portrayals - different languages include not only linguistics, but also art, academia, data gathering and research. Eradicating statelessness will not happen overnight but if we utilise and engage with all these difference languages and work together, we can make headway. Participants were encouraged to not forget their own voices, and how they themselves can transform their own narratives by widening the scope of their contributions to other skills and talents they may possess. The Conference also offered a multi-dimensional learning experience aimed at encouraging participants to challenge their assumptions, see a problem in a new light or make an entirely new and perhaps unexpected connection. As such, the conference offered various formats for interaction, from more traditional panelstyle information sharing sessions, to film screenings, to discussions centred on collective brainstorming and disruptive and thought-provoking art installations. A global statelessness movement requires us to share our expertise and knowledge with one another and to listen to and learn from each other. The Conference provided space for this in the form of skills labs and workshops throughout the three days. Remarking on the atmosphere and intensity of conversations between participants throughout the three days of the event, during the closing plenary, Conference Chair, Laetitia van den Assum, asked the question, “Where do we go from here?” She challenged the audience to think positively about the idea of a global statelessness movement: “If we only focus on what is not working,” she said, “we are not going to make much progress.” ISI Co-Director, Amal de Chickera, encouraged conference participants to reflect further on five areas of statelessness work in the development of a global statelessness movement: the Rohingya crisis, the child’s right to a nationality, citizenship stripping, the underlying structures of exclusion (such as patriarchy, xenophobia and racism) and protracted situations of statelessness in places like the Dominican Republic and Bhutan. He urged us to consider that to progress in our missions we must address the inequalities that exist among us and in the work we do; utilising the diverse skills that different actors can bring to the table and stop perceiving ‘success’ as defined by what any individual or institution can claim, but rather, by the intangible impact of what we all do together. This was complemented by Chris Nash’s address in which he appealed to participants to ensure that we move forward in an intersectional and sustainable way, broadening coalitions and finding a space to engage with new partners. As Laetitia van den Assum so aptly put it, the Conference is “only the beginning of getting to know each other” and we must ensure that we “stay a tight community” as we forge ahead with the momentum that the Conference created. Carol Batchelor reflected that when she started working with UNHCR, ‘exclusion’ was not perceived as a worthy subject of study, but things have changed so much since then as evidenced by the Conference. She echoed the idea that resonated throughout the Conference, that “we can’t afford to build walls, of any kind” because exclusion has “never served our collective interest as human beings.” Activist, Maha Mamo, provided a moving account of her life as a stateless person and shared the encouragement she felt when discovering UNHCR’s #IBelong Campaign; and David Cotterrell posited that statelessness can happen through benign indifference where citizens hold onto their privileged status of citizenship without considering what it would mean to actually give it up and no longer buy into the current system of privilege and exclusion. During every Grand Panel session, alongside the panellists, was an empty chair, symbolic of the stateless individuals who could not be present at the Conference. During the Conference, participants began writing the names of those who could not be present on the chair. The role the activists played at the Conference was crucial, without their voices, it would not have been the success it was. We gave the activists centre stage and placed them in the middle of every discussion, to the best of our ability. However, more work needs to be done to ensure greater, meaningful representation from stateless individuals to inform discussions and work moving forwards. ISI Co-Director, Amal de Chickera, noted: “the Conference is poorer for not having all those voices present.” 33