The conference brings together academics and policy makers working in various fields of Societal Security. During one day, we will address some of the most critical policy issues in today’s EU policies. Specifically, we will discuss policy-relevant research and its implementation at the European Union level regarding:
The event aims to provide an overview on the complexity and interlinkages among various areas of societal security, societal resilience and policy-making, with a special emphasis on the actors involved. All together we will try to find the answers to these and other questions:
10:00 - 10:15 | Welcoming words by SOURCE representatives |
10:15 - 10:40 | Theoretical Perspectives on Societal Security Prof. Dr. Jaap de Wilde, University of Groningen. |
10:40 - 11:35 | Panel 1. Data protection, surveillance and privacy Dr. Rocco Belanova (Peace Reaseacrh Institute - PRIO) and Panelist 1 (tbc) | |
Among scholars and EU policy-makers we will discuss data protection and surveillance technologies as societal security-related mechanisms and establish the link between them and privacy. The speakers will address questions such as: What does the EU do to protect citizen’s data? How can the tensions between privacy and data protection be resolved? In what way does data protection policy impact societal security? |
11:30 - 11:45 | Coffee break |
11:45 - 12:40 | Panel 2. Environmental security and epidemics Prof. Dr. Helmut Brand (Maastricht University) and Ms. Svetla Tsolova (European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control - ECDC) | |
The speakers will address the following questions: What do EU institutions and MS do to protect citizens from diseases and natural disasters? Does any back up plan exist in case of possible epidemics? Are the epidemic threats imaginary or real in the EU? Who provides epidemic risk assessment in the EU and by what means? How effective is the interplay between EU and national emergency policies? |
12:40 - 13:20 | Lunch |
13:20 - 14:15 | Panel 3. Terrorism and counter-radicalization Dr. Corinne Torrekens (Université Libre de Bruxelles) and Panelist 2 (tbc) | |
The panelists will discuss: What are the preventive counter-terrorism measures elaborated by the EU institutions? In which Member States are these measures effective and why? What could the EU do differently? What are the future prospects of the EU fight against terrorism? |
14:15 - 15:10 | Panel 4. Cultural diplomacy and societal security Dist. Prof. Richard Higgot (Vesalius College, VUB) and Mr. Diego Marani (European External Action Service) | |
The speakers will discuss: What cultural diplomacy is and what its added value for the EU policy can be. What does it have to do with societal security? Are there good practices on cultural diplomacy existing in the EU Member States? Who are the “ambassadors” of peace and security? |
15:10 - 15:30 | Concluding remarks by SOURCE representatives |
Institute of European Studies at VUB, Brussels, SOURCE
Irina van der Vet (Irina.van.der.vet@vub.be), Léonie Maes (Leonie.Maes@vub.be), Hanna Yousef (yousef@arttic.eu)