ESO Headquarters, Garching, Germany, 23–27 November 2020 

The formation of bulges is still one of the most debated problems of galaxy evolution. Understanding their formation and evolution, and their interplay with other galaxy structural components provides crucial information on the formation history of galaxies at large. So far, the problem of bulge formation has been addressed following three main strategies, by looking at:  (i) high redshifts, when such structures are still forming; (ii) the local Universe, where a variety of bulges with different properties can be observed; and (iii) the Milky Way, which offers the unique opportunity to study in detail the closest bulge and the properties of its resolved stellar populations. In parallel, extensive theoretical work has been carried out with hydrodynamic simulations of isolated galaxies, idealised mergers, and galaxy formation in the cosmological context, providing a framework for interpreting these observations. Although very different in terms of techniques and diagnostics, these fields of research are very much complementary in the broad framework of the formation and evolution of the central regions of galaxies.