Among other dualities, the Biennial of Thought oscillates between the global and the local, which we could say are current world issues and issues more specific to Barcelona and its immediate surroundings. The fact that the Biennial is an event that, as its name suggests, is held every 24 months, while at the same time the city has a network of institutions and initiatives that regularly keep the flame of critical thought and civic debate burning. The +Biennial is built with the latter entities, a parallel programme that should not be overlooked.

Some of its proposals could be included in the main menu, due to their subject, approach and participants. This is the case of Rethinking the Social Bond in an Open, Diverse and Changing World, a colloquium organised and hosted by the Institute of Catalan Studies on the 11th, the opening day. Or the Decidim Fest, which could function as an extension of the numerous activities of the Biennial that deal with technological change; two days, on 13 and 14 October, to critically rethink the internet of the future.

Other sessions are a perfect complement, either because they have more limited and unusual themes, such as Vinciane Despret's conference Are Birds Musicians? at the Palau de la Música Catalana. Or because they bring down to earth in the reality of our city issues that, with a broader focus, are dealt with (or could have been dealt with) in the central programme. In this category are proposals such as Barxiluna. Memory and forgetfulness of the Islamic past and present, which, thanks to the Office of Religious Affairs, highlights the scant attention that Barcelona and its institutions have historically paid to the memory of all things Islamic. Also, the evening presented by the Quadern of El País on the occasion of its 40th anniversary: the Jaume Fuster Library hosts a debate entitled Barcelona as a cultural laboratory, organised in two round tables that include representatives of leading institutions and emblematic firms of the newspaper.