The Mid-Term Conference of the “Specify and Protect the EU Social Contract (EXPRESS2)” project, which is carried out within the scope of the EU Horizon Europe program and of which Sabancı University is among the partners, was organized by SU Gender and hosted by Sabancı University at Minerva Han Karaköy on May 28–29 under the title of Crafting a New EU Social Contract Together.
The two-day hybrid event addressed how a more participatory and inclusive social contract could be developed in Europe with a multidisciplinary approach.
The conference began with the opening speeches of Zeynep Gülru Göker, who implements the project at Sabancı University, and Antoni Abat, project coordinator from Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Over the course of two days, academics from leading European universities, civil society representatives, and project partners came together to address the idea of a new EU social contract from various perspectives.
On the first day of the conference, a panel entitled “Towards an Inclusive and Sustainable EU Social Contract” was held, moderated by Ayşe Betül Çelik, and a panel entitled “Gender, Populism, and Insecurity” was held, at which Zeynep Gülru Göker, Oya Yeğen, and Meriç Çağlar presented their research as part of the project. The first day of the conference ended with a keynote speech by Meltem Müftüler-Baç, entitled “The Security Environment of the European Union: Strategic Partnerships”.
The second day of the conference began with a panel moderated by Cenk Özbay, covering the effects of digitalization and the pandemic on the social contract, and continued with a panel about sustainability studies at the EU, national, and local levels, where Zeynep Kadirbeyoğlu, an IPC-Mercator researcher at the Istanbul Policy Center, presented the findings of her research.
The conference ended with the “Young Researchers Competition”, in which students from various European universities presented their articles on the social contract and received feedback from academics involved in the project.