Events
The Future of Social Sciences and Humanities
October 22-23, 2009, Brussels, Belgium
Social Sciences and the Humanities have an important mission in the knowledge society and for evidence-based politics. However, their role is not always appreciated and their inputs are not always effectively used. There are discrepancies between the potential importance of social science knowledge and the comparatively low attention they receive from politics, other scientific fields and the public as a whole. To reach society, the economy and the political system, good interaction is required between the different intellectual communities, an interaction that overcomes traditional feuds between schools and disciplines.
At the final conference of the SSH-FUTURES project commissioned by DG Research in the 6th Framework Programme in Brussels in October a workshop will be held on the topic of ‘The Future of Social Sciences and Humanities’. The conference will be a two-day event held. On the first day, the members of the SSH-FUTURES consortium will present the results of their study and discuss potential recommendations and conclusions. The second day will be devoted to the results of similar projects.
Downloads
Programme 
Abstracts
List of Participants
CVs of Papergivers
(Closed) International Experts Meeting
22 April 2008, Paris, France
The meeting is intended to stimulate creative discussion on the main research questions being addressed by the SSH-Futures project. Its modus operandi is a mixture of short introductory speeches, open discussions among all participants and panel discussions. Three major topics of utmost importance for social science research will structure the meeting’s course. More information...
The Role of Social Sciences and Humanities in the Knowledge Society – Les sciences sociales et humaines dans la « société de la connaissance et du savoir »
March 23, 2007, Public Conference at the Mairie de Paris
Contributions and participants:
- Mme Danièle Auffray, Vice-Mayor of Paris for New Technologies and Research
- Philippe Keraudren, European Commission, DG Research
- Nico Stehr (Zeppelin University): Is "Liberty" a Daughter of Knowledge? - A view of the social sciences and humanities on Democracy"
- Christopher Caswill (Oxford University, former director of the ESRC): Engaging citizens with social science practices and institutions
- Ronald J Pohoryles (The Interdisciplinary Centre Vienna & Paris): Social Sciences, Humanities and Democracy
- Luk Van Langenhove (United Nations University, Maastricht): The future of social sciences and humanities and the traditions of the academic system - How can a the SSH establish themselves as transdisciplinary science?
- Claire Lévy-Vroelant (Université de Paris 8 Saint-Denis): Are the social sciences a fighting sport?
- John Crowley (The Interdisciplinary Centre Vienna & Paris): Will a fresh look on the social sciences and humanities be useful for the societies and for the professions? Conclusions and Outlook
Download Programme (pdf, english version)
Download Porgramme (pdf, french version)
2nd Round Table: The Use of Social Sciences and Humanities: New Governance and Traditional Democracy
October 30, 2006, University of Tel-Aviv, Israel
Participants:
- Patricia van Hemert, Free University of Amsterdam
- Luk van Langenhove, United Nations University
- Mr. Nadler, Tel-Aviv University
- Martin Peterson, University of Gothenburg
- Michael Schmidt, ICCR Vienna & CIR Paris
Moderation: Mr. Yaar, Tel-Aviv University
Societal integration and the maintenance of peace require new instruments and political procedures. The new instruments do by no means replace the traditional ones; however, they are relevant to ensure the rule of the law on a national and international level.
This new idea is called “governance”. Good concepts of governance try to include stakeholders into a process in which conflicts of interests can be mediated and conflict of identities can be transformed in a conflict of interests that in turn can me mediated. Decision making is thus not just limited to the traditional policy makers, but include all types of stakeholders.
The discussion focused on issues such as However, there are problems occurring as well:
- What legitimacy does modern governance have, what distinguishes it from traditional lobbying?
- What role social sciences’ and humanities’ knowledge?
- What role the social scientists in designing and promoting new forms of governance?
Download Programme (pdf)
1st Round Table: Social Sciences and Humanities in Political Decision Making: Wardens or Confederates of Public Policies?
19 June, 2006, ICCR Vienna
Participants:
- John Crowley, UNESCO and CIR Paris
- Nikolaos Kastrinos, European Commission, DG Research
- Simone Mesner, Rat für Forschung und Technologieentwicklung
- Ronald J. Pohoryles, ICCR Vienna
- Tadeusz Zoltowski, Foundation for European Scientific Cooperation
Moderation: Raoul Kneucker, Universities of Innsbruck and Vienna
The first round table dealt with the question how social science and humanities knowledge enter the political and societal discourse. Five experts from research, public administration and international organisations also discussed the role social sciences and humanities are likely to play in the future.
Download Programme (pdf) (german)
