refunded in full. A transfer to a later date is not offered.
The reimbursement of travel expenses under section 6 applies only if the symposium takes place. Costs you have already incurred for travel are not reimbursed in the event of cancellation; section 16 remains unaffected. We therefore recommend that you book flexible fares or take out travel cancellation insurance.
15. Recordings
Photographs and audio and video recordings will be made during the symposium on behalf of the Foundation and published on the Foundation’s website, on its social media channels and on this website. Recordings in which you can be recognised are used and published only with your consent, which you may give by a separate tick box during registration. Giving this consent is voluntary; your participation does not depend on it. If you do not consent, the Foundation will ensure that you cannot be recognised in published recordings. You may withdraw your consent at any time with effect for the future. Details are set out in section 9 of the privacy notice.
Journalists are invited to report on the symposium. They take photographs and make recordings on their own account and under their own responsibility, not on behalf of the Foundation. Your consent under this section does not extend to their recordings.
16. Liability
The Foundation is liable without limitation for damage arising from injury to life, body or health, and for damage caused intentionally or by gross negligence. In cases of slight negligence the Foundation is liable only for the breach of an obligation essential to the purpose of the contract, and in that case only up to the foreseeable damage typical of this type of contract. Statutory consumer rights remain unaffected.
Participants are responsible for their own travel arrangements, for valid travel documents and for their own insurance cover.
17. Data protection
The Foundation processes personal data as described in the privacy notice for this website.
18. Applicable law, jurisdiction, dispute resolution
These terms are governed by Belgian law. If you are a consumer resident in another Member State of the European Union, you additionally enjoy the protection of the mandatory provisions of the law of your country of residence, and you may bring proceedings before the courts of your place of residence.
For contracts with business participants, the courts of Brussels have exclusive jurisdiction.
Consumers may also contact the Belgian Consumer Mediation Service, Boulevard du Roi Albert II 8, 1000 Brussels, www.consumerombudsman.be. The Foundation is not obliged to participate in, and does not participate in, dispute resolution proceedings before a consumer arbitration board.
19. Severability
If individual provisions of these terms are or become invalid, the validity of the remaining provisions is unaffected.
Version: 2 October 2026