In 2025, Network 7: Social Justice and Intercultural Education continued to advance critical research and dialogue on equity, diversity, and inclusion in education. Building on its long-standing engagement with interculturality, active citizenship, multilingualism, and education for living in diversity, the network’s activities this year placed renewed emphasis on decentering research perspectives, decolonizing pedagogical approaches, and foregrounding lived experiences in studies of social justice.
Across a changing European and global scenario marked by political polarization, migration, refugees and environmental challenges, NW7 reaffirmed its commitment to critical, person-centred, and contextually grounded methodologies. Its initiatives in 2025 emphasized the importance of dialogue and collaboration in rethinking educational research for more inclusive and socially responsive practices. Bearing this challenge in mind, five highlights stand out from this year’s ECER 2025 program:
i. ERC Workshop: “How to Develop Decentering Research Strategies?” organised by Lisa Rosen and Julia Friedrich (University of Kaiserslautern-Landau, RPTU) and chaired by Carola Mantel (PH Zug), this ERC workshop invited emerging and experienced researchers to explore strategies for decentering dominant narratives and amplifying marginalised voices in educational research. Through case studies and practical exercises, participants were encouraged to reflect critically on their positionalities, ethical commitments, and research practices, and challenge it by doing so. Discussions focused on the challenges of inclusive and participatory methodologies to disrupt Eurocentric frameworks and co-create knowledge that is socially just and interculturally responsive. The session offered a unique space for methodological reflection and community-building, fostering a network of committed scholars.
ii. Another important endeavour was the Joint Special Call: “Arts-based Research and Education: School and Community Engagement, Participation, Innovation, and Power-Sharing” organized by Network 07 in collaboration with Network 20 (Research on Teacher Education) and Network 29 (Research on Arts Education), which resulted into 15 contributions, including 10 papers, 2 posters, 1 panel discussion, 1 research workshop, and 1 symposium. Focusing on Arts-Based Educational Research and Participatory Research, contributors demonstrated how these approaches can break down barriers to participation and amplify marginalised voices, particularly in communities often excluded from institutional research. Techniques such as Photovoice, Memory Walks, and Collage offered accessible, non-verbal platforms for sharing lived experiences, enabling culturally sensitive and contextually grounded research.
iii. Furthermore, NW7 organised a Joint Symposium: “Decent Protection? Social Inclusion, Education, and the Complex Realities of Refugee Lives in the European Migration Regime”, across three sessions, from which one was shared with Network 05 (Children and Youth at Risk and Urban Education). This three-part symposium examined the urgent humanitarian and political challenges of refugee support and education across Europe. Adopting an intersectional lens, the symposium explored how gender, ethnicity, socio-economic status, sexual orientation, and migration status shape refugees’ access to education and protection. Education emerged as both a potential site of inclusion and belonging and a space where structural inequalities are reproduced and need to be overcome. The symposium’s three sessions offered a rich comparative panorama of refugee experiences and educational practices across Europe by bringing together papers from Northern, Central, and Southern Europe, illuminating both shared challenges and locally grounded strategies for inclusive and intercultural education.
iv. This year, the programme featured three Ignite Talks, a notably high number in comparison with previous editions. The Ignite talk session proved to be an excellent initiative: an agile, high-energy format for sharing knowledge and sparking debate among peers. The concise presentations kept focus tight, showcased diverse perspectives in quick succession, and lowered the barrier to participation.
v. This year’s programme also included 12 Symposia, a remarkably high number compared to previous years, reflecting both the vitality and thematic diversity of the network. The symposia addressed pressing issues such as racism in European educational settings, refugee experiences and social inclusion, immigrant and minority teachers, and arts-based approaches to cultural literacy and equity in education. Examples include sessions such as Unveiling Lived Experiences of Racism in European Educational Settings: Historical and Intersectional perspectives (Parts 1-2); Decent Protection? Social Inclusion, Education, and the Complex Realities of Refugee Lives in the European Migration Regime (Parts 1–3), Exploring Immigrant Experiences: Cosmopolitanism In and Out of School; and Minority/Minoritised Teachers (Parts 1–2), among others.
In terms of the overall programme, NW 7 received over 115 proposals for ECER 2025, resulting in 90 papers, 1 Panel Discussion, 1 Research Workshop, 12 Symposia, 7 Posters, and 3 Ignite Talk. This number of submissions maintains the trend from the previous year. All submissions to the network went through a rigorous double-blind review process, with convenors and external reviewers contributing, including Sofia Almeida Santos, Helena Avery, Bianca Babler, Ábel Bereményi, Ghazala Bhatti, Natasa Ciabatti, Louisa Dawes, Joanna Dobkowska, Carl Emery, Sandra Girbés-Peco, Eunice Macedo, Isabella Pescarmona, Lisa Rosen, Henrike Terhart, Fenna tom Dieck, Kerstin Von Brömssen, Lucas Agostinetto and Barbara Gross. The sessions were well attended and participated in, providing engaging debates and international approaches.
During the network meeting, participants gave positive feedback on the structure of three parallel sessions in each time slot, as well as the good quality of presentations. On the occasion of this year’s Network Meeting, new members were encouraged to join the team as convenors, reviewers, and chairs. New convenors, Sofia Almeida Santos (Universidade do Porto) and Ábel Bereményi (Universitat de Barcelona, Spain), were introduced to all participants and were warmly welcomed and supported by the existing convenor team. This moment fostered team cohesion and active engagement. Their inclusion was also shared during the NW meeting session, attended by several researchers, PhD students, and members from other networks interested in the 7 NW’s topics and dynamics. This session served as an opportunity to discuss potential collaborations, joint activities for the coming year, and to plans strategies for strengthening NW7 presence at the Emerging Researchers’ Conference. Moreover, for the first time, the convenors decided to include PhD students as members of the convenor team. In particular, participants were challenged to become involved in preparing next year’s Opening Session and in the organisation of the celebrations of the 30th anniversary of Network 7. Representatives from publishers also attended the session, during which they shared details of their journals and their intentions for future collaborations.