European Public Scholarship - September 2025

This workshop brings together a growing community of European academics who regularly engage "beyond academia"—with policymakers, courts, media, civil society organizations, and other stakeholders.  What motivates this work? How is it conducted? What theoretical frameworks guide it? What methods prove most effective? How should success be measured? And crucially, how can this approach be scaled and institutionalized across European higher education? This workshop takes place at a critical juncture when universities themselves have become contested spaces, with academic freedom increasingly under pressure across Europe, and when scholars who engage publicly face heightened scrutiny both from within academia and from external critics. Through collective reflection on our individual stories, we aim to determine whether there exists a different way of doing research while engaging beyond academia that deserves its own theoretical foundation and methodological framework. Whether we succeed in establishing this new paradigm or simply create the conditions for a lasting community of practice, this workshop represents an opportunity to reflect what we do, why, and how. 

AGENDA

DAY 1: Wednesday, September 10, 2025

5:00 - 5:30 PM: Registration

5:30 - 5:40 PM: Welcome by Eloic Peyrache, General Director and Dean of HEC Paris and Alberto Alemanno, Jean Monnet Professor of EU Law at HEC Paris and convener

5:45 - 6:15 PM: Opening Keynote "The Future of European Universities in Democratic Society" by Professor Patrizia Nanz, President of the European University Institute

6:15 - 7:30 PM: High-Level Panel Discussion "Leadership Perspectives on Public Scholarship" followed by Q&A  Moderator: Alberto Alemanno (HEC Paris) with Professor Johanna Mair, Hertie School, Marieke Huysentruyt, Inclusive Economy Center Director, HEC Paris, Avi Green, Harvard Kennedy School and Patrizia Nanz (EUI President)

7:45 - 9 PM: Dinner, Best Western Hotel (by invitation only)

Day 2: Thursday, September 11, 2025

Morning Session: The Journey, Theory of Change and Method 
8:30 - 8:45 AM: Introduction by Alberto Alemanno - Workshop methodology and objectives for sessions

8:45 - 9:30 AM: Panel 1 - The Journey and Motivation Chair: Alberto Alemanno

Introductory roundtables: 
•    What's your signature public engagement story?
•    What initially motivated you to go beyond academia?
•    What do you call it – if anything all?
•    Reactions to your public scholarship?
•    Which obstacles—if any—do you encounter? 
•    What would you tell other scholars starting this journey?

9:30 - 10:30 AM: Panel 2 - The Theory of Change Chair: Johanna Mair   
•    How does your public work create the change you seek?
•    What public scholarship is about?

10:30 - 11:00 AM: Coffee Break

11:00 – 12 AM: Panel 3 - The Method  Chair: Kalypso Nicolaidis 
•    Walk us through your typical engagement process 
•    What formats do you use to reach public audiences?
•    How do you maintain academic rigour while being accessible and impactful? (the scholasticism critique)?

12:00 - 1:30 PM: Lunch @ Gustave

Afternoon Session: The Impact, Evaluation and Community Building

1:30 - 2:30 PM: Panel 4 – The Impact Chair: John Morijn 
•    How do you define and measure success in public engagement?
•    What institutional barriers or supports have you encountered?
•    What feedback do you receive from the communities you serve?

2:30 - 3:30 PM: Panel 5 – Institutionalisation Chair: Marieke Huysentruyt
•    What's the case for public scholarship in today's world?
•    What barriers exist and how might we overcome them?
•    What would it take to build a broader ecosystem of academic engagement?

3:30-3:45 PM Break

3:45-4.30 Panel 6 - Collective Synthesis Session "From Individual Stories to Common Methodology" Facilitated by Alberto Alemanno

Working Groups (20 minutes each):
•    Group A: Why do it? Overcoming the barriers 
•    Group B: How to do it? Shared methodological approaches and formats
•    Group C: How to institutionalise it? Community-building and institutionalisation

Plenary Report Back & Discussion (20 minutes):

5:00 - 5:30 PM Closing & Next Steps
•    Informal reflections on the day's presentations
•    Timeline for chapter revisions
•    Community building commitments

LIST OF PARTICIPANTS

Workshop – 11 September 2025
1.    Alberto Alemanno (HEC Paris)
2.    Matej Avbelj (Nova Univerza)
3.    Enrico Bonadio (City St George's University of London)
4.    Kati Cseres (University of Amsterdam)
5.    Amandine Garde (University of Liverpool)
6.    Avi Green (Harvard Kennedy School)
7.    Marieke Huysentruyt (HEC Paris)
8.    Clemens Kaupa (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)
9.    Benedetta Lobina (University College Dublin)
10.    Johanna Mair (Hertie School of Governance)
11.    John Morijn (University of Groningen and Hertie School)
12.    Patrizia Nanz (European University Institute)
13.    Kalypso Nicolaidis (European University Institute)
14.    Laurent Pech (University College Dublin)
15.    Stefan Salomon (University of Amsterdam)
16.    Anne-Laure Sellier (HEC Paris)
17.    Jacquelyn Veraldi (Central European University)
18.    Matteo Winkler (HEC Paris)

Additional contributors:
19.    Luiza Bialasiewicz (Università di Venezia)
20.    Nora Markard (Munster University)