This workshop builds on our Networking Seminar in University College, Copenhagen in August 2017, ‘Promoting Inclusive European Collaborative Education Policy Research: Creating a third space’ which argued the need for pan-European cross-national policy research collaborations.

Amongst the many challenges facing Europe, economic woes, migration and terrorism have aggravated weakening social cohesion (Atkinson, 2009, amongst others). For many, this is set within a period of precariousness (Standing, 2011) and late-modern doubt (Giddens, 1990), whilst at the same time, individual liberties and democratic accountability in Europe is threatened by populism from both left and right, religious fundamentalism and neoliberalism as market mechanisms are privileged over political process (Muddle & Rovira Kaltwasser, 2013). And alongside this, the European Union faces an existential crisis, as more and more of its citizens come to regard its institutions as unrepresentative of them (Terry, 2014). Research responding to and seeking to address this complexity, we suggest, would benefit from being inclusive and representative of people, their perspectives and interests and the varied cultural and policy contexts and socio-economic conditions. Collaborative networks of researchers at different stages of their careers and working in different types of institution from across Europe would provide an opportunity for this.

This workshop is open to all who are interested in the work of Network 23 and in furthering our collaborative and inclusive agenda. During the workshop, the organisers will provide updates on projects initiated following the Copenhagen seminar. This will include a consideration of any difficulties encountered and the insights that can be gained from these. Those attending will then be invited to present further ideas and opportunities for any participants in the workshop to become involved and work together on ideas relating to inclusive and collaborative policy research. Specific strategies for increasing the number of diversely constituted collaborative policy research projects inclusive of researchers from across Europe will be identified and an agenda for future activity will be developed.

The objective of the workshop is to instigate and support of a number of cross-national policy research collaborations between network members.

Participants should be interested in engaging in inclusive, pan-European cross-national policy research collaborations and, if possible, come with ideas and proposals for such projects

.

.

Atkinson, A. (2009) The EU and social inclusion: facing the challenges, Bristol, Policy Press. Bhabha, H. (1996). Culture’s in-between, in: Stuart Hall, & Paul Du Gay (Eds), Questions of cultural identity, London, Sage. Giddens, A. (1990) The consequences of modernity, Cambridge, Polity Press. Muddle, C. & Rovira Kaltwasser, C. (Eds) (2013) Populism in Europe and the Americas: Threat or corrective for democracy? New York, Cambridge University Press. Standing, G. (2011) The Precariat: The new dangerous class, London, Bloomsbury. Terry, C. (2014) Close the gap: Tackling Europe’s democratic deficit, London, Electoral Reform Society.