The concluding policy event of the TraPoCo project, at the Maastricht University Brussels Campus, will be an opportunity for partners to share their most cutting-edge research outcomes with civil society and policymakers, with a focus on policy implications at the EU level.
About TraPoCo
The EU-funded project explores how transnational political contention in various fields contributes to strengthening democracy and fundamental rights at the EU level as well as at the national and local level. Its research examines how this may have an impact on European integration and on the idea of Europe that people develop.
TraPoCo is coordinated by the Scuola Normale Superiore in Florence. Project partners include universities and NGOs from across the EU and Serbia, including The Good Lobby.
It is a three-year project (2020-2023) set up within the “Jean Monnet Network” action of the Erasmus Plus programme that aims to promote awareness, innovate the teaching activity, and encourage dialogue between academia and civil society on the studies relating to European integration.
Why is this important?
Representative democracy, multilateralism, and the European Union are increasingly being questioned; at the same time, transnational political dynamics are growing, for and against the liberal order. Some of these dynamics undermine the EU and its constituent values, such as rule of law, while others contribute to strengthening democratic guarantees at EU level as well as of individual Member States or those aspiring to join.
In recent years, Europe and the world have seen major mobilisations and protests, raising important issues related to jobs, the environment, climate, health, anti-discrimination and redistribution. In an interconnected and interdependent world, these are all challenges of a supranational nature that involve actors engaged in collective actions at a transnational level.
The TraPoCo Jean Monnet network contributed to developing an emerging field of research that looks at the interaction of practices and processes that cross the borders of nation states and have an impact on the functioning of democracy inside and outside the Union.
TraPoCo scholars focused on the advancement of research on the practices of mobilisation and protest (protests, legal activism, strikes, advocacy) of actors such as social movements, activists, civil society organisations, trade unions, etc. in transnational political arenas on issues relating to European integration.
In particular, TraPoCo looked at how, in what forms, and under what conditions the societal actors that work for the enlargement of the space of fundamental rights benefit from transnational political spaces at EU level and, in turn, contribute to European integration in some form.
TraPoCo studied the forms of collective action that these actors choose in order to pursue their demands on issues such as environmental protection and climate justice, migration, labour policies, and anti-discrimination and discussed when and how transnational mobilisations reinvigorate the democracy of the EU and its Member States.
Join us for the final conference
Participants will discuss the issue of solidarity and transnationalism with regard to four main topics: the environment, migration, civic space, and labour rights.
The event will begin with coffee at 9.00 on 7 June and the conference will be followed by a networking lunch. You can also watch the proceedings online.
For each topic, TraPoCo’s research team will present a policy paper as the basis for discussion. Speakers and discussants include:
- MEP Sergey Lagodinsky
- Kelsey Beltz, The Good Lobby
- Jelena Pešić, University of Belgrade
- Aron Buzogany, Boku University
- Torsten Müller, Senior Researcher, ETUI
- Pablo Sanchez, European Public Service Union
- Jlenia Destito, European Commission (EACEA)
The full agenda can be found on the TraPoCo website. We look forward to seeing you there!