The University Association for Contemporary European Studies (UACES) awards regularly collaborative research networks (CRN) to academics that come together to join forces on important research topics. For 2016, the new CRN “Europe and the Everyday” was awarded funding, in which Canterbury Christ Church University’s Reader in Politics and International Relations Soeren Keil is one of the organisers. Soeren will be working with Dr Simona Guerra from the University of Leicester and Dr Jelena Obradovic-Wochnik from Aston University.

The CRN “Europe and the Everyday: Grassroots, EU and the Politics of Crisis (EUEve)” will discuss four main questions: (1) What impacts do policies such as budget cuts have on individuals and communities, across different European contexts? (2) How have recent crises such as austerity and the refugee crisis, shaped the ways in which ʻEuropeʼ is understood and represented locally? (3) How do marginalised communities, and non-mainstream voters such as young people, engage with and experience, the idea of ʻEuropeʼ? (4) How is ʻEuropeʼ entrenched in local spaces, cities and neighbourhoods, and what spatial or geographic evidence can we observe?

This will be done through a series of workshops, conference panels and seminars. One of these workshops is planned to take place at Canterbury Christ Church University in 2017.

Paul Anderson, PhD student in Politics and International Relations, has just been appointed as the Communications Officer for the CRN, and he will be working on establishing its online presence including a Facebook side, a Twitter feed and a Website.

The CRN continues the tradition of successful research funding for the Politics and IR Team at CCCU for projects related to Europe and the European Union.

It promises stronger engagement for PhD students and the discussion of important questions between researchers not just from Politics and International Relations, but also from related disciplines. Moreover, it enables the Politics and International Relations Team at CCCU to work with colleagues at other universities.

The funding from UACES is also supported by the Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Union.

For more information on UACES and other CRNs, see: http://uaces.org/funding/CRN/