16th DRC (Danube Rectors’ Conference) Summer School on Regional Cooperation
30 June - 7 July 2019 / University of Zagreb, Croatia
"Falling walls - moving borders - common house Europe?"
The 16th DRC Summer School with the title “Falling Walls - Moving Borders - Common House Europe?” was hosted by the University of Zagreb. The main goal was to understand the current changes the Danube region is facing and how to adapt to them and at the same time aiming to strengthen the ties among the countries of the region through the cooperation of young researchers.
The Summer School started with the honorable opening speech from Prof. Ivanka Popović, DRC President and Rector of the University of Belgrade and from Prof. Damir Boras, Rector of the University of Zagreb. Also Prof. Katarina Milković, representing the city of Zagreb, wished participants of the Summer School fruitful discussions and a nice week in Zagreb.
Prof. Damir Boras Prof. Ivanka Popović Prof. Katarina Milković
The organizers Sebastian Schäffer, MA, DRC Secretary General and IDM Managing Director and Dr. Zoltán Vörös from the University of Pécs also attended the welcoming panel.
Sebastian Schäffer, MA Dr. Zoltán Vörös
During the lecture sessions the participants had the opportunity to hear among others about the role of the EU and the NATO within the EU Neighbourhood countries, about the Rule of Law or Food Safety in the EU, or about development of migration in the CEE countries.
Workshop topics of the 16th DRC Summer School:
1. Collective security or a new cold war?
2. The common European currency – constant crisis management?
3. From “Big Bang” to “Brexit”
4. From homo sovieticus to homo digitalis – successful transformation of the civil society in CEE?
In the workshop sessions the participants joined the working groups and developed thirty recommendations for the Danube region by 2030. This required participants' considerations how the region will become in the future when it comes to the politics, economy, society, environment or demography.
In all these areas it was necessary to define the most burning issues, to analyze them and then offer improvements that would have a positive impact on the countries of the Danube region, making them a strong European area and better place to live within more than ten years.
These recommendations will not only be annexed to the DRC edition of the IDM scientific journal "Der Donauraum", but have also been discussed during tasteful dinner at the invitation of Hanns-Seidel-Foundation. Aleksandra Markić Boban, Head of the office in Zagreb, presented to the participants the activities of Hanns-Seidel-Foundation in Croatia regarding the political foundations, democracy promotion and European dialogue.
However, the DRC Summer School focuses not only on the research activities, but also on better understanding of the region where the event takes place. From this reason a field trip to Samobor, a Croatian colorful town close to the Slovenian border, was organized, where the participants had the opportunity to discover more from the Croatian history and culture.
Moreover, the guided city tour of Zagreb was also part of the programme in order to learn more about amazing landscapes and historical buildings of the Croatian capital. During the whole week of the Summer School the young scientists tasted the Croatian traditional food.
By all these occasions there was friendly environment among the participants, encouraging the exchange of ideas and already promoting future collaboration between the young researchers.
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