Project description
New EU policy toolkit that supports democracy abroad
Democracy can be described as a social practice requiring the collective democratic learning of all stakeholders involved. In this context, the EU-funded SHAPEDEM-EU project will explore the EU’s democracy support policies in Eastern and Southern European countries. Bringing together a multinational research consortium of academic, think tanks and civil society institutions, SHAPEDEM-EU will test a Democracy Learning Loop to design new channels and tools for interaction between the EU and its neighbours. It will develop policy recommendations for an improved EU policy toolkit. The project will apply mixed methods to collect, assess, and generate policies related to democracy support in the six case countries of Armenia, Georgia, Lebanon, Palestine, Tunisia and Ukraine.
Objective
SHAPEDEM-EU sets out to rethink, reshape, and review the EU’s democracy support policies in its Eastern & Southern Neighbourhoods. Amidst the increasing contestation of the EU and the weakening impact of its policies in the Neighbourhoods, SHAPEDEM-EU applies an entirely novel approach to democracy support. The approach conceives of democracy support as a social practice requiring the collective democratic learning of all stakeholders involved. The consortium will pilot test a Democracy Learning Loop to create new channels and tools for interaction between the EU and its neighbours and transfer these findings into policy recommendations for an improved EU policy toolkit.
SHAPEDEM-EU represents a multi-national and multifaceted research consortium of academic, think tank, and civil society institutions based in the EU and the Southern and Eastern Neighbourhoods. The consortium will apply mixed-methods to collect, assess, and generate policies related to democracy support in the six case countries of Lebanon, Palestine, Tunisia, Ukraine, Georgia, and Armenia. We will investigate the role of EU member states, key EU institutions, third country actors, and international organisations. The project results will lead to improved EU practices in the region. In all project phases, the impact of gender equality & digital transformations in democracy support will be examined.
The findings will be communicated and disseminated through SHAPEDEM-EU’s comprehensive Democracy Support Database and an online Digital Dashboard. Our results will contribute to the creation of sustainable tools for an EU policy toolkit that supports democracy in its Southern & Eastern Neighbourhoods, thus increasing the EU’s accountability, transparency, effectiveness, and trustworthiness and making neighbourhood countries more resilient, equitable, and responsive to local needs.
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HORIZON-RIA - HORIZON Research and Innovation ActionsCoordinator
35390 Giessen
Germany