Presidency event (PL) – Conference ‘Europe and mobilities: challenges and opportunities for socio-economic transformations’

Expected Outcome: the project is expected to:

• Facilitate dialogue between the research and policy sectors regarding the future of the European Union, and Europe more broadly, taking into consideration the positive and negative experiences of transformations the EU and its regions have been undergoing. This will be done by bringing together the most reputed scholars of social sciences and humanities and policymakers (including strategic thinkers from the EU and think tanks).
• Stimulate public discussions on topics which are important and up to date in the EU and the Central and Eastern European region, such as, among others, social inequalities, demographic and migration challenges, energy, technological and labour market transformations, and the digital revolution.

Expected Impact: the proposed conference should contribute to the following expected impact of the Horizon Europe strategic and operational objectives:

• It will generate knowledge and facilitate knowledge exchange regarding social and other transformations to support more effective Union policies on issues such as social inclusion, migration management and integration of migrants, the promotion of fundamental rights for all, and integrating technology and social science knowledge to create sustainable solutions.
• It will improve the visibility and understanding of scientific knowledge on social issues, which should lead to better-informed choices and increased involvement of the public in policymaking.
• It will stimulate the mobility and cooperation of researchers in the social sciences, humanities and technology.

Scope: In a period of rapid transformations in Europe, including demographic, migration-related, and technological ones, it is necessary to discuss the social and economic effects of these changes. As we have witnessed, unmitigated transformations put pressure on individual countries of the European Union and the whole European project. The conference will offer a venue for discussions between top European academics and policymakers regarding ways to mitigate the negative effects of changes, such as excessive social inequalities, and profit from the related opportunities. Particular focus will be put on the experiences of Central and Eastern European countries, which face some of these changes, including a demographic decline and migration transition, at an accelerated speed.

The 3-day conference will be organized into sessions around the following themes [preliminary list to be updated in the future]:

1. Demographic change in European countries: opportunities, challenges and possible solutions
2. Social inequalities related to gender, race, and immigration history. Social mobility in Europe
3. Economic inequalities: drivers and mitigation options
4. Socio-economic effects of migrations for receiving countries
5. The migration transition in Central and Eastern European countries
6. The developmental outcomes of migrations for sending and receiving countries
7. Refugee policy vs. practice in the European Union: towards a new European/global asylum system

Procedure: The evaluation committee will be composed fully by representatives of EU institutions.