On 4-5 June 2026, students, researchers, and professionals from across the CIVICA alliance will gather at Palazzo Buontalenti in Florence for StIRK 2026 – Strengthening Democratic Resilience through Inclusive Knowledge Practices, a Student Engagement Fund (SEF)-supported project focused on bridging the gap between academia, policymaking, and citizens to reinforce European democracy. Check out the event details on our Events page.
Organised by a student team from Bocconi, Central European University (CEU), European University Institute (EUI), the Hertie School,Sciences Po, and SGH, the conference will bring together participants from diverse disciplines for interactive workshops aimed at co-creating knowledge and exploring how democracies can become more inclusive, especially for marginalised voices.
Ahead of the conference, CIVICA spoke with members of the organising team about their motivations for launching STiRK, why inclusive knowledge practices are vital for democratic resilience, and what participants can expect from this two-day interactive experience.
What inspired your group to organise this event?
The idea grew organically, out of a lunch break conversation, from something that genuinely moves us in our daily lives. What started as an informal exchange became a desire to organize something more formal, a space to bring people together from across Europe and across our campuses. We had been noticing the hierarchical and exclusionary ways in which knowledge is produced and shared, and we wanted to challenge that. At the same time, witnessing a growing backlash against equality pushed us to brainstorm a response, and inclusive knowledge practices felt like exactly that
Why do you think it’s important right now to address inequality, marginalisation, and citizen engagement in European democracies?
It is always a good time to reflect on marginalization and inequality, but the current moment feels especially pressing. Democratic values are under attack, polarization is deepening, and disinformation is filling the spaces where shared understanding should be. We want to work with people across universities and policy worlds to create a unifying story. Stories bring people together, and we see this conference as an opportunity to do exactly that.
What do you hope participants will take away?
We want participants to leave with an experience, something that functions as an example, almost like a lab, of what inclusive knowledge practices can look like in a university setting. Concretely, that means transferable practices they can bring back to their own communities. But it also means a stronger analytical understanding of the backlash and democratic backsliding we are all navigating. We are deliberately bridging theory and practice, and we hope that comes through.
The conference brings together six CIVICA universities - how does this cross-campus collaboration shape the content, perspectives, and impact of the event?
Having six CIVICA universities in the room means we are drawing on cross-European and genuinely transnational perspectives. Participants, speakers, and organizers alike bring experience of democratic backsliding and backlash against equality from very different national contexts, and that diversity enriches the conversation and strengthens the content. Academic work looks different depending on where you are doing it, and bringing those contexts into dialogue with each other is something we find genuinely valuable and rare.
Is there anything you are particularly excited about?
We are most excited about the format itself. This is not a lecture series. It is built around engagement, co-creation, and connection. We start from where we are now, and we want participants to feel like actors for change rather than passive recipients of information. One highlight is a session using the Theatre of the Oppressed methodology, which brings a creative and embodied dimension to exploring social and political dynamics. At a time when anxiety in the face of events can feel paralyzing, it feels important and hopeful to think and act creatively together.
Full details on registration to be announced. Read more on the StRIK event.
