Contemporary societies are increasingly shaped by crises that are not only political, economic or environmental, but also imaginative. Climate change, technological transformation, migration, social polarisation and rapid cultural change all require individuals and institutions to imagine alternative futures, negotiate uncertainty and create new forms of social cooperation. Yet imagination remains one of the least systematically studied dimensions of human life. While it has often been associated with creativity and the arts, recent developments across the social sciences and humanities have shown that imagination also plays a fundamental role in political decision-making, scientific innovation, religious life, heritage, education and everyday social practice.
The IMAGINE ERA Chair addresses this challenge by establishing the first internationally recognised research centre dedicated to the anthropology and interdisciplinary study of imagination at the Institute of Social Sciences of the University of Lisbon (ICS–ULisboa). Supported by the Horizon Europe ERA Chair programme, the project seeks to strengthen the Institute's scientific excellence, increase its international competitiveness and consolidate its capacity to attract researchers, students and external funding in an emerging field of strategic importance.
The Chair is built around the conviction that imagination is not simply an individual mental faculty but a social process through which people interpret the past, experience the present and anticipate possible futures. Understanding how imagination operates is therefore essential for addressing some of the major societal challenges facing Europe today. By bringing together anthropology with sociology, history, psychology, geography, philosophy, the arts and digital humanities, IMAGINE develops new conceptual and methodological approaches capable of studying imagination across different cultural, historical and institutional settings.
The ERA Chair combines frontier research with institutional capacity building. Alongside the recruitment of outstanding early-career researchers and doctoral students, the project establishes new research infrastructures, develops advanced training programmes, promotes interdisciplinary collaboration and expands the international research networks of ICS–ULisboa. These activities contribute directly to the Horizon Europe objective of widening participation and strengthening the European Research Area by enhancing research excellence within a Widening country.
A distinctive feature of IMAGINE is its commitment to integrating social sciences and humanities throughout the project. Athough anthropology provides the central conceptual framework as defined by the Chair Holder's vision, essential dialogue with other disciplines allows imagination to be explored as a complex social phenomenon rather than solely as an individual cognitive capacity. This interdisciplinary perspective makes it possible to investigate how societies imagine landscapes, technologies, identities, religions, heritage, environmental futures and political communities, thereby generating knowledge that is relevant both for academic research and for public policy.
Beyond its scientific objectives, IMAGINE aims to establish a sustainable international centre of excellence that will continue beyond the lifetime of the project. By strengthening institutional governance, expanding international partnerships, supporting researcher development and producing innovative research on one of the defining dimensions of contemporary social life, the project contributes to reinforcing Europe's capacity to understand and respond creatively to the challenges of an increasingly uncertain world.
