Workshops

30 November, 2023 13:30-20:00

01 December, 2023 09:00-15:30

**Workshop Overview:**

The role and position of Europe in the world have been subject of intense debates in IR and beyond in the last decades. Different strands of argumentation touch on ideational, hierarchical, and material issues. On the ideational side, criticism of Eurocentrism addresses, on the one hand, a set of ideas, theories and practicing of a rationalist modern ideal of governing, relating to expertise and bureaucracy, and the consequences it had for the destruction of the planet. On the other hand, the Eurocentrism critique questions Europe´s colonial legacy. However, European modernity has a Janus-faced character, as it also stands for the development of representative democracy and human rights. Regarding the hierarchical and material questions, Europe´s economic prosperity, the question of centre versus periphery in the world economy, and again the question of the planet´s future are at stake: How does Europe, how does the European Union situate themselves in the Anthropocene? In addition, the role of Europe and the European Union in the world are now challenged with the War against Ukraine, the question being how the European States and the EU can position themselves in a changing world order. Importantly, Europe in all this is not identical with the European Union.

 The workshop unites contributions that tackle one or several of these questions and challenges, theoretically and/or empirically.

**Date and Venue:**

 - Date: November 30 (13:30- 20:00) - December 1 (09:00-15:30), 2023

 - Venue: Fulda University of Applied Sciences, Building 22, Room 302

03 November, 2022 18:00-19:30

04 November, 2022 09:00-17:30

**Workshop Overview:**

The workshop, organized by Prof. Dr. Claudia Wiesner and Prof. Dr. Michèle Knodt in collaboration with the Point Alpha Research Institute, the Jean Monnet Chair BridgE at Fulda UAS, and the projects “Transnational Governance and Human Rights” and “COST Action ENTER: EU Foreign Policy Facing New Realities,” aims to explore the implications of the war against Ukraine on EU studies. The event will feature a roundtable discussion and various sessions focusing on the new order for the EU, its role as an international actor, Ukraine and Eastern Partnerships, and the impact of the war on democracy and autocracy.

The first day will commence with a roundtable discussion titled "The War against Ukraine and EU Studies: a Zeitenwende?" moderated by Michèle Knodt, with Claudia Wiesner, Philipp Genschel, Doris Wydra, and Knud-Erik Jørgensen as discussants.

The second day's sessions will delve into topics such as the new narratives for the EU, its international actorness, the challenges and opportunities in the Eastern Neighbourhood, and the interplay between democracy, autocracy, and the ongoing war.

**Date and Venue:**

 - Date: November 03 (18:00- 19:30) - November 04 (09:00-17:30), 2022

 - Venue: Fulda Transfer and Fulda University of Applied Sciences

10 February 2023, 8:45-17:00

The PhD workshop Debating Europe goes into the second round. The international workshop assembles PhD students from six different EU countries and seven European universities who focus on Europe and the EU.  The students have the chance to present their research projects and discuss methods, theory and topics with their professors and peers in an open and cooperative debate. Above that, the workshops allows to discuss the scientific, operational and practical framework of writing a doctorate in an experimental manner among peers and professors.

Organiser: Jean Monnet Network Debating Europe and Jean-Monnet-Chair "Bridging the Gap".

Direction: Prof. Dr. Claudia Wiesner (Fulda University of Applied Sciences)

In cooperation with:

Niilo Kauppi (Helsinki University)

Kim Zilliacus (Helsinki University)

Meta Novak (University of Ljublijana)

Willy Beauvallet (Université Lyon)

Cécile Robert (Sciences Po, Lyon)

Ana Matan (University of Zagreb)

Ruzha Smilova (Center for Liberal Strategies, Sofia)

21 December 2022

On December 21, 2022, the workshop titled "Which democratic governance model for times of disruptive changes to the social contract?" was held in cooperation with the Fulda Centre for Transnational Governance. This hybrid event welcomed 9 participants in person and engaged an additional 220 participants online. Spanning 8 hours, the workshop provided a platform for robust discussions on navigating democratic governance amidst profound shifts in the social contract, fostering rich dialogue and insights from diverse perspectives.

15 September 2022, 17:00-20:00

EUROPE DIRECT Fulda and Pulse of Europe Fulda invite you to the philosophical workshop: "Alter Europe" - Europe's future in our hands.

Meike Gleim (research associate at HS Fulda, artist and philosopher) and Loretta Mesiti (dramaturg) from Brussels will lead the workshop. This will be conducted in cooperation with the Fulda Centre for Transnational Governance.

When & Where? The workshop will take place on September 15 from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm at the Fulda Transfer University Center, Heinrich-von-Bibra-Platz 1a.

"AlterEurope" is a philosophical workshop that invites you to help shape Europe's future and to join philosophers and writers in asking what another Europe - an AlterEurope - might look like. Paul Valéry asked a hundred years ago if Europe in the future will be what it really is, a corner of the Asian continent? This provocative question shows us what task lies ahead. What can we do so that Europe can meet the challenges of the future?

If you are interested in participating in a dialogue about Europe's future, please register informally by email by September 12: europedirect-events@hs-fulda.de. Please note that participation in the event is limited. You will receive a confirmation of your registration and all further information.

Despite the activities of the EU and national institutions as well as intermediate institutions and actors, research as well as opinion surveys diagnose a growing gap between what has been termed “EU elites” and EU citizens. The EU has a legitimacy problem, support rates have been decreasing during the peak of the financial crisis (see also the respective Eurobarometer data) and despite the economic situation improving, votes for populist, extremist, anti-EU and anti-democrat parties and movements are on the rise throughout the EU. At the same time, the Europeanisation of politics and decision making continues to impact and transform the national democratic systems of the member states.

Our network takes stock of this situation. The primary aim is to open debate and get into a dialogue on the EU with citizens that are neither engaged in EU-oriented civil-society organisations, nor in political parties, in order to bridge the gap between the EU and its citizens. The core of the network consists in citizen focus group discussions that the network members will organise in their home countries – three focus group discussions per country and 18 altogether in three years, with minimum ten citizen participants. The country selection is particularly adequate for our task. We include network members from Croatia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, and Slovenia, and hence, we will reach citizens in Eastern, Northern, Central and Southern EU member states, founding member states and nearly all of the following enlargements rounds, small, medium and large member states. Accordingly, the network will enhance an open debate on the EU with around 200 citizens so far not engaged with the EU in six member states. The network´s results will deliver well-based findings about the sources of contemporary EU-criticism and the character of the oft-cited gap between EU elites and average citizens that can be considered as representative for the EU altogether as they come from a representative selection of EU countries.

The international kick-off conference of the Jean Monnet Network brings together numerous international academics with an expertise in citizen´s views on the EU, debate, policy dialogue, and citizen focus groups; as well as one Member of the European Parliament.

This international workshop assembles doctoral candidates researching on Europe and the EU from six different EU countries and seven different European Universities. The doctoral students are invited to present their research projects and discuss methods, theory and topics among peers and teachers in an open and cooperative debate. Besides the workshop offers to discuss the scientific, operational and practical framework of writing a doctorate in an experimental manner among the peers and teachers. 

Organisation:
Jean Monnet Network „Debating Europe“, Jean-Monnet-Chair „Bridging the Gap“ (Fulda University of Applied Sciences) and Fulda Centre for Transnational Governance.

Direction:

Prof. Dr. Claudia Wiesner (Fulda University of Applied Sciences) 

In cooperation with: 

• Laura Landorff (Aalborg University) 
• Niilo Kauppi (Helsinki University) 
• Kim Zilliacus (Helsinki University) 
• Meta Novak (University of Ljubljana) 
• Damjan Lajh (University of Ljubljana) 
• Danica Fink-Hafner (University of Ljubljana) 
• Willy Beauvallet (Université Lyon) 
• Cécile Robert (Sciences Po, Lyon)
• Ana Matan (University of Zagreb)
• Tonci Kursar (University of Zagreb)
• Igor Vidacak (University of Zagreb)

Icons by Adrien Coquet from the Noun Project