The European integration project faces multiple challenges in the 21st century. The rise of national protectionism, climate change, refugee crises, the vulnerability of European societies and economies to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, and finally Russia’s unprovoked military aggression against Ukraine have called Europe’s post-war peace and stability into question. European borderlands are particularly vulnerable to these multiple crises as they often become hot spots of large influx of refugees and migrants, and the frontline of the reintroduction of border controls and closures, and other external shocks which may hinder cross-border economic and social development. Nevertheless, European borderlands are still perceived by the European Commission as ‘Living labs of European integration’ where new ideas and solutions for European integration are often tested (European Commission, 2021). Therefore, B-SHAPES seeks to identify, understand, and re-envision the key role of borders as a central factor forming and changing people’s perceptions of European societies and politics.
To scrutinise the idea of a socially and culturally coherent Europe, B-SHAPES engages with people’s perceptions of European societies with a focus on the re-bordering trends in Europe, both at EU-internal and external borders, as they are threatening the process of European integration and are bound to alter perceptions of European heritage as shared values, beliefs, and traditions that bridge people living within and across the European territory. To both understand and re-envision the idea of a socially and culturally coherent Europe in the light of current multiple crises, B-SHAPES investigates borders’ continuing impact on perceptions of the European integration process and provide policy recommendations on how to create a more resilient, inclusive, and democratic European society. It aims at illuminate practices of dealing with multiple and often conflictual cultural heritage and contribute to the development of intercultural understanding and of social cohesion of European society.
