New website coming soon at this link: Democracy for Europe and Humanity: EUMANITY DEMOS
English Version (French and Italian versions below)
EUMANITY DEMOS – Democracy for Europe and Humanity
Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence (2025–2028)
EUMANITY DEMOS – Democracy for Europe and Humanity is a Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence funded under the Erasmus+ Programme. The project promotes interdisciplinary research, innovative teaching, and policy dialogue on the future of democracy in Europe and beyond.
The Centre addresses key challenges facing contemporary democracies, including active citizenship and participation, rule of law, democratic freedoms, inclusion, digital transformation, environmental sustainability, and the defence of European values in a rapidly changing global context.
The project develops new forms of cooperation between academia, civil society, public institutions, media, and policy-makers, with the aim of strengthening democratic culture and fostering more inclusive, multilevel, and human-centred democratic governance.
The activities of the Centre are organised around five main thematic workstreams:
- Democracy at all levels, from local to global;
- Gender mainstreaming and inclusion;
- Digital Democracy;
- Environmental Democracy;
- Culture and Sport for Democracy.
WG1 – Multilevel Governance and Democracy: from Local to Global
The group will focus on developing a transnational model that connects the local and global authorities
intending to protect public global goods. The group will address the involvement of civil society, local
communities, and public opinion in protecting and managing global public goods (such as climate,
biodiversity, fresh waters, quality of atmosphere and clean oceans, and public health) through
participatory and deliberative democratic solutions. An example of this is the increasing collaboration in
joint projects of cities and other local authorities. Finally, it will also care about innovative pedagogies for
democratic education that foster critical thinking, creativity, and active citizenship at all levels of
education, offering novel solutions to contemporary political challenges and identifying and tackling the
threat to supranationalism from the authoritarian backlash and the far-right sovereignism.
WG2 – Gender Mainstream and Inclusion
The goal of this WG will be the analysis of the socio-philosophical foundations of democracy, the
multidisciplinary Inquiry on democracy and diversity, the exploration of the intergenerational dialogue
and how different age groups could better interact, the role of gender and intersectionality in shaping
democratic governance, representation, and policy outcomes. This target would include analysing the
barriers to equal participation for women, gender-diverse persons and marginalised groups and
developing innovative approaches to promote gender parity in public and private governance sectors.
WG3 – Democracy and Technology
The group focuses on analysing the impact of emerging technologies (e.g., AI, big data, social media)
on democratic practices, governance structures, and civic participation. It will evaluate the opportunities
for enhanced democratic engagement and the risks posed by technological disruptions, such as
misinformation, data privacy concerns, and algorithmic biases.
The theoretical foundation of this WG will be the analysis of methodologies to foster creativity in
democratic solutions for civil society and policy-making from local to global, focusing on co-creating
solutions by scholars, civil society, politicians, and stakeholders.
The goal is to develop innovative democratic tools, policies, and frameworks that respond to civil
society’s dynamic needs while promoting collaboration between academia and public institutions. It will
address emerging technologies’ impact and possible use on democratic practices, governance
structures, and civic participation. It can foster resilience in the face of international crises and discuss
the problematic balance between social needs and digital transition.
WG4 – Environmental Democracy
The group focuses on investigating the means and methods by which public participation is critical to
ensure that decisions on land and natural resources adequately and equitably address citizens’
interests. At its core, environmental democracy involves three mutually reinforcing rights. The group will
study, in particular, the right to freely access information on environmental quality and problems, the
right to participate meaningfully in decision-making, and the right to seek enforcement of environmental
laws and compensation for harm. According to Regulation 2021/1119 “European Climate Law”, “As
citizens and communities have a powerful role to play in driving the transformation towards climate
neutrality forward, strong public and social engagement on climate action should be both encouraged
and facilitated at all levels, including at national, regional and local level in an inclusive and accessible
process”. This statement echoes the Aarhus Convention, whose application still appears rather limited,
and shows how “environmental democracy” is a much-needed component of the democratic mosaic.
The theoretical foundation of this WG will be twofold. First, it will analyse how environmental issues
require multilevel governance and examine how the subsidiarity principle can ensure an effective
vertical and horizontal sharing of competencies and tasks. Second, It will foster citizens’ awareness at
all levels, encourage them to participate effectively and educate them on deliberative democracy.
WG5 – Culture and Sport for Democracy
This group will take care of the interplay between democracy and freedom of expression in any area of
human interactions: culture, arts, sports and it will investigate, in more general terms, how democracy
in general affects the quality of life.
It will also take care to enrich academic events with cultural and art performances and exhibitions,
sports events and other initiatives aimed at showing the importance of freedom of association, of
expression and of pursuing meaningful interactions.
It will also facilitate interdisciplinary academic collaboration to develop democratic narratives aimed at
innovations that can be applied in various contexts, addressing global challenges such as climate
change, migration, and inequality, and mobilizing public initiatives. This workflow will build on the EU
motto “Unity in Diversity” to promote knowledge and awareness of European and global richness in
geographical and cultural diversity and promote its values-based approach. The applicability of EU
values in a multicultural environment as the increasingly interconnected world we live in is at the core
of this WG’s activity.
Version française
EUMANITY DEMOS – Democracy for Europe and Humanity
Centre d’Excellence Jean Monnet (2025–2028)
EUMANITY DEMOS – Democracy for Europe and Humanity est un Centre d’Excellence Jean Monnet financé dans le cadre du programme Erasmus+. Le projet vise à promouvoir la recherche interdisciplinaire, l’innovation pédagogique et le dialogue politique autour de l’avenir de la démocratie en Europe et au-delà.
Le Centre traite de plusieurs enjeux majeurs des démocraties contemporaines, notamment la citoyenneté active et la participation, l’État de droit, les libertés démocratiques, l’inclusion, la transformation numérique, la durabilité environnementale et la défense des valeurs européennes dans un contexte mondial en profonde mutation.
Le projet développe de nouvelles formes de coopération entre le monde académique, la société civile, les institutions publiques, les médias et les décideurs politiques, afin de renforcer la culture démocratique et de promouvoir une gouvernance démocratique plus inclusive, multiniveaux et centrée sur l’humain.
Les activités du Centre sont organisées autour de cinq axes thématiques principaux :
- la démocratie à tous les niveaux, du local au global ;
- le gender mainstreaming et l’inclusion ;
- la démocratie numérique ;
- la démocratie environnementale ;
- la culture et le sport pour la démocratie.
Dans le cadre du projet, la Dr Stefania Attolini co-coordonne le Working Group 3 « Environmental Democracy » avec le Prof. Saverio Di Benedetto. Ce groupe de travail se concentre sur la gouvernance environnementale, la participation citoyenne, la transition écologique et le rôle des processus démocratiques dans la réponse aux défis environnementaux et climatiques aux niveaux européen et international.
Project ID : 101240380
Programme : Erasmus+ – Centre d’Excellence Jean Monnet
Versione Italiana
EUMANITY DEMOS – Democracy for Europe and Humanity
Centro di Eccellenza Jean Monnet (2025–2028)
EUMANITY DEMOS – Democracy for Europe and Humanity è un Centro di Eccellenza Jean Monnet finanziato nell’ambito del programma Erasmus+. Il progetto promuove la ricerca interdisciplinare, l’innovazione didattica e il dialogo politico sul futuro della democrazia in Europa e nel mondo.
Il Centro affronta alcune delle principali sfide delle democrazie contemporanee, tra cui cittadinanza attiva e partecipazione, Stato di diritto, libertà democratiche, inclusione, trasformazione digitale, sostenibilità ambientale e tutela dei valori europei in un contesto globale in continua evoluzione.
Il progetto sviluppa nuove forme di cooperazione tra università, società civile, istituzioni pubbliche, media e policy-makers, con l’obiettivo di rafforzare la cultura democratica e promuovere una governance democratica più inclusiva, multilivello e human-centred.
Le attività del Centro si articolano in cinque principali aree tematiche:
- democrazia a tutti i livelli, dal locale al globale;
- gender mainstreaming e inclusione;
- democrazia digitale;
- democrazia ambientale;
- cultura e sport per la democrazia.
Nell’ambito del progetto, la Dr.ssa Stefania Attolini co-coordina il Working Group 3 “Environmental Democracy” insieme al Prof. Saverio Di Benedetto. Il gruppo di lavoro si occupa di governance ambientale, partecipazione dei cittadini, transizione ecologica e del ruolo dei processi democratici nell’affrontare le sfide ambientali e climatiche a livello europeo e globale.
Project ID: 101240380
Programma: Erasmus+ – Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence