General presentation
The recent crises generated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine are already having an impact on the social and economic cohesion of European society. Its ability to ensure the well-being of all its members, to minimise development gaps, to remove economic and social barriers and to avoid discrimination, marginalisation and cultural differences depends on the resilience of the EU and the use of appropriate instruments to provide the necessary support different categories of population in need. Moreover, vulnerable groups, located at the border regions of CEE, are categories of population who are confronting everyday experiences shaped by a local and regional economic and social reality, which is unique in the European landscape.
In other words, our project aims to approach EU studies in an innovative and multidisciplinary way, so that to identify the forms of manifestation of social support in the times of crisis (2020-present) and to highlight their role in generating solidarity between people and ensuring the cohesion of groups located at the border regions of CEE, elements which underpin the development of sustainable strategies for a cohesive European society.
Objectives
Providing an education and training platform that contributes to the diversification of skills and abilities of the graduates of the University of Oradea, for a faster integration into the regional and European labour market;
▪ Providing an appropriate educational framework for the formation of proactive, resilient and inclusive attitudes among target groups;
▪ Facilitating dialogue between academia and society, i.e. between different categories of societal actors, to identify the role of social support in ensuring individual and collective well-being;
▪ Stimulating discussions and debates on the relationship between social support and European cohesion among academics, students, researchers, practitioners and policy makers, transferability of debate results and transformation into improved policies and practices;
▪ Contributing to the enrichment of European knowledge by generating knowledge and information on the complex nature of the effect that social support has on societies in the border regions of Central and Eastern Europe;
▪ To promote and raise awareness of the cohesive European society and increase the visibility of the project results;
▪ Contribute to strengthening EU public diplomacy by promoting European values, policies and strategies among students, specialists, representatives of vulnerable groups from third countries not associated to the Erasmus+ programme.
Objectives and the main outputs and outcomes
Our proposal aims at contributing to harmonious development of European regions by stimulate teaching, research and reflection activities in two convergent axes:
- approaching regional development from the point of view of border regions growth, in the context of Central and Eastern Europe realities;
- strengthening the youth capacity to adapt at the nowadays labour market and to contribute to regional growth.
We plan: theoretical courses; interactive seminars; simulations; a summer school where practitioners, specialists in regional development, representatives of local and national authorities and European politician will lecture and interact with students; will be provided didactic materials; an international conference, as an academic space where scholars from the regional development and educational area will meat, exchange ideas and publish their research findings on this regard.
Outputs:
- enriching the university curricula with three new courses on EU related themes;
- developing research in a niche of EU studies;
- facilitating dialogue between the academics, students and main local, regional, national or European actors (decision-makers, employers, civil society, professionals, business area);
- raising awareness of the EU regional development policy among students, but also among people involved in institutions and public authorities and equipping students with adequate skills;
Outcomes:
- enriching students’ knowledge on the EU and improving their civic abilities;
- growing the interest for understanding the EU;
- increasing the expertise of the University of Oradea in European studies;
- ensuring excellence in teaching and research activities;
Beneficiaries
- direct – students, the academic community, University of Oradea;
- indirect – local communities and the representatives of institutions, groups within the civil society, teaching staff, professionals etc., from Romania and other EU and non-EU countries.