The European Union has made a major leap by articulating the relevance of culture and science for its external relations. What it has not done yet however, is to make explicit the assumptions underpinning much of this work on cultural and science diplomacy. Neither has it yet codified and articulated it as part of a systematic and strategic approach to understanding the direction of science and cultural diplomacy that locates developments in these fields within the evolving global and EU external relations contexts. EL-CSID will do this, with the added ambition to identify how the Union and its member states might collectively and individually develop a good institutional and strategic policy environment for extra-regional culture and science diplomacy. Hence, the overarching objectives of this proposed project are threefold:
  1. To detail and analyse the manner in which the EU operates in the domains of cultural and science diplomacy in the current era, comparing its bilateral, multilateral cultural and scientific ties between states, regions, and public and private international organisations.
  2. To examine the degree to which cultural and science diplomacy can enhance the interests of the EU in the contemporary world order and to identify:
  • How cultural and science diplomacy can contribute to Europe’s standing as an international actor;
  • Opportunities offered by enhanced coordination and collaboration among the EU, its members and their extra-European partners;
  • Constraints posed by economic and socio-political factors affecting the evolving operating environments of both science and cultural diplomacy.
  1. To identify a series of mechanisms/platforms to raise awareness among relevant stakeholders about the importance of science and culture as vehicles for enhancing the EU’s external relations. The research will generate both scholarly work and policy-oriented output, which will be published through an extensive and targeted dissemination programme.

Consortium Partners:

Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium (Coordinator)

University of Warwick, United Kingdom

Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung Ggmbh, Germany

Euro-Mediterranean University, Slovenia

CEDS Egitim Ve Danismanlik AS, Turkey

The Joint Institute for Innovation Policy Aisbl, Belgium

United Nations University - Comparative Regional Integration Studies, Belgium

National University of Singapore, Singapore

Nazarbayev University, Kazakhstan

Duration of the Project:

1st March 2016 - 28th February 2019 (36 months)

Coordinator’s Contact:

Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Project Management Office

Tel: +32 2 6148015 | Fax: +32 2 6148010

Funding Agency:

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Grant Agreement N° 693799.