Youth Agency and New Political Imaginaries in the Western Balkans

Active, IFDT partner, International, Projects

The Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory leads this Regional Network of Centers of Advanced Studies in Southeast Europe (RECAS) project focused on placing youth perspectives at the center of democratic renewal and policy design in the Western Balkans. Over 12 months, the project will host selected PhD and postdoctoral fellows for three- to six-month residencies at RECAS centers, where they will research how young people imagine Europe’s political future and eco-digital transformations, and translate those insights into practical policy proposals. Core activities include six Deliberative Workshops with students across WB capitals, a joint Surgery Week at Moise Palace, a Policy Hackathon dedicated to eco-digital futures, and continuous curation of results in the open Academic Policy Lab 2.0 repository.

Sustaining Civil Society in the Context of Multiple Crises: Hubs of Engagement in Central and Eastern Europe and Sweden

Active, IFDT partner, International, Projects

This project comparatively analyses the resilience and innovative capacities of civil society in Poland, Hungary, Romania, Serbia, Czechia, and Sweden. It begins from the genealogies of multiple crises – economic, housing, climate, food, pandemic, and gender – and focuses on communities’ collective responses. It examines how civic actions emerge and endure under conditions of exclusion, how activists sustain engagement and build multi-scalar solidarities, and how alliances and key relationships are shaped. As an analytical instrument, the concept of “hubs of engagement” is introduced. The methodological framework is qualitative and comparative, based on critical participatory action research.