Project Summary

Democracies worldwide also in Europe are facing challenges that affect the future of the European Union. Referring to the priorities of the European Commission, the European Democracy Action Plan and the Conference on the future of Europe initiative, I intend to contribute to foster civic engagement and political participation of European citizens. My aim is to contribute to generate debate and dialogue in the academic sphere and beyond on policy issues that are of most interest and concern to citizens especially the youth. As a JM Chair I approach resilience from the perspective of the individuals: the European citizens. Similar to democratic states, where citizens are the main basis for the existence and legitimacy of the political community, European citizens shall also be regarded as the most important actors in EU’s political system. My activities will focus on four priority target groups: (1) University students in Hungary and in Erasmus+ partner countries including students from faculties that do not normally deal with EU issues; (2) high school students in disadvantaged regions of the country; (3) opinion leaders, influencers and the media; and (4) civil servants and young professionals.

The activities of the JM Chair are built around two specific objectives such as (a) implementing excellent teaching, research and training in the field of EU Studies and beyond and (b) promoting debate on the future of EU related issues among university students and high school students nationwide and internationally.

Innovative curriculum development with interactive, debate generating methodology, supervision of PhD students, publications in peer-reviewed journals, development of a ’bEU’ digital platform, organising events and reaching out to a wider public through social media are all among the expected deliverables of the three-year long JM Chair project.

A full professor with extensive research and publication record in the field of European Studies, currently head of the Department of European Studies at, NKE (JM Chair holder) in the field of European Studies, a senior and a junior member of the academic team as well as an experienced project manager are guarantees of the effective implementation of the tasks.