Over the past two decades, societies worldwide have experienced a series of disruptions to what was at the time perceived as the regular way of life: the COVID-19 pandemic, global financial crisis, increasing global population mobility, 9/11. European continent has experiences additional cross-border disruptions: the UK’s departure from the EU, the so-called refugee crisis, EU enlargement, to name but a few. Each global region has had a fair share of its own challenges in the past, and the true social, cultural, economic, and political effects of the COVID pandemic are likely to be long lasting. How have international organisations, national, regional, local level authorities innovated in response to acute challenges; and have these actually made a difference in dealing with these new challenges? How have democratic institutions responded to citizens’ needs over the succession of disruptions, and what differences can be observed between democratic and non-democratic responses, and between local, regional and national level policies?

The online conference will provide an opportunity to examine the role of local, national, regional, and international actors in the changing role of democratic governance over the past two decades.