News

The last partner meeting of the Re.Cri.Re. consortium has taken place in Brussels the 3rd May.

The Scientific Coordinator Sergio Salvatore facilitated the discussion regarding the inputs and feedbacks given by the Final International Conference and the whole Consortium shared the visions about possible follow-up of the research, which seems to be not closed with the end of the project, but just open towards new perspectives.

A last local dissemination seminar (France) was organised at the Aix en Provence (MAISON DE L’EUROPE DE PROVENCE).

Alfonso Santarpia (Aix-Marseille Université) was main coordinator of this seminar with active participation of Provence (MAISON DE L’EUROPE DE PROVENCE, 66 Avenue Jean Monnet. 13090 Aix-en-Provence. France) with the help and the coordination of president f Maison de l’Europe de Provence, Alain-Pierre Merger.

In a first moment of meeting, Alain Pierre Merger presented the association and the goals of this European association. Then he presented Alfonso Santarpia (associate professor at Aix-Marseille University), research member concerning the RE.CRI.RE project.

Alfonso SANTARPIA presented the general idea and results of the project RE.CRI.RE.

In the details, he presented, as first moment of his speech “The View of Context (VOC)”. It is a survey instrument designed to detect the content of generalized affect-laden meanings embedded within large-scale cultural milieus. Generalized affect-laden meanings work as basic embodied system of assumptions channelling the way of feeling, thinking, making decision.

In a second moment, he presented the notion of -Symbolic universes between present and future of Europe. First results of the map of European societies’ cultural milieu. He presented the framework, method and main findings of an analysis of cultural milieus in 4 European countries (Estonia, Greece, Italy, and UK). The analysis is based on a questionnaire VOC. He explained 5 symbolic universes, that correspond to basic, embodied, affect-laden, generalized worldviews: a) an ordered universe; b) a matter of interpersonal bond; c) a caring society; d) consisting of a niche of belongingness; e) a hostile place (others’ world). These symbolic universes were also interpreted as semiotic capital: they reflect the capacity of a place to foster social and civic development.

Discussion with the audience.
lot of questions, a real curiosity and deep interest for the conference and the notion of symbolic universe (understood easily on the logic pessimism/optimism):

1. Questions on the sample of the research, too focused on the people with a high level of education. Try to enlarge the sample the future.
2. Several participants wanted to see the data on the France concerning the paper published on the PlosOne.
3. A participant wanted to know if there were socio-political analysis on the country evoked in the results concerning the paper published on PlosOne.
4. A participant was worried for the future of this project and wanted to know the strategy to communicate the results. The idea of an observatory was accepted with a lot of interest.
5. A lot of participants want to fill in the questionnaire VOC. This could be a marker of motivation and of a real interest for the conference.

A Regional Seminar (France, Neatherland, Belgium, Liechtenstein) was organised at the Strasbourg, 23/03/2018 at Place du quartier blanc, Hôtel du Département- Conseil Général du Bas-Rhin, 67000 Strasbourg (France).
Alfonso Santarpia (Aix-Marseille Université) was main coordinator of this seminar with active participation of ALDA (Association Européenne pour la Démocratie Locale Antonella Valmorbida, Agatha de la Tour, Giulia Albertoni), University of Amsterdam (Prof. Paul De Beer) and MOUVEMENT EUROPEEN-PARIS (Anne Dieterlen, Member of Mouvement Européen-Paris).
The title of this regional seminar was “How can European decision-makers take into account culture in their interventions?”. The goal of this seminar was to present the main results of RE.CRI.RE project with a specific focus on the political actions to make for a social change.

DETAILS OF THE SEMINAR:
Alfonso SANTARPIA was the moderator of the seminar.
As invited policy speaker we had M. Rémi Bertrand, (Vice-President du Conseil Départemental du Bas-Rhin). He presented his idea on the European feelings and the directions for the future (policy centred on the real social link in real context).

The seminar was organized in 3 times:

1. A theoretical moment where Sergio Salvatore (scientific coordinator of RE.CRI.RE video-conference) presented the general idea of the project, a moment where Alfonso Santarpia (Aix Marseille Université) explained the details and the results concerning Symbolic Universes following the recent publication on the PlosOne (a famous scientific journal);
2. A case-study moment where Paul de Beer (University of Amsterdam) told “ The role of social actors in policy making. Lessons of Dutch temp sector”;
3. In another moment, ALDA and MOUVEMENT EUROPEEN-PARIS presented their concrete social activities;
4. A pratical moment, where the participants were divided in 4 working group according to 4 main topics (Migration, Education, European Identity, Employement). This practical moment allowed to collect several suggestion and to specify the topics. Each facilitator/moderator stimulated European participants to have a concrete definition of the topic, an articulation with symbolic universes and finally, new and innovative ideas for the policy.

At the end Giulia Albertoni presented the future of project RE.CRI.RE (dates to save and the idea of the an European Observatory).

Useful links:
Seminar Program (french version)

The final regional conference for Re.Cri.Re’s Mediterranean partners (South-East EU countries) was held in Malta on the 22nd March 2018 at the Grand Hotel Excelsior, Valletta, in conjunction with Malta’s Ministry of Home Affairs and National Security and the Ministry for European Affairs and Equality. Ministers and their teams attended the conference, during which the final findings from the Re.Cri.Re study were presented to delegates. Hon. Minister Dr Michael Farrugia and Hon. Minister Dr Helena Dalli also addressed the conference’s delegates, which included a broad range of stakeholders and practitioners who are active in the domain of diversity and security in Malta. These included the UNHCR, migrant organisations and NGOs, the Police Corps, workers’ union representatives, mayors and others. The conference set the stage for two stakeholder meetings that followed the presentation of findings. The first panel was organised by the Ministry for Home Affairs and National Security and the second panel by the Ministry for European Affairs and Equality. These panels brought policymakers and stakeholders together to discuss practical issues and the implications of the project’s findings.
The conference highlighted the need for culturally relevant policymaking that responds to the concerns and demands of citizens.

Below there are some website links reporting the activity:

MORE INFOS ON HOMEAFFAIRS.GOV.MT

WATCH THE VIDEO ON FACEBOOK

Did the economic and financial crisis and the affiliated refugee crisis moreover revealed a pertinent moral crisis in Europe? Under the direction of Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Julian Nida-Rümelin, Chair of Philosophy and Political Theory and ret. Minister of State of Arts, the German RE.CRI.RE project team of the LMU Munich held the first working seminars in Germany on Wednesday 19th of July 2017 at the Munich Competence Centre for Ethics (MKE). In collaboration with Giuseppe Veltri, member of the RE.CRI.RE research consortium and leader oft he second working seminar panel, more than 60 participants attended the first RE.CRI.RE event in Germany.

First Working Seminar Panel
Within the topic “Facing the Crisis of the European Union – A Diagnosis” Julian Nida-Rümelin opened the first working seminar panel with a keynote speech on the recent crises of the European project. Defining “crisis” and “political identity” at first, he then bridged the analysis revealing the crisis of an “European identity”. To overcome these major challenges throughout the European crises, he finally exposed four main aspects, which were adjacent widely approved within the audience: (1) differentiation (five steps of European integration), (2) two-way-principle, (3) devolution and integration, (4) European Democracy as a form of life.

Presenting the RE.CRI.RE project for the first time in Germany, Fiorella Battaglia, coordinator of the LMU team, then started with an analysis of challenges and expected impacts of the initial call of the European Commission on “European societies after the Crisis”.

The answer to this topic, the EU funded project “RE.CRI.RE – Between the Representation of the Crisis and the Crisis of Representation. How crisis changed the symbolic background of European societies and identities. Implication for policies and policy making“ was finally presented by Nicole Wloka, research fellow at LMU Munich.

The main objective of the project is to analyse cultures of European societies and the impacts of the socio-economic crisis in order to frame better policies at local, national and European level. According to the European Commission and one of the major aims of the project, all of the three speakers emphasized the importance of civil society, policy-makers, academic experts and stakeholder being strongly involved in all actions of the project.

The whole first working seminar panel will asap be available as a video in German, please see:
N.N.

Second Working Seminar Panel
Giuseppe Veltri, member of the RE.CRI.RE research consortium and professor in Research Methodology at the University of Trento, held the second working seminar panel. Being one of the leading researcher regarding the framework and empirical database of the EU project, he focused on the RE.CRI.RE multilevel analysis of work package 3. Based on the frame of culture as sensemaking, the Semiotic-Cultural Psychological Theory (SCPT), human variation and symbolic universes, he then sampled the method and main results of the project analysis of the cultural milieu in Europe.
Leading to the final discussion within the plenum, Veltri concluded by presenting a general idea of tentative contributions for policy making. The lack of semiotic capital due to the crises in Europe, as one of the main accounts of RE.CRI.RE, needs to focus on supplementing grasps and tools in matters of policy and culture in Europe after the crises in order to frame better policies at local, national and European level.

In accordance with the upcoming work packages of the EU project the LMU RE.CRI.RE team now takes the first feedback of the fruitful discussion in order to assess, define and validate general and context-specific policy guidelines in terms of relevance, effectiveness, and feasibility together with the stakeholders. Within the frame of the next general assembly of the RE.CRI.RE research consortium in November, the next public working seminar in Germany will take place in in the Parliament of the Federal Republic of Germany, the German Bundestag in Berlin. Full details to follow.

On 10th May, a working seminar in the frame of the project RE.CRI.RE was held in Greece.

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On 10th May, a working seminar around the topic “The symbolic representations of the socio-economical crisis in Greece according to Greeks’ opinion about views of life” was held in the city of Thessaloniki, in Greece, in the frame of the 16th International Congress of Psychological Research: “Individuals, Institutions, Society: The World of Psychology”. The event was organised by the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and the Hellenic Psychological Society.

During the activity, the RE.CRI.RE local team of the Aristotle University shared their research work with other scientists. In particular, they presented the results of their analysis concerning Greek people’s vision of the socio-economic crisis. Following the presentation of the findings, participants exchanged on the implications of these findings around the implementation of social care policies and programmes concerning the processes of integration and insertion of immigrants in Greek society.

The seminar was a fruitful occasion to gather opinions and ideas of academics and relevant stakeholders on key policy areas affecting citizens’ daily life nowadays, not just for Greeks, yet for all European countries and citizens as well.

RE.CRI.RE is a three-year project funded by the Horizon 2020 programme of the European Commission and run by a consortium of 15 universities and coordinated by ALDA that work together to investigate what kind of social identity change is occurring in Europe in time of crisis. The objective of the project is to analyse cultures of European societies and the impacts of the socio-economic crisis on them, in order to frame better policies at local, national and European level. To this end, civil society, policy-makers and experts of social sciences are strongly involved in all actions of the project.

On the 20 January, the University of Malta hosted a symposium on “Multiculturalism, Integration and Contact amongst Socio-Ethnic Groups in Malta”.

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The symposium was held at Valletta University Campus, in the framework of the project RE.CRI.RE – between the Representation of the Crisis and the Crisis of Representation – and aimed at communicating the results of international studies concerning intercultural relations.

Thanks to this event, the results of the studies were delivered not only to the local academic community but also to government officials. What is more, Arab members, as well as other immigrants, had the opportunity to share their thoughts and experiences on the topic. The participation of experts on International Studies, Youth Studies and Social Policy enabled the interpretation of the results and the exchange on directions to further policies.

The Re.Cri.Re study investigated social representations concerning the integration of Arabs amongst the Maltese. This was achieved through the identification of different argument structures that support or oppose integration. These argument structures pertained to six thematic clusters: sociopolitical, psychological, economic, religious, stigmatizing and cultural. The activity mainly focused on findings from research concerning intercultural relations in Malta, led by Dr Gordon Sammut (Psychology Lab).

The participants highlighted the need for more psychological studies directed at intercultural argumentative strategies, due to its invaluable transnational potential. The findings of these studies were discussed by a multidisciplinary panel of speakers and the myriad implications of the results for Maltese society were debated. Participants also exchanged on integration, Arabs in Malta, Islam and immigration in general.

Finally, the event was covered by television and the radio and a personal meeting between Dr Gordon Sammut and the President of the Republic of Malta was arranged, in order to discuss the findings of the project.

Useful links:
Psychology lab, University of Malta
Photo gallery of the event

On December 14, at 3 p.m., in Lecce will be held the second working seminar organized by ISBEM and by the Department of History, Society and Human Studies – University of Salento. During the meeting, it will be presented and discussed the results of the mapping of the European symbolic universes also with the help of several professors from different theoretical areas.

See the playbill of the event below.

Useful links:
Playbill (italian version)

The second working seminar organised in the context of Re. Cri.Re, by the team of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki was held on Wednesday 9th of November 2016 at the School of Psychology of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.
The aim of the seminar was to present and discuss findings from Work Package 3 and to invite participants to further research activities planned to take place in the context of WP3. Evrinomy Avdi, associate professor in clinical psychology, scientific coordinator of Re.Cri.Re. on behalf of AUTH, and her colleagues, Anna Mylona and Ifigeneia Koutri, associate researchers, introduced the project rationale and the project’s research design and presented the findings of Work Package 3 of the project. More specifically, the findings of the synchronic and the diachronic analysis were presented and discussed with a focus on those findings concerning the symbolic universes in Greece. Also, the next steps of the Greek research team (Auth) concerning the implementation of focus groups with mental health and psychosocial support professionals were communicated to the seminar participants.
Twentythree mental health professionals from several local mental health and psychosocial intervention organizations as well as undergraduate and postgraduate students of the School of Psychology attended the seminar. Professionals from the following organization participated in the seminar: the Hellenic Center of Mental Health and Research, the Shelter for Women Victims of Domestic Violence, ARSIS-a non-governmental social association, and the Family Therapy Department of the Psychiatric Hospital of Thessaloniki. All participants attended the event with great interest.

Last 30th of September the RE.CRI.RE. project was presented during the European Researchers’ Night that celebrated its eleventh anniverary. Launched by the European Commission in 2005, the iniziative took place in hundreds of European cities and universities with the aim to reduce the distance between the general public and the researchers disseminating scientific culture and information in an informal and stimulating context. The University of Salento hosted the initiative in the picturesque scenario of the Convento degli Olivetani where prof. Terri Mannarini, partner of the RE.CRI.RE. project on behalf of the University of Salento, organized a public exhibition during which the project was presented through a variety of tools – such as posters, flyers and video – to citizens, schools students, families and even children in an interactive way that stimulated the interest and curiosity of the audience. The general framework of RE.CRI.RE., its research rationale, the instruments of data collection as well as the main results achieved after the first year of activities were accounted to the spectators with a privileged focus on the expected implications of RE.CRI.RE. for the design and enhancement of effective public policies at European level. Thanks to the friendly atmosphere of the Researcher’s night, RE.CRI.RE was shared with a non-expert public whereby a capturing story-telling that helped in explaining the ambitious aims of the project and its valuable goals.