As part of the first stage of work on the organisation of an international scientific conference entitled 1st CIVICA at SGH Conference ‘The EU economy and society in the 21st century - governance, environment and democracy at the crossroads’, it was agreed that the conference would be held in the formula of open collection of applications from potential speakers for presentation of a paper (call for papers), followed by selection of the best papers. Speakers can only be individuals representing CIVICA member universities. On the basis of the submissions, the Scientific Council of the conference will select approximately 20 most interesting papers related to the conference theme.
The themes of the conference are in line with the four thematic priorities of the CIVICA alliance:
- Democracy in the 21st century.
- Societies in transitions and crisi of the Earth.
- Europe revisited.
- Data-driven technologies in the social science.
The conference will foster development of academic staff, establishment of research and teaching collaborations and joint publications, and will strengthen the position of SGH within CIVICA.
The organisation of the conference will provide an opportunity to generate positive synergies of cooperation in many dimensions covered by the CIVICA consortium agreement, including in particular - WP6 - CIVICA research. The best papers qualified in the double blind review process will be published in a monograph. The working language of the conference will be English. The main outcome of the conference will be to enhance the competences of the CIVICA university staff in the internationalisation of the University and to strengthen cooperation within the consortium by:
(a) getting acquainted with the directions and results of the research conducted at the individual universities and exchanging experiences in the research methods used;
(b) identifying potential areas of joint research;
(c) identifying areas of possible cooperation in teaching at CIVICA level (multi-campus courses, joint courses and honours seminars at undergraduate and graduate level).
The proposed conference will go beyond the organisational framework of traditional scientific conferences, which are largely one-off events that do not translate into an increase in the intensity of scientific and teaching cooperation between the institutions delegating participants. Strengthening the competences of research and teaching staff in the sphere of establishing and/or continuing cooperation within CIVICA should therefore be considered an important measure for the development of international academic partnerships, which - in line with the objectives of the Programme - constitute the foundation for building a joint transnational teaching offer, carrying out research, academic exchanges and joint image-building on the international arena.
Following the conference, it is planned to publish a monograph in English, which will contain (selected or all) papers presented at the conference.
The planned date for the conference is 16-17 April 2026.
An open call for paper proposals is planned to be launched in the coming weeks.
