The challenge of sustainable development requires cities to aim for drastic improvements in the systems that support its vital functions. Innovating these systems can be extremely hard, and might take lots of time. A transparent and democratic strategy is important to guarantee support for change. Such …

The debate about the world wide web is of vital importance. Will it remain the democratic place of unconditional meeting and community building, or will it become a tool in the hands of governments, trillion dollar companies and the mafia, in order to secretly establish a dictatorship of control and …

Frontline professionals such as social workers and civil servants play a crucial role in countering violent extremism.Because of their direct contac twith society,first liners are tasked with detecting individuals that may threaten national security and the democratic rule of law. Preliminary screening …

Studies show that adolescents that follow a higher educational track have more positive experiences than those of lower levels with aspects of democracy, such as decision-making or discussions. In our study, we focus on how adolescents from different educational tracks evaluate the various possibilities …

In the debate about smart cities, an alternative to a dominant top-down, tech-driven solutionist approach has arisen in examples of ‘civic hacking’. Hacking here refers to the playful, exploratory, collaborative and sometimes transgressive modes of operation found in various hacker cultures, this time …

Using the past to orientate on the present and the future can be seen as one of history’s main contributions to educating future citizens of democratic societies. This thesis defines and explores aims and methods that may support teachers and students in making meaningful connections between the past, …

Politics defines many aspects of people’s lives, even when most of them are not directly involved in political processes and have no chance to do so. Born 2500 years ago in Athens, for broader public democracy became the way to influence their societies’ lives: discussions that were previously held behind …

The Art of Criticism: A European Network for Experiments in Art Criticism Together with partners from the field of art criticism, the Institute of Network Cultures has set up the project The Art of Criticism: a platform for research, experiments and policy making in the field of art criticism. Solid …

This research is an attempt to find an answer to the question “How can the EU and UN encourage de-escalation in the Korean Peninsula?”. Each chapter will be divided in a part on the European Union (EU hereafter) and a part on the United Nations (UN hereafter). During the first part, the research will …

Using the past to orientate on the present and the future can be seen as one of history’s main contributions to educating future citizens of democratic societies. Because teachers often lack useful methods for pursuing this goal, this study explores three pedagogical approaches that may help them making …