Culture trAnSforming communiTies and economies (CAST)

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The transnational project “Culture trAnSforming communiTies and economies” (CAST) aims to use the rich cultural heritage of the Danube Region to enhance social inclusion and drive economic growth as part of the green transition.

Project partners from eleven countries in the Danube region will develop a model to support local communities in offering inclusive cultural activities and sustainable tourism products. Through pilot actions, the model will be tested and validated in diverse settings, ensuring its applicability and effectiveness across various cultural landscapes.  

Pilot actions

  1. Iskriva, Slovenia: industrial (steel) heritage in the Koroška region
  2. Nice and homely, Slovenia: relevance of bees and beekeepers for culture and biodiversity
  3. Koprivnica Križevci County, Croatia: naïve art gallery road and Albergo Diffuso (“dispersed hotel”)
  4. Tourism Organization of Vojvodina, Serbia: accessible cultural and natural heritage in Novi Sad and Zone 021
  5. Urban Cult, Montenegro: accessible events
  6. Savaria Museum, Hungary: accessible museum district and jobs for vulnerable groups
  7. The Collective, Bulgaria: rebuilding identity in peripheral urban residential areas (Lyulin, Sofia)
  8. Transylvania Trust Foundation, Romania: heritage training programme and business opportunities in the Cluj-Napoca area
  9. Kolárovo, Slovakia: multicultural tourism
  10. National Inbound and Domestic Tourism Association of Moldova: community-based cultural festival
  11. Development Agency Zepce, Bosnia and Herzegovina: multiculturalism and natural resources for green business and tourism

What makes CAST original is its emphasis on the process of training and capacity building as integral to the model itself, ensuring that communities not only adopt the framework but are equipped to implement it effectively.  

By mainstreaming the model at various policy levels and identifying funding channels for EU and private investment, the project will ensure a broader uptake, putting the vision of a socially just and green transition into practice. 

Project objectives

Objective 1: Increase capacities and empower local communities.

By organising workshops, training sessions, and study visits specifically targeted at culture and tourism professionals – identified as crucial stakeholders – we will increase existing knowledge on culture-based social inclusion in local communities, stimulating and guiding a meaningful dialogue within communities. Practitioners from 14 Danube regions will be empowered to change the co-development and implementation of local cultural activities.

Objective 2: Create inclusive and accessible services and products in lighthouse communities (pilot actions).

We will test how new cultural understanding transforms community dynamics and stimulates economic growth at 11 pilot locations in 10 countries. Pilot activities will include cultural interventions via participatory design, improving physical access for vulnerable groups, and producing videos for better informational access. Rather than inventing new processes, we will reconfigure existing community relationships and cultural views. The results will form the basis of the CAST Model (SO3), a process-based model on materialising culture as a key transformative element for resilient communities, in line with EU Green Deal objectives.

Objective 3: Capitalise, mainstream and transfer the CAST Model across the Danube region.

Based on the results from the pilot actions, we will develop the CAST Model into a tool that can be used across the Danube Region. Through collaborative promotion and policy integration, we will mainstream the model to ensure region-wide policy uptake as well as transferring it to other regions. By promoting the model at existing and tailored events, including the unique Danube Caravan Festival, we will reach a wide audience and ensure maximum impact.

Budget: €2,761,660

Funding: Interreg Danube Region Programme (80%). The DRP is co-funded by the European Union.

Duration: April 2025 – March 2028 

Project manager: Urška Dolinar, Iskriva, Institute for Development of Local Potentials, Slovenia

IDM project team:

Communications manager: Rebecca Thorne (r.thorne@idm.at) 

Project assistant: Júlia Mits (j.mits@idm.at) 

More information can be found on the project website.

Central Europe and Future EU Enlargement

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The project “Central Europe and Future EU Enlargement” aims to support the integration of EU candidate countries by working with think tanks from across the region to create an active network that can share expertise, stimulate common understanding and develop joint solutions.  

The individual accession processes are not only influenced by the ongoing war in Ukraine but are also still shaped by the consequences of the Yugoslav wars. Through dialogue and discourse, regional experts will identify key similarities and differences to ascertain how the candidate countries can learn from each other and establish best practices.  

The project is co-financed by the governments of Czechia, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia through Visegrad Grants from the International Visegrad Fund. The mission of the fund is to advance ideas for sustainable regional cooperation in Central Europe. 

 

Funding:  

International Visegrad Fund  

Duration:  

September 2024 – March 2026 

Project coordinator:  

Rebecca Thorne (r.thorne@idm.at)
 

Events 

IDM Conference: Cooperation & Integration in the Danube Region

Roundtable Discussion in Belgrade

 

Publications 

IDM PPS 2/2025 – EU Trio Presidency Rewind: From Spain, over Belgium, to Hungary

 

Partners

 

You_R_EU: Youth Recommendations for the EU

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This EU project aims at engaging with young people on pressing regional issues and regional cooperation. Through social media, communication campaigns, surveys and consultation workshops, the IDM will collect and analyse their views, opinions and suggestions towards the next Cohesion Policy and in particular the future Interreg/territorial cooperation post-2027. Moreover, using the same digital tools, the project will raise awareness among young people about the EU and the various facets of interregional cooperation. Based on the findings, the IDM will develop ten policy recommendations.

Scroll down to see the activities that have been carried out so far!

Funding:
European Regional Development Fund

Duration:
September 2024 – May 2025

Project coordinator:
Sebastian Schäffer

Project implementation:
Malwina Talik

Project materials:

Activities:

  • Survey. This survey, conducted for the European Commission, will take youno more than 5 minutes and will give you the opportunity to contribute to and influence future EU projects and policies such as the next EU Cohesion Policy, ensuring that they take into consideration the issues that matter most to you.
  • Educational presentations on 5 policy objectives of the EU Cohesion Policy (2021-2027) and benefits for young people:
  1. A more competitive and smarter Europe: YOU_R_EU_Objective 1_ A more competitive and smarter Europe
  2. A greener, low carbon transitioning towards a net zero carbon economy: YOU_R_EU climate_Objective 2_A greener, low carbon transitioning towards a net zero carbon economy
  3. A more connected Europe by enhancing mobility:You_R_EU_Objective 3_A more connected Europe by enhancing mobility
  4. A more social and inclusive Europe: You_R_EU_Objective 4_Social & Inclusive EU
  5. Europe closer to citizens by fostering the sustainable and integrated development of all types of territories: You_R_EU_Objective 5_Closer to citizens

Project together with the University for Continuing Education Krems – European Dis/Orders

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“Climate crisis,” “migration crisis,” “populism,” “economic crisis” – in the news and public discourse, various crises that threaten our societal “order” are being discussed. The project “European Dis/Orders” (at the Institute for the Danube Region and Central Europe in cooperation with the University for Continuing Education Krems) has a dual purpose. First, it aims to explore the diverse usage of the concepts of “order” and “disorder” in public discourses and their conceptual understanding from a theoretical standpoint. Second, the project seeks to examine specific thematic and regional case studies through the lenses of “order” and “disorder.”

General Information

Objective

– Concepts of “order” and “disorder” (in politics, law, sociology, history, art)

– Analysis of concepts of “order” and manifestations of “disorder” in the East Central and Southeastern Europe

– Analysis of selected case studies from the region

– Ongoing monitoring of developments in the case studies

– Themes: “crisis of democracy” / “crisis in the democracy,” populism, ethnonationalism / multiculturalism, legal pluralism, religious pluralism, art and politics, sustainability etc.

– Annual conferences on specific topics (publication of the conference papers)

 

Team

– Dr. Dr. Péter Techet, PhD, MA, LL.M (IDM)

– Mag.a Rebecca Thorne MA (IDM)

– from the University for Continuing Education Krems: Mag.a Dr.a Christina Hainzl

Concept

“Order” / “Disorder”

“Order” is commonly perceived as a positive value, while “disorder” is often equated with a “crisis.” “Order” is also frequently linked with the notion of “normality,” justifying the existing status quo and labeling anything deviating as “abnormal.” However, the static concept of “order” contradicts the essence of a democratic and pluralistic society, which should continuously change and remain adaptable / resilient.

The project’s primary objective is to challenge this ideological distinction between “order” and “disorder.”

 

“Universalism” / “Particularism”

While modernity aspires to universality (statehood, “master narratives,” system theories, human rights, etc.), the postmodern era is characterized by the fragmentation of knowledge, multiple identities, divided sovereignties, and other elements reminiscent of early modern and premodern particularisms. The current “crises” can be seen as a transitional process between modern and postmodern ideals and realities or as a “crisis of universalism.”

The project’s goal is to explore the relationship between “order” and “disorder” within the context of “universalism” and “particularism.”

 

“Crisis in Democracy” / “Crisis of Democracy”

By understanding democracy as “rule for a limited time” (Oliver Lepsius), the so-called “crises” and “disorders” can be reinterpreted in a positive sense as essential dynamics within a pluralist society. Democracy inherently requires change, marked by the variability of majority and minority relations. As a result, it does not necessitate or presuppose a fixed “order” but rather a dynamic, ongoing process – in this sense, a “disorder.”

The project distinguishes between “crisis in democracy” and “crisis of democracy.” While the “crises” (as constant dynamics) are inherent to the nature of democracy, the “crisis of democracy” occurs when an “order” (in a populist, i.e., anti-pluralistic sense) is promised and enforced.

The project aims to investigate the various crisis phenomena in the democracies of East Central and Southeastern European countries to assess whether they reflect pluralistic dynamics (“crisis in democracy”) and, as a result, do not pose a threat to democracy, or whether they jeopardize this pluralistic dynamic (“crisis of democracy”).

Case Studies from East-Central and Southeastern Europe

 

The project aims to evaluate and analyze case studies on crisis (societal polarization, anti-elitist discourses, corruption, populism, “illiberal democracy,” ethnicization of politics, migration, sustainability, protests in art, etc.) with a strong focus on East-Central and Southeastern Europe, based on the conceptual differentiation between “crisis in democracy” and “crisis of democracy,” and “order” and “disorder”.

(Case studies to follow soon)

 

RII Menschenhandel

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 Regional Implementation Initiative (RII)

Mechanisms of Modernization and Nation State Institutionalization in Central and Eastern Europe, 19th-21st c.

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The Project is dedicated to a comparative analysis, from historical and political sciences perspectives, of the matrixes of modernity countries selected from South-Eastern and Central Europe have incompletely followed from mid-XIXth century to nowadays. The targeted countries are Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece, and Hungary. Local academic projects with similar scopes have been written in the past decades, and have grown into various theories of “applied”/”imported”/ “naturally grown” processes of modernization, but larger regional analysis has but barely touched upon the matter. The Project will involve large horizontal cooperation between clusters of academics and researchers from the above-mentioned countries, will sustain contacts and academic exchanges between scholars, public intellectuals, journalists, and policy-makers from the above-mentioned countries. The Project aims at publishing partial and definitive results of research, and may be relevant to the European present and future.
The Project is funded by IULIUS MALL CLUJ-NAPOCA S.R.L.

  • Projektzeitraum: 2019-2023
  • Projektleitung: Mihai Razvan Ungureanu
  • Projektmitarbeiterinnen: Carmen Bendovski

Interprofessional, student-run, primary Care clinics (I Care)

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This EU project targets the implementation of new tools and technologies, skills, innovative training and student internship, teaching methods for active university-healthcare sector collaboration in primary health care.

Project name

Interprofessional, student-run, primary Care clinics: A university-enterprise knowledge triangle cooperation approach (I Care)

Project manager
Mosad Zineldin

Other project members
Teachers/researchers from different departments within health sciences at Linnaeus University

Participating organizations
From the EU: Linnaeus University; Università degli studi di Genova, Italy; Polytechnio Kritis, Greece; Tallinna Tehnikaülikool, Estonia; Institut für den Donauraum und Mitteleuropa, Austria
From Egypt: Alexandria University, Assiut University, Al-Azhar University, Helwan University, Badr University, The British University in Egypt, International For Applied Science And Technology
From Lebanon: Notre Dame University, Beirut Arab University, Modern University for Business & Science, LEAD Healthcare Consultancy

Financier
EU/EACEA Erasmus+ Capacity Building

Timetable
15 Jan 2021–14 Jan 2024

Subject
Medicine, health science (Department of Medicine and Optometry, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences)

More about the project

This I Care joint EU project contributes to strengthening the capacities of the higher education partner universities and institutions of the programme countries Sweden, Italy, Austria, Estonia and Greece in the partner countries Egypt and Lebanon. This is done by targeting the implementation of new tools and technologies, skills, innovative training and student internship, teaching methods for active and university-healthcare sector collaboration in primary health care. By choosing this theme, the project fits perfectly into the field of “bringing universities together, by strengthening health sciences curricula (medicine, pharmacy, dentistry and nursing, allied health services, psychology, etc) through the  development of university-health sector I Care clinic centres.

This project will develop and establish I Care centres and clinics which provide education, training, research, primary health care patient treatment and community engagement. Some benefits of the inter-professional, student-led clinic (SLC) model are:

  1. For the medical and healthcare science students: an opportunity to develop clinical skills within a supervised environment.
  2. For patients: increased access for underserved and disadvantaged communities to free health care services.

The main objective of this project and the IPC/IPE model is to strengthen the university-enterprise (healthcare sittings) cooperation, and also to allow students to directly contribute to patient health and feel valued for what they can provide the society with during their training.

Further information: https://lnu.se/en/research/searchresearch/research-projects/project-interprofessional-student-run-primary-care-clinics/

  • Projektzeitraum: 2021 – 2024

 

Events:

The First ICU/ICARE Meeting in Vienna

The Second ICU/ICARE Meeting in Vienna

ICU RERE – Knowledge triangle, innovation: Reinforcing of Education, Research and e-Health

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 Projektziel:

The main objectives of this project are:
1) To establish and sustain effective Industry cooperating with University (ICU) Centres of e-health Innovations at some partner universities in LB and EG (LEG)
2) To develop a web platform based on Knowledge Triangle, innovation approach to develop and commercialize of e- Health innovative technologies and tools.
3) To develop a new integrated professional short term (6 months) and long term (one year) diploma program in e. Health and Medical informatics
4) To develop in-service lifelong learning training (LLT) program in the area of e-health innovative Medical/health/IT/ engineering.Erasmus+ Capacity Building in Higher Education Project
EU Project Reference: 609506-EPP-1-2019-1-SE-EPPKA2-CBHE-JP
Collaborative project of 20 EU and non-EU partner institutions
Coordinator & contractor: Linnéuniversitetet, Växjö, Sweden 

Collaboration between universities and industries is critical for skills development, the generation, acquisition and adoption of knowledge and the promotion of entrepreneurship. Through collaborative interchange, the university becomes “a more vigorous partner in the search for answers” . The social and economic community provides a context for civic discourse and the reciprocal, interactional creation of knowledge. Community engaged education establishes the context for the exploration of pressing and complex problems, of which e-health and medical informatics is an example. Out of this reciprocal need comes the development of a model for interdisciplinary education that centers community as the context for learning. This model represents the theoretical and physical space where the university joins with others to address complex issues.

The consortium consists of 20 experienced partners, which have different levels of knowledge and skills in the fields of e- Health and Medical Informatics, as well as independent think tanks like the IDM, universities and NGO’s. The partnership has the necessary capacity to implement the project and achieve the expected outcomes. It will have an important impact on students, on the higher education institutions involved & on society at large such as increasing the number of MOU signed with health enterprises & increase the number of placements and job opportunities.

Official website of the project: https://www.icurere.com

  • Projektzeitraum: 2019-2022

 

Events:

The First ICU/ICARE Meeting in Vienna

The Second ICU/ICARE Meeting in Vienna