B-SHAPES researchers have been disseminating the first results of the B-SHAPES research at different European conferences in summer and autumn 2024.
In early September, eight B-SHAPES researchers - Dorte Jagetic Andersen, Hynek Böhm, Alice Engl, Johanna Mitterhofer, Marcus Nicolson, Elżbieta Opiłowska, Eeva-Kaisa Prokkola, Sara Svensson - participated in the conference Disruptive borderlands. Unpacking the innovative potential of transbordering practices, imaginaries and policies, organised by @LISER in Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg. The conference was an opportunity to discuss recent crises on (non)European borders, new theoretical and methodological approaches to grasp the dynamic changes, and also to visit Schengen, which symbolises open borders in Europe. Due to recent disruptive events and political decisions, this image and reality is increasingly contested.
B-SHAPES was also represented at the 1st Congress of Researchers of Borders and Borderlands that took place in Wrocław and Opole, Poland, on 16-18 September, co-organized by Elżbieta Opiłowska. B-SHAPES researcher Dorte Jagetic Andersen was one of the keynote speakers. The results of B-SHAPES such as the narratives on borders and Europe in the Polish minority press in the Czech Republic or Euroscepticism in border areas were presented by Birte Wassenberg, Damian Bączkiewicz, Péter Balogh and Elżbieta Opiłowska.
B-SHAPES researchers Alice Engl, Marcus Nicolson, Katja Sarmiento-Mirwaldt and Sara Svensson presented B-SHAPES research at the 54th UACES Annual Conference held in Trento, Italy. They presented three papers at a panel they had organised on ‘Mobility, Place Attachment and Border Regions: How Local Narratives Shape EU Perceptions’. The panel was well-attended, and discussion afterwards focused on place-based narratives in specific border regions.
In October, B-SHAPES researchers Sara Svensson, Martin Klatt, Artur Boháč, Katja Sarmiento-Mirwaldt, Hynek Böhm, and Fredriika Jakola were invited to talk at the International Conference on Territorial and Inter-Organizational Cooperation organized by the WSB University in Dąbrowa Górnicza in Upper Silesia, Poland, organized by B-SHAPES participant Joanna Kurowska-Pysz. The seminar included important discussions on the current challenges of borderlands and discerning ideas on how to overcome these obstacles. Researchers also participated in a study trip to Polish-Czech borderland, Euroregion Cieszyn Silesia. The fascinating field trip included visits to Hażlach and Jastrzębie Zdrój communs (PL), as well as to twin towns Cieszyn (PL) and Český Těšín (CZ) divided after WWI. It inspired many interesting insights on heritage industry and cross-border cooperation, resonating closely with B-SHAPES’s research agendas.
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