The concepts at the heart of the Connected Community are European citizenship, democratic participation, inclusion and solidarity in the EU. We aim to invite students and the civil society to reflect on issues on which the academic members of the community have developed research of a political, legal, linguistic, and historical nature, as well as on artistic and audio-visual representations of these notions, or lack of.
Programme
The Connected Community will address two sets of questions through several online and in-person activities that will involve students of all levels, researchers and experts, NGOs, EU officials, and members of the European Parliament. The first set of questions concerns the involvement of European citizens in EU political debates: how do we understand this notion of democratic participation? How can we measure it? How has it evolved? What mechanisms exist to involve European citizens in EU political debates? How do these mechanisms enable citizens to participate actively? How do European citizens exercise their political rights? What are the barriers to using these mechanisms? A second set of questions concerns the inclusion of non-European citizens and solidarity. The issue of solidarity has come to the fore with the years of “polycrisis” that the EU has been going through (economic and financial crisis, “refugee crisis”, sanitary crisis, etc.): What does solidarity mean in the EU? Is it mainly about solidarity between member states (for example in the case of the relocation programme)? What about solidarity with non-European citizens (Ukraine and EU’s migration and asylum policy come to mind)? How is solidarity framed by the EU institutions? How do EU public policies take solidarity into account? What is the impact of these policies on inclusion and sustainability?
- Here are some examples of the planned activities, but stay tuned for updates!
- Cross-campus learning activity with a negotiation simulation on the EU migration and asylum policy
- Workshops and student debates on the European citizens’ initiative and how to access information on the EU decision-making process
- Presentation on the artistic exploration of Forensic Architecture
Connected Community Upcoming Activities
Lecture: The artistic exploration of Forensic Architecture
The hybrid session will present the artistic investigation of the collective Forensic Architecture, which combines artistic research with a concrete intervention of solidarity. Their work – e.g. the production of visual and audio-visual evidence – has proved useful in supporting asylum seekers in court.
- WHEN: Spring 2026
- WHERE: Ca’ Foscari University of Venice and online (hybrid)
Further information coming soon!
Connected Community Past Activities
Workshop: “Selected examples of participatory democracy in the European Union” – 9 December 2025, 15:45-17:15
The workshop explored selected examples of participatory democracy in the European Union, such as the European Citizens’ Initiative. The event featured insights from experts and guest speakers Clément Franzoso and Silvia Kotanidis from the European Parliamentary Research Service, and examined the successes and challenges of past experiments in participatory democracy. The hybrid event was moderated by Ca’ Foscari’s Professors Stéphanie Novak and Sara De Vido, with the online participation of students from the EUTOPIA CC partner Universities.
EUTOPIA Ideas Club “Asylum policy, migration, inclusion and solidarity in the European Union” – University of Ljubljana, 9-10 October 2025
The EUTOPIA Ideas Club is a 2-day event raising awareness of European values and active citizenship through student-led debates and group activities in an international and multicultural setting. The 2025 edition was organised in collaboration with the UNIVE-led Connected Community Working with University Students for Inclusion, Solidarity and Citizen Participation in the EU. In particular, Prof. Stéphanie Novak (UNIVE), Prof. Sara De Vido (UNIVE), and Prof. Maša Kovič Dine (UL) contributed to the planning of the activities and facilitated the event. The blended event consisted of two parts:
- An online preparatory activity on 29 September 2025, at 10:30 (CET)
- A 2-day in-person event on 9-10 October 2025 at the University of Ljubljana
Alongside the student-led debate, the programme featured a negotiation simulation on the EU migration and asylum policy and a Research-based Learning Workshop on access to information on the EU decision-making process.
How to get involved
Contacts
Lead: Prof. Stéphanie Novak (stephanie.novak@unive.it)
Local Facilitator: Laura Cappellesso (eutopia@unive.it)