The European Student Think Tank is pleased to launch the first edition of its Spring School, which will take place online in May 2023 and will focus on the topic on “Changing Geopolitics Influencing the EU”. 

The last few years have been extremely arduous for the European Union. Recent wars, political crises, energy issues and security risks from inside and outside the EU have represented unprecedented challenges to the action of the Union, thus demanding new and effective measures. Such context calls for a deeper understanding of how recent geopolitical changes have influenced the EU and its ability to react to what happens inside its borders and around the world. The EST Spring School, with its core emphasis on interdisciplinarity, provides a valuable conceptual framework to explore past and current events affecting the EU and its overall action.

MISSION

Upon completion of the Spring School, participants will understand the effects that recent geopolitical events can have on the EU and which policies it adopts to face these new challenges. Specifically, the audience will be able to explore the main recent events that have impacted the EU and will analyse EU policies in the fields of security, migration, economics, human rights and rule of law. Lectures have been shaped in a manner that supports interactivity and encourages critical thinking. Furthermore, participants will have the opportunity to take part in an insightful workshop on public speaking and engage in an enriching debate. Finally, participants will be able to attend a workshop on policy-writing, which will enable them to draft high quality policy papers. After the end of the Spring School participants will have the possibility to write their policy papers and submit them for publication as a special edition on the EST website in the next 2 months. Promotion of the works will be done through all of our social media.

An official Certificate of Participation will be issued to participants who attend at least 4 modules.

The teaching faculty will be composed of graduate Members of the European Student Think Tank who have academic/professional experience in the covered fields as well as external experts from other institutions.

MODULES*

  1. Opening of the EST Spring School + Influence of third countries on EU policy-making process: study cases and materials
  2. EU-Western Balkan relations through a migration lens
  3. EU-Hungary relations: the debated topic of human rights, LGBTQ+ and infringements on the rule of law
  4. Public speaking workshop + Debate “Should the EU be more autonomous or be more interconnected with third countries?”
  5. Policy-writing workshop 

*The detailed programme will be shared with registered participants around 2 weeks before the start of the Spring School. The same is applicable to lectures and modules.

DURATION

The Spring School will take place on the following days: 

  • Friday 12th May from 18.30 to 20.00 CEST
  • Saturday 13th May from 17.30 to 20.45 CEST
  • Friday 19th May from 18.30 to 20.00 CEST 
  • Saturday 20th May from 17.30 to 19.30 CEST. 

A more detailed Calendar* will be shared with registered participants as soon as their registration is confirmed.

*Time variations may occur in case of unforeseen circumstances.

ELIGIBILITY

The program mainly targets current Bachelor and Master students in the fields of law, political sciences, economics, international relations from any country, but also any other interested person who would like to deepen his/her knowledge of the European Union and related topics. Since the entire program will be held in English, participants should have a good command of the language (both oral and written) to be able to interact and learn profitably. 

HOW TO PARTICIPATE

Interested candidates may register through this form at the latest by Sunday 7th of May 2023. Please be aware that participation is limited to 100 people and registrations will close as soon as the number is reached. Participation is free of charge.

Some days after the registration participants will receive a confirmation email with further instructions to attend the sessions.

If you would like to help the EST to improve our work, you can donate whatever amount of money as a contribution for the work of bringing our very first Spring School to life. If you are interested, you can make the donation through Paypal to treasury@esthinktank.com by selecting the option “Friends and relatives”.

CONTACTS

For any inquiry you can contact springschool@esthinktank.com 

EST ORGANISING COMMITTEE

Pierfrancesco Maria Lanza, President

Rosa Maria Jorba Campmany, Vice President

Tabea Böglin, Vice President

Annalisa Scaletta, Working Groups Coordinator

Daemon Ortega Froysa, Editor-in-Chief