2020 International Neighbourhood Symposium (INS)

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2020 International Neighbourhood Symposium (INS)


“Youth Empowerment, Civic Engagement, and Sustainable Development in Europe’s Neighbourhoods”

 11 -17 December 2020
Online

 The deadline for applications is Saturday, 5 December 2020

The 2020 edition of the International Neighbourhood Symposium (INS) will be held primarily as an online event between 11 - 17 December 2020  (in the form of 3 to 3.5 hour-long afternoon sessions) where the focus will be on assessing the role of civil society in the COVID19 era across the Eastern and Southern Neighbourhoods of the European Union on a number on themes including: COVID19 and CSOsYouth EmpowermentGender DynamicsIntercultural Dialogue; and Sustainable Development/Sustainable Cities. Each of the aforementioned sessions will be led by an expert facilitator on the topic who will begin the sessions with a short presentation and will engage the participants into a discussion in order to engender policy recommendations as to how to strengthen the enabling environment CSOs engaged in the particular topics and how to promote greater civic engagement.

Apart from the sessions dedicated to the engagement of Civil Society in the COVID19 Era, the INS will also include three sessions of a more political nature as is usually the practice of all previous editions of the INS. This year’s themes are: Countering Russian Malign InfluencesBlack Sea Dynamics; and The Mediterranean in Transition.

The 2020 INS will also include a series of six webinars either related to foreign policy/ international relations issues relevant to the EU and its neighbourhoods or on several themes pertinent to civil society and its engagement. These webinars will be open to a wider audience and will run between November 2020 and April 2021.

The INS is an initiative of the CIES in partnership with QuadriviumUA: Ukraine Analytica and Ukrainian Prism.

Who should apply: MA students, PhD candidates, young PhD scholars, experts, and young professionals, aged between 20 and 40 years or thereabouts, from the countries of the Black Sea area; Southeastern Europe; the Mediterranean; the Middle East; EU member states; and elsewhere with an interest in the politics of the EU’s neighbourhoods and civil society. Proficiency in English is required

Linked to the project are a series of webinars which will be held during the period between November 2020 and April 2021.

The first three scheduled Webinars are:

  • "Making Sense of Developments in the Eastern Mediterranean" held on Monday, 16 November at 19:00 IST time.

You may see the Youtube video of the event here.

  • "Developments in the South Caucasus: Regional Perspectives" held on Friday, 20 November at 18:00 IST time.

You may see the Youtube video of the event here.

  • "The US Presidential Election: What Implications for Turkey and its Neighbours?" held on Wednesday, 25 November at 19:00 IST time.