TransX

Cross-media participation in the post-corona city - transformations to strengthen social cohesion in disadvantaged spaces

Networking activities for research on innovations in the field of democracy and governance in disadvantaged spaces in the post-Covid era

As part of the project TransX, the ISP - Institute for Urban Research, Planning and Communication at FH Erfurt (Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning) and the Faculty of Applied Social Sciences, represented by the IKPE - Institute for Community Planning and Development at FH Erfurt - plan to participate in the EU Commission's call for proposals in the Horizon Europe programme.

For this purpose, preparatory measures, primarily networking activities for the submission of a collaborative research project in the second funding pillar of Horizon Europe "global challenges", specifically in Cluster 2 "Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society" and predominantly in the investment area "Democracy & Governance" are planned. In this focus of research, the "impact of technological and scientific advances, including big data, social networks on the internet and artificial intelligence, on democracy, privacy and freedom of speech" as well as the "impact of economic and social inequalities of political participation and democratic governance" are addressed as relevant topics. In line with these topics, the aim is to intertwine political participation, social integration and democracy in the long term in order to transfer fundamental rights and active citizenship in a joint Europe into the age of digitalisation. The focus is on social innovations, especially new cross-media forms of participation across broad sections of the population together with urban transformation processes, integral inclusivity and the active political participation of civil society. In addition, innovative, enabling participation formats and the potential for using data-based technologies will be explored for various international case studies.

About the project

The aim is to use various networking activities and formats of professional exchange (including workshops, conferences, partnering) in order to gain access to existing or emerging transnational and transdisciplinary consortia that are preparing a submission in the above-described thematic fields of the Horizon Europe Programme. Specifically, both participation in existing network activities (partner acquisition, network development and expansion, congresses) and the organisation of events and consolidation processes are planned. The goal is to create a basis for (repeated) participation in calls in the current funding period under the umbrella of Horizon Europe. In future calls, the project partners wish to compete with a specific project idea and an existing consortium and acquire corresponding EU research funding through innovative, transdisciplinary research. The activities within the project should enable the long-term establishment of the two institutes, the ISP and IKPE, in the European research area and strengthen their visibility in national and international research communities. Successful acquisition of EU research projects strengthens the European orientation of FH Erfurt and these two institutes. In particular, a further aim is the continuation of the participants’ applied research fields as well as their further development in the sense of the European idea

Areas of activity

Following on from the EU research projects previously carried out by FH Erfurt and the national and international projects of the participating partners, an integrated approach is being taken to research collaborations. The focus is on their transformative character and interdisciplinary networking and orientation. The projects carried out so far are to be expanded to includean additional focus in order to also strengthen the research focus of the FH Erfurt "Sustainable planning and construction, land use and resource management and social transformation" with European input. In addition, the research focus also offers corresponding starting points for further international research partnerships, especially with actors from the social sciences, cultural studies and humanities. Projects carried out so far by the participating institutes have primarily been in the field of applied sciences (ESF, ESRE, Interreg). The aim is now to generate innovative, practice-oriented research findings at the interface of applied social sciences and urban research or urban planning, as well as current societal challenges such as social and environmental justice, digitalisation and climate change. In doing so, previous experience and future developments should lead to an increased inter- and transdisciplinary approach within FH Erfurt and beyond in a transnational, European context.

Aims and methods of the research project

The project is divided into six work packages (WP), which on the one hand serve to conduct direct networking activities in the form of workshops with target groups at different levels – at regional, national and EU level. Furthermore, activities are planned for the duration of the project that contribute to the visibility of FH Erfurt and the participating institutes at national and EU level. Likewise, activities corresponding to the development and publication of the research profile on the relevant research and professional online platforms and attendance at the central specialist conferences. Due to the current highly dynamic socio-technological development of the research focus, the latest developments in research and practice will also be recorded and defined for the formulation of the idea outline (concept) for further utilisation in the project proposal, contacting potential project partners as well as further preparatory measures for the formation of the consortium and initiation of the project.

The six work packages necessary for the implementation of the project are listed below:

- WP1: Strategy workshop - development of a roadmap and a detailed plan of measures and time schedule, as well as exploring existing competencies and how to communicate them in the best way.

- WP2: Networking workshop - networking with regional, national and European partners.

- WP3: Partnering portals - network analysis and (initial) contacting of potential partners, consortia and European advisory bodies.

- WP4: Conference visits - visibility and presence in the professional community.

- WP5: Network and actor analysis – identification of relevant consortia, actors and potential partnerships.

- WP6: Concept development - conceptualisation of the project in cooperation with the consortium and elaboration of a project idea.