Prioritising the places and people that need it the most
Reflexive ethnographies of vulnerability
Collaborative and Reflexive Ethnographies of Vulnerability on Former Spaces
How can critical social design be practiced amid war and authoritarianism in former Soviet countries?
We will unite designers, engineers, and artists from various countries for a collaborative reflection on experiences of extreme vulnerability.
This year-long course, grounded in social sciences, STS and feminist literature offers participants a space designed with information-security protocols and adapted to diverse vulnerabilities.
We will unite designers, engineers, and artists from various countries for a collaborative reflection on experiences of extreme vulnerability.
This year-long course, grounded in social sciences, STS and feminist literature offers participants a space designed with information-security protocols and adapted to diverse vulnerabilities.
France
Regional
The concept is implemented at an international level but remains regional in terms of its primary audience in the former Soviet spaces. Meanwhile, the term "regions" is currently highly sensitive at the international level—considering the war in Ukraine, the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, and the lasting impact of wars in the Balkans, the Caucasus, and Central Asia—as well as at the national level, where it is a key issue in decolonial discourse within the Russian Federation, for example.
Mainly urban
It refers to other types of transformations (soft investment)
Prototype level
No
No
As an individual
The wars and authoritarianism in former soviet spaces have severely disrupted professional, academic, and creative communities. Political persecution, suppression of independent education, and restricted free expression have forced many designers, engineers, artists, and educators into exile, leaving them vulnerable. State-controlled institutions increasingly instrumentalize creative disciplines for ideological and military purposes, limiting their potential for critical, ethical, and socially engaged practice.
This project responds by launching a one-year interdisciplinary program inspired by Critical and public sociology, Science and Technology Studies (STS), and feminist literature. The program offers a secure learning environment for professionals and advanced students in design, programming, engineering, architecture, and media arts. Through collaborative ethnographic and autoethnographic methodologies, participants will reflect on displacement, repression, and professional constraints while exploring ethical, critical social design practices in authoritarian and wartime contexts.
Objectives
— Foster political reflexivity and empowerment among designers, engineers, architects, and artists in high-risk environments.
— Establish a secure, inclusive educational space for discussions on authoritarianism, war, and design ethics.
— Equip participants with interdisciplinary methodologies to advance responsible and critical design.
— Strengthen transnational solidarity networks among displaced professionals.
Target Groups
— Postgraduate students in design, programming, architecture, engineering, and interdisciplinary arts.
— Professionals working with vulnerable communities.
— Educators and researchers facing academic freedom constraints.
Outcomes
— A resilient community resisting war and authoritarian co-optation of creative disciplines.
— A framework for critical design education under crisis and political repression
This project responds by launching a one-year interdisciplinary program inspired by Critical and public sociology, Science and Technology Studies (STS), and feminist literature. The program offers a secure learning environment for professionals and advanced students in design, programming, engineering, architecture, and media arts. Through collaborative ethnographic and autoethnographic methodologies, participants will reflect on displacement, repression, and professional constraints while exploring ethical, critical social design practices in authoritarian and wartime contexts.
Objectives
— Foster political reflexivity and empowerment among designers, engineers, architects, and artists in high-risk environments.
— Establish a secure, inclusive educational space for discussions on authoritarianism, war, and design ethics.
— Equip participants with interdisciplinary methodologies to advance responsible and critical design.
— Strengthen transnational solidarity networks among displaced professionals.
Target Groups
— Postgraduate students in design, programming, architecture, engineering, and interdisciplinary arts.
— Professionals working with vulnerable communities.
— Educators and researchers facing academic freedom constraints.
Outcomes
— A resilient community resisting war and authoritarian co-optation of creative disciplines.
— A framework for critical design education under crisis and political repression
Vulnerability
Resistance
Empowerment
Feminism
Infrastructure
Sustainability in this project is understood as the preservation and resilience of democratic and inclusive forms of education, collaboration, and mutual aid in the face of war and authoritarian repression. In the context of genocide and ecocide this project takes into account fundamental aspects of sustainability. It extends beyond environmental concerns to encompass social sustainability, ensuring that vulnerable professionals or professionals working with vulnerable groups can continue contributing to and benefiting from independent knowledge production and ethical design practices.
This project embraces sustainability through:
Building New Solidarities in a Secure International Space, this solidarity sustains independent creative and intellectual work despite external pressures.
Resisting Authoritarian Co-optation, the project enables professionals to continue their work without ideological constraints. Sustaining knowledge that remains free from authoritarian influence is vital for long-term resilience.
Ensuring Information Security in Education: The program integrates strict security measures to protect participants from political persecution, ensuring a safe environment for learning and professional development.
The program’s sustainability also aligns with broader ecological and anthropological perspectives on interdependence, inspired by thinkers like M. Puig de la Bellacasa, D. Haraway, B. Latour, S. Leigh Star, A.M. Mol and A. Tsing. It acknowledges the interconnectedness of human and non-human actors in shaping resilient infrastructures for education and creative practice.
By embedding sustainability in social structures and ethical knowledge production, this initiative becomes an exemplary model of how education and professional collaboration can endure and adapt under crisis conditions, ultimately preserving independent intellectual and creative ecosystems.
This project embraces sustainability through:
Building New Solidarities in a Secure International Space, this solidarity sustains independent creative and intellectual work despite external pressures.
Resisting Authoritarian Co-optation, the project enables professionals to continue their work without ideological constraints. Sustaining knowledge that remains free from authoritarian influence is vital for long-term resilience.
Ensuring Information Security in Education: The program integrates strict security measures to protect participants from political persecution, ensuring a safe environment for learning and professional development.
The program’s sustainability also aligns with broader ecological and anthropological perspectives on interdependence, inspired by thinkers like M. Puig de la Bellacasa, D. Haraway, B. Latour, S. Leigh Star, A.M. Mol and A. Tsing. It acknowledges the interconnectedness of human and non-human actors in shaping resilient infrastructures for education and creative practice.
By embedding sustainability in social structures and ethical knowledge production, this initiative becomes an exemplary model of how education and professional collaboration can endure and adapt under crisis conditions, ultimately preserving independent intellectual and creative ecosystems.
This project is designed for individuals facing vulnerability, operating under conditions of high-tech censorship, low network connectivity, and increased risk of political persecution. While its foundation is ethical (drawing on E. Levinas, P. Ricoeur and various anthropological and sociological works, cf. V. Das), aesthetics plays a critical role in shaping perception, particularly in anthropology, where discussions of risk and danger are understood as theories of perception (M. Douglas).
Beyond functionality, the project emphasizes aesthetics to enhance engagement, resilience, and a sense of belonging. The thoughtfully designed educational experience ensures participants feel supported and inspired despite challenging conditions. Secure digital environments uphold accessibility despite technical restrictions, while curated educational materials foster intellectual, engineering and artistic depth, reinforcing a culture of critical inquiry.
The program’s quality of experience is enhanced through:
Ethical and Inclusive Design: Creating an educational space that prioritizes safety, accessibility, and creative autonomy for professionals at risk and working with groups at risk.
Cultural and Intellectual Enrichment: Integrating aesthetic and anthropological perspectives to maintain high engagement despite external pressures.
Resilient and Adaptive Learning Methods: Developing innovative formats that overcome barriers posed by authoritarian restrictions and network limitations.
By integrating aesthetics and design with ethical and political reflexivity, this project exemplifies how cultural and intellectual resilience can be maintained even in extreme conditions, setting a standard for adaptive, high-quality educational and creative experiences.
Beyond functionality, the project emphasizes aesthetics to enhance engagement, resilience, and a sense of belonging. The thoughtfully designed educational experience ensures participants feel supported and inspired despite challenging conditions. Secure digital environments uphold accessibility despite technical restrictions, while curated educational materials foster intellectual, engineering and artistic depth, reinforcing a culture of critical inquiry.
The program’s quality of experience is enhanced through:
Ethical and Inclusive Design: Creating an educational space that prioritizes safety, accessibility, and creative autonomy for professionals at risk and working with groups at risk.
Cultural and Intellectual Enrichment: Integrating aesthetic and anthropological perspectives to maintain high engagement despite external pressures.
Resilient and Adaptive Learning Methods: Developing innovative formats that overcome barriers posed by authoritarian restrictions and network limitations.
By integrating aesthetics and design with ethical and political reflexivity, this project exemplifies how cultural and intellectual resilience can be maintained even in extreme conditions, setting a standard for adaptive, high-quality educational and creative experiences.
Inclusion is a central theme of this project, informed by critical research in disability studies, care studies, maintenance and infrastructure studies, and feminist intersectionality. The project frames vulnerability and autonomy as essential foundations for political life (cf. P. Ricoeur, J. Butler), fostering inclusivity in multiple dimensions.
The key objectives for inclusion are:
Democratizing Knowledge: Making the concept of vulnerability accessible as a foundation for autonomy and resistance.
Broadening Access to Scholarship: Providing open access to academic literature in social sciences, philosophy, Science and Technology Studies, infrastructure studies, care studies, and disability studies to a wide audience.
Empowering Marginalized Groups: Supporting vulnerable individuals through reflection, personal writing, and critical engagement.
Facilitating Entry into International Academia: Lowering barriers for participation in cosmopolitic and hospital academic discourse.
Accessibility: The workshop is conducted online, accounting for various vulnerabilities—psychological, economic, ecological, infrastructural, political, physical or related to origin. To ensure accessibility across time zones, sessions are held monthly in two different groups. The workshop takes into account dimensions of inequality, such as invisible domestic labor or maintenance work.
Affordability: The workshop is entirely pro bono, ensuring financial constraints do not hinder participation.
By integrating critical theory with practical accessibility measures, this project exemplifies an inclusive model of education and professional empowerment, making high-level academic discourse and collaborative learning available to those most affected by political and social instability.
The key objectives for inclusion are:
Democratizing Knowledge: Making the concept of vulnerability accessible as a foundation for autonomy and resistance.
Broadening Access to Scholarship: Providing open access to academic literature in social sciences, philosophy, Science and Technology Studies, infrastructure studies, care studies, and disability studies to a wide audience.
Empowering Marginalized Groups: Supporting vulnerable individuals through reflection, personal writing, and critical engagement.
Facilitating Entry into International Academia: Lowering barriers for participation in cosmopolitic and hospital academic discourse.
Accessibility: The workshop is conducted online, accounting for various vulnerabilities—psychological, economic, ecological, infrastructural, political, physical or related to origin. To ensure accessibility across time zones, sessions are held monthly in two different groups. The workshop takes into account dimensions of inequality, such as invisible domestic labor or maintenance work.
Affordability: The workshop is entirely pro bono, ensuring financial constraints do not hinder participation.
By integrating critical theory with practical accessibility measures, this project exemplifies an inclusive model of education and professional empowerment, making high-level academic discourse and collaborative learning available to those most affected by political and social instability.
Exemplary Character in Terms of Citizen and Civil Society Involvement
The seminar is participatory, engaging both individuals in vulnerable situations and professionals working with these communities. It fosters an inclusive environment where affected individuals can contribute to shaping discussions, methodologies, and outcomes.
Beyond its direct research objectives, the seminar—while not a therapeutic space itself—is designed to guide participants toward competent medical and psychological support when needed. The program ensures a trauma-informed approach, providing a structured and sensitive environment for reflection.
Key Aspects of Citizen and Civil Society Involvement:
Active Participation and Co-Creation: The seminar encourages participants to co-develop content, fostering collective knowledge-building and shared expertise.
Information Security Measures: The program integrates digital and structural safeguards to protect vulnerable participants from political persecution.
A Source of Political Reflexivity and Empowerment: The initiative serves as a space for critical reflection, overcoming social atomization, and strengthening the agency of marginalized groups.
Bridging Academia, Industrial professionals, Artists and Civil Society: By integrating lived experiences with academic knowledge, the project fosters a model of engaged scholarship, where civic actors actively contribute to knowledge production.
Careful and Thoughtful Dialogue Building: The seminar fosters dialogue between citizens affected by war and authoritarian regimes ensuring that discussions are conducted with sensitivity, respect, and an awareness of the complex emotional and political contexts in which participants operate.
The seminar is participatory, engaging both individuals in vulnerable situations and professionals working with these communities. It fosters an inclusive environment where affected individuals can contribute to shaping discussions, methodologies, and outcomes.
Beyond its direct research objectives, the seminar—while not a therapeutic space itself—is designed to guide participants toward competent medical and psychological support when needed. The program ensures a trauma-informed approach, providing a structured and sensitive environment for reflection.
Key Aspects of Citizen and Civil Society Involvement:
Active Participation and Co-Creation: The seminar encourages participants to co-develop content, fostering collective knowledge-building and shared expertise.
Information Security Measures: The program integrates digital and structural safeguards to protect vulnerable participants from political persecution.
A Source of Political Reflexivity and Empowerment: The initiative serves as a space for critical reflection, overcoming social atomization, and strengthening the agency of marginalized groups.
Bridging Academia, Industrial professionals, Artists and Civil Society: By integrating lived experiences with academic knowledge, the project fosters a model of engaged scholarship, where civic actors actively contribute to knowledge production.
Careful and Thoughtful Dialogue Building: The seminar fosters dialogue between citizens affected by war and authoritarian regimes ensuring that discussions are conducted with sensitivity, respect, and an awareness of the complex emotional and political contexts in which participants operate.
The seminar has been developed through collaboration with multiple stakeholders at local, national, and European levels, ensuring broad institutional support and impact.
Local and Regional Engagement:
— The seminar was approved by Brīvā Universitāte, an exiled university based in Latvia as an NGO, receiving backing from local authorities.
— Colleagues from the Centre for Russian, Caucasian, East European, and Central Asian Studies (CERCEC EHESS) provided administrative and academic support.
National and International Academic Collaboration:
— For two consecutive years, the project received funding from the Direction des Relations Internationales de l’EHESS within the GLOBAL EHESS framework, in collaboration with Charles University in Prague and the War and Society Alliance.
This support enabled participants, including displaced academics and professionals, to present research internationally, contributing to global academic discourse and fostering career continuity for individuals affected by war.
Impact on Participants:
— Funding allowed four workshop participants, two of whom had their academic trajectories interrupted by war, to co-author an academic article.
— One participant from Ukraine successfully applied to a U.S. conference, expanding professional networking opportunities.
— Six participants attended a conference in Prague, leading to one continuing postgraduate studies and another resuming doctoral aspirations after a two-year war-related hiatus.
Internationalization of the Workshop:
— With the support of colleagues in Prague and Paris, the third cohort included students from France, the Czech Republic, and Belarus, broadening the workshop’s international scope.
— These connections have also contributed to the development of a Faculty of Social Sciences and Gender Studies at Brīvā Universitāte.
— We're planning a conference with Campus Condorcet, Uxil and the Institut Convergences Migration in Paris to strengthen partnerships.
Local and Regional Engagement:
— The seminar was approved by Brīvā Universitāte, an exiled university based in Latvia as an NGO, receiving backing from local authorities.
— Colleagues from the Centre for Russian, Caucasian, East European, and Central Asian Studies (CERCEC EHESS) provided administrative and academic support.
National and International Academic Collaboration:
— For two consecutive years, the project received funding from the Direction des Relations Internationales de l’EHESS within the GLOBAL EHESS framework, in collaboration with Charles University in Prague and the War and Society Alliance.
This support enabled participants, including displaced academics and professionals, to present research internationally, contributing to global academic discourse and fostering career continuity for individuals affected by war.
Impact on Participants:
— Funding allowed four workshop participants, two of whom had their academic trajectories interrupted by war, to co-author an academic article.
— One participant from Ukraine successfully applied to a U.S. conference, expanding professional networking opportunities.
— Six participants attended a conference in Prague, leading to one continuing postgraduate studies and another resuming doctoral aspirations after a two-year war-related hiatus.
Internationalization of the Workshop:
— With the support of colleagues in Prague and Paris, the third cohort included students from France, the Czech Republic, and Belarus, broadening the workshop’s international scope.
— These connections have also contributed to the development of a Faculty of Social Sciences and Gender Studies at Brīvā Universitāte.
— We're planning a conference with Campus Condorcet, Uxil and the Institut Convergences Migration in Paris to strengthen partnerships.
The project integrates a wide range of disciplines in social sciences, while being deeply related to STS, infrastructure studies, and feminist epistemologies, fostering meaningful interactions between diverse academic and industrial research.
The central concept of vulnerability is deeply embedded in contemporary sociological research (Bankoff, 2001; Brodiez-Dolino, 2016) and has strong ties to political theory and moral philosophy (Butler, 2016; Garrau, 2018). The project’s engagement with vulnerability connects it to risk studies (Beck, 1992; Giddens, 1988) and the broader cultural theory of danger (Douglas, 1986, 2013, 2020).
The interdisciplinary approach is further strengthened by engagement with feminist care ethics and research in inequalities and mobilization. The project revisits classical theories of justice (Rawls) and reinterprets philosophical traditions (Levinas, Ricoeur, Wittgenstein) to provide a richer understanding of social structures and resistance mechanisms. The seminar incorporates philosophy, particularly P. Ricoeur’s anthropology of the capable human and his vision of the economy as a lived world (M. Breviglieri).
The project engages with STS, infrastructure studies, maintenance studies, and disaster studies, particularly regarding the role of maintenance (D. Pontille, A.M. Mol).
The link between infrastructure research and anthropology is explored through works like (V. Das).
Despite their diverse origins, all these works form a coherent critical theory of infrastructures (S. Leigh Star, L. Suchman). This perspective is crucial for professionals in design, engineering, and architecture while maintaining strong ties with classical sociology (A. Strauss, H. Becker, Chicago School of Sociology).
The central concept of vulnerability is deeply embedded in contemporary sociological research (Bankoff, 2001; Brodiez-Dolino, 2016) and has strong ties to political theory and moral philosophy (Butler, 2016; Garrau, 2018). The project’s engagement with vulnerability connects it to risk studies (Beck, 1992; Giddens, 1988) and the broader cultural theory of danger (Douglas, 1986, 2013, 2020).
The interdisciplinary approach is further strengthened by engagement with feminist care ethics and research in inequalities and mobilization. The project revisits classical theories of justice (Rawls) and reinterprets philosophical traditions (Levinas, Ricoeur, Wittgenstein) to provide a richer understanding of social structures and resistance mechanisms. The seminar incorporates philosophy, particularly P. Ricoeur’s anthropology of the capable human and his vision of the economy as a lived world (M. Breviglieri).
The project engages with STS, infrastructure studies, maintenance studies, and disaster studies, particularly regarding the role of maintenance (D. Pontille, A.M. Mol).
The link between infrastructure research and anthropology is explored through works like (V. Das).
Despite their diverse origins, all these works form a coherent critical theory of infrastructures (S. Leigh Star, L. Suchman). This perspective is crucial for professionals in design, engineering, and architecture while maintaining strong ties with classical sociology (A. Strauss, H. Becker, Chicago School of Sociology).
This project stands out due to its commitment to high-level information security, offering participants the ability to anonymize their identities while preserving deeply personal storytelling and contact. It operates under conditions of high-tech censorship, low network connectivity, and significant political risks, ensuring secure participation while fostering a sense of community and shared experience.
Key innovative aspects include:
Secure and Adaptive Learning Environment: Unlike conventional programs, this course prioritizes digital security and anonymity, essential for individuals under political threat or surveillance.
High Motivation Without Attendance Obligations: The project fosters engagement without mandating attendance, ensuring participants remain motivated while respecting their vulnerabilities and unpredictable circumstances.
Trauma-Informed and Inclusive Approach: The program is carefully designed to accommodate extreme heterogeneity in participant vulnerabilities, mitigating the risk of retraumatization while ensuring a safe and attentive space for learning.
Academic Excellence with Public Accessibility: While maintaining rigorous academic standards, the course is adapted for a broad audience. It welcomes both post-bachelor and postdoctoral participants and recognizes caregiving, technical work, and other non-traditional experiences as equivalent qualifications.
Cross-Regional Relevance: The project is designed to engage participants from diverse regions, each facing distinct forms of political oppression, thereby fostering a transnational network of resilience and knowledge-sharing.
By integrating these innovative methodologies, the project redefines academic engagement under crisis conditions, setting a new standard for inclusive, secure, and critically engaged education in politically volatile contexts.
Key innovative aspects include:
Secure and Adaptive Learning Environment: Unlike conventional programs, this course prioritizes digital security and anonymity, essential for individuals under political threat or surveillance.
High Motivation Without Attendance Obligations: The project fosters engagement without mandating attendance, ensuring participants remain motivated while respecting their vulnerabilities and unpredictable circumstances.
Trauma-Informed and Inclusive Approach: The program is carefully designed to accommodate extreme heterogeneity in participant vulnerabilities, mitigating the risk of retraumatization while ensuring a safe and attentive space for learning.
Academic Excellence with Public Accessibility: While maintaining rigorous academic standards, the course is adapted for a broad audience. It welcomes both post-bachelor and postdoctoral participants and recognizes caregiving, technical work, and other non-traditional experiences as equivalent qualifications.
Cross-Regional Relevance: The project is designed to engage participants from diverse regions, each facing distinct forms of political oppression, thereby fostering a transnational network of resilience and knowledge-sharing.
By integrating these innovative methodologies, the project redefines academic engagement under crisis conditions, setting a new standard for inclusive, secure, and critically engaged education in politically volatile contexts.
The project employs an innovative and highly tailored approach to participant selection, security, and pedagogical engagement, ensuring both the protection and empowerment of individuals facing political risk.
Selective Admission Process with Risk Assessment:
Prospective participants submit a motivation letter, CV, their social media presence, work examples, and a self-assessment of personal risks.
This selection process ensures a diverse yet secure group of students prepared to engage critically in the program.
Advanced Security and Anonymization Protocols:
A comprehensive security protocol is in place, allowing participants to remain anonymous while ensuring their identity is verified peer-to-peer for safety.
This model allows for open engagement while mitigating risks of political persecution.
Flexible Learning Structure:
Monthly meetings provide a structured space for lectures and discussions led by both by lecturer and participants.
Outside of structured sessions, students engage in a secure online space to share notes, literature, and observations.
This methodology presents a model of academic and professional support that balances accessibility, security, and knowledge production in high-risk environments.
Selective Admission Process with Risk Assessment:
Prospective participants submit a motivation letter, CV, their social media presence, work examples, and a self-assessment of personal risks.
This selection process ensures a diverse yet secure group of students prepared to engage critically in the program.
Advanced Security and Anonymization Protocols:
A comprehensive security protocol is in place, allowing participants to remain anonymous while ensuring their identity is verified peer-to-peer for safety.
This model allows for open engagement while mitigating risks of political persecution.
Flexible Learning Structure:
Monthly meetings provide a structured space for lectures and discussions led by both by lecturer and participants.
Outside of structured sessions, students engage in a secure online space to share notes, literature, and observations.
This methodology presents a model of academic and professional support that balances accessibility, security, and knowledge production in high-risk environments.
The project’s innovative methodology, participatory approach, and interdisciplinary focus make it highly transferable and adaptable to different regions, disciplines, and professional communities.
1. Comparative and Cross-Disciplinary Approach:
Course content is applicable across diverse regional contexts, gaining depth through comparative perspectives.
The methodology is reproducible while remaining uniquely personalized, attentive, and ethically grounded in participant engagement.
2. Pedagogical Ethics and Adaptability:
The course is structured to be adaptable to different regional contexts, requiring tailored adjustments based on local needs.
It is interdisciplinary, welcoming activists, designers, architects, engineers, social scientists and social workers or care professionals alike.
The model can be adapted for social workers, creative professionals, technical specialists, disaster response teams, and policy developers focusing on awareness and sensitization initiatives.
3. Knowledge Sharing and Localization:
The course continuously accumulates concise and accessible summaries of academic works, translating them into local languages for broader accessibility.
This creates a sustainable repository of knowledge that can be adapted and shared across different networks and educational environments.
4. Participatory and Co-Organizational Model:
The program is built on participatory methodologies, treating participants as co-organizers rather than passive learners.
This structure encourages replication in other networks, fostering decentralized knowledge-sharing and adaptation to new contexts.
By embedding participatory learning, ethical engagement, and adaptable knowledge-sharing, this project establishes a scalable and transferable model that can be reproduced in different socio-political environments, ensuring long-term impact across diverse academic and professional fields.
1. Comparative and Cross-Disciplinary Approach:
Course content is applicable across diverse regional contexts, gaining depth through comparative perspectives.
The methodology is reproducible while remaining uniquely personalized, attentive, and ethically grounded in participant engagement.
2. Pedagogical Ethics and Adaptability:
The course is structured to be adaptable to different regional contexts, requiring tailored adjustments based on local needs.
It is interdisciplinary, welcoming activists, designers, architects, engineers, social scientists and social workers or care professionals alike.
The model can be adapted for social workers, creative professionals, technical specialists, disaster response teams, and policy developers focusing on awareness and sensitization initiatives.
3. Knowledge Sharing and Localization:
The course continuously accumulates concise and accessible summaries of academic works, translating them into local languages for broader accessibility.
This creates a sustainable repository of knowledge that can be adapted and shared across different networks and educational environments.
4. Participatory and Co-Organizational Model:
The program is built on participatory methodologies, treating participants as co-organizers rather than passive learners.
This structure encourages replication in other networks, fostering decentralized knowledge-sharing and adaptation to new contexts.
By embedding participatory learning, ethical engagement, and adaptable knowledge-sharing, this project establishes a scalable and transferable model that can be reproduced in different socio-political environments, ensuring long-term impact across diverse academic and professional fields.
Global Challenges Addressed by the Project with Local Solutions
This project addresses pressing global challenges by providing localized, context-sensitive solutions that can be adapted and replicated in various geopolitical environments.
These challenges include:
1. War and Political Repression:
The program supports individuals affected by armed conflicts and authoritarian regimes, offering a secure educational and professional development space for displaced and at-risk professionals.
2. Disasters—Natural, Technogenic, and Human-Generated:
By incorporating interdisciplinary studies on infrastructure, resilience, and technological governance, the project equips participants to address crises caused by environmental, technological, or human-made disasters.
3. Social Inequalities:
The project actively engages with issues related to regional disparities, gender, race, and disability, fostering inclusive educational methodologies that challenge structural inequalities.
4. Large-Scale Infrastructure and IT Systems:
The program encourages critical engagement with digital infrastructure, ensuring participants understand and contribute to the ethical development of technological and design systems in crisis-affected areas.
5. AI, Big Data, and Internet Governance:
By exploring themes of data infrastructures, censorship, and digital security, the project provides participants with the tools to navigate and counter digital authoritarianism, misinformation, and surveillance.
By embedding local solutions into a broader framework, the project not only supports communities facing immediate threats but also fosters global networks of solidarity, ensuring its impact extends beyond any single region or context.
This project addresses pressing global challenges by providing localized, context-sensitive solutions that can be adapted and replicated in various geopolitical environments.
These challenges include:
1. War and Political Repression:
The program supports individuals affected by armed conflicts and authoritarian regimes, offering a secure educational and professional development space for displaced and at-risk professionals.
2. Disasters—Natural, Technogenic, and Human-Generated:
By incorporating interdisciplinary studies on infrastructure, resilience, and technological governance, the project equips participants to address crises caused by environmental, technological, or human-made disasters.
3. Social Inequalities:
The project actively engages with issues related to regional disparities, gender, race, and disability, fostering inclusive educational methodologies that challenge structural inequalities.
4. Large-Scale Infrastructure and IT Systems:
The program encourages critical engagement with digital infrastructure, ensuring participants understand and contribute to the ethical development of technological and design systems in crisis-affected areas.
5. AI, Big Data, and Internet Governance:
By exploring themes of data infrastructures, censorship, and digital security, the project provides participants with the tools to navigate and counter digital authoritarianism, misinformation, and surveillance.
By embedding local solutions into a broader framework, the project not only supports communities facing immediate threats but also fosters global networks of solidarity, ensuring its impact extends beyond any single region or context.
Demonstrated Commitment to Implement the Concept in Practice
Since February 2023, I have been teaching this course pro bono, demonstrating a strong dedication to its development and implementation. To expand its reach and ensure long-term sustainability, the project seeks grant support for internationalization and greater participant diversity.
Planned Developments for the Next Year:
Launching an English-language group to broaden accessibility and inclusivity for a global audience.
Registering the course for ECTS credits, ensuring academic recognition and facilitating integration into formal education systems.
Implementing certification and external review to strengthen methodological and ethical standards.
Development Timeline:
August: International recruitment to diversify participation.
September–October: Selection of participants and preparatory work.
October–May: Regular meetings and independent group work.
May 2026: Conference in Prague to consolidate findings, strengthen partnerships, and ensure continued project dissemination.
Since February 2023, I have been teaching this course pro bono, demonstrating a strong dedication to its development and implementation. To expand its reach and ensure long-term sustainability, the project seeks grant support for internationalization and greater participant diversity.
Planned Developments for the Next Year:
Launching an English-language group to broaden accessibility and inclusivity for a global audience.
Registering the course for ECTS credits, ensuring academic recognition and facilitating integration into formal education systems.
Implementing certification and external review to strengthen methodological and ethical standards.
Development Timeline:
August: International recruitment to diversify participation.
September–October: Selection of participants and preparatory work.
October–May: Regular meetings and independent group work.
May 2026: Conference in Prague to consolidate findings, strengthen partnerships, and ensure continued project dissemination.
