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It was two o’clock in the morning of October 5, 1983 when Lech and Danuta Wałęsa were awakened from a deep sleep by the telephone ringing. It was Krzysztof Wyszkowski on the line; he sounded overjoyed: “Lech! You’ve won the Nobel Prize!” “Yeah, yeah...” Lech growled, still half asleep, and then put the receiver back.

Lech Wałęsa, who was awarded the Nobel Peace prize for his role in establishing the Solidarność movement, is a force to be reckoned with. By 1983, he had been frequently detained for his work with trade unions, in particular his co-ordination of the Gdańsk shipyard strike in 1980.

However, his work paid off, and the Solidarność movement was able to overthrow the totalitarian regime and eventually establish free elections in 1989.

In celebration of the 25th anniversary of his being awarded the Nobel Peace prize, the Wałęsa Insitute has organised a conference both to remind people of the historic impact of the Solidarność movement, and to discuss its relevance today and in the future. Many other Nobel Laureates (including the Dalai Lama) will take part in these discussions of future global challenges.

Skype has been invited to be the technology partner for the event, so those laureates who are unable to attend in person will participate using Skype video calls. It’s an exciting opportunity for Skype to demonstrate high quality video calls – and to bring world leaders together to discuss the future.