Presentation and Debate

“Next ITEM” – is the title of a series of public debates organised by the expertise centre ITEM, the UM cross-border institute. We start with the topic of citizens' participation in decision-making processes, currently discussed at all political level. The role of referenda, citizens initiatives or new instruments like citizens assemblies are a case in point. The question has become also relevant for cross-border policies and governance.

Dr Peter Ulrich is a political scientist and research associate at the German Leibniz Institute for Research on Society and Space. In his PhD thesis in 2019, he was doing research on civil society participation and governance in EU cross-border spaces. In 2021, he published the book “Participatory Governance in the Europe of Cross-Border Regions: Cooperation – Boundaries – Civil Society”, exploring citizens participation in a cross-border context. On November 17th, he presented and discussed his main findings with:

• Prof Christine Neuhold, Professor of EU Democratic Governance and Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences;

• Dr Joost van den Akker, Lecturer in European Studies (Zuyd University of Applied Sciences) and former regional Minister of the Province of Limburg; and

• Prof. dr. Hildegard Schneider, Emeritus Professor International and European Law.

The debate was held in English and was moderated by Martin Unfried, ITEM.

Due to the increasing contamination figures around COVID-19, we unfortunately had to decide not to have this meeting physically with the audience in the room. Participants have received a Zoom-link.