“Next ITEM” – will be the title of the future public debates that will take place on 17th November in Maastricht. The debate is organized by the expertise centre ITEM (Member of the TEIN), the UM cross-border institute. The topic of citizens participation in decision making processes is currently discussed at all political levels. The role of referenda, citizens initiatives or new instruments like citizens assemblies are a case in point. The question has become also relevant for cross-border policies and governance.

Dr. Peter Ulrich (Viadrina Center B/ORDERS IN MOTION, Memeber of the TEIN) is a political scientist and research associate at the German Leibniz Institute for Research on Society and Space. In his PhD thesis in 2019, he was doing research on civil society participation and governance in EU cross-border spaces. In 2021, he published the book “Participatory Governance in the Europe of Cross-Border Regions: Cooperation – Boundaries – Civil Society”, exploring citizens participation in a cross-border context. He will present and discuss his main findings with:

• Prof. Christine Neuhold, Professor of EU Democratic Governance and Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences;
• Dr. Joost van den Akker, Lecturer in European Studies (Zuyd University of Applied Sciences) and former regional Minister of the Province of Limburg;
• Prof. Dr. Hildegard Schneider, Emeritus Professor International and European Law, ITEM

The debate will be moderated by Martin Unfried, ITEM.