TraPoCo

Transnational Political Contention in Europe (TraPoCo) is a three-year project (2020-2023) set up within the “Jean Monnet Network” action of the Erasmus Plus programme that aims to promote awareness, innovate the teaching activity, and encourage dialogue between academe and civil society on the studies relating to European integration.

The Scuola Normale – with the academic co-ordination of Donatella Della Porta – is the leader of the TraPoCo project, an international network of universities, think tanks and associations bringing together scholars from different disciplinary areas –from sociology to law and European studies– and from various countries – Italy, Spain, Belgium, Ireland, Austria and Serbia – aiming to examine in-depth the role of such social actors as movements, non-government organisations, activists and trade unions in the detailed study of the area of rights and democracy in Europe.

In addition to the Normale, the partners of the project are the following:

* Osservatorio Balcani Caucaso Transeuropa - Trento   
* Univerzitet u Beogradu (Institute of Sociology and Social Research) 
* University College Dublin (School of Politics and International Relations and UCD College of Business) 
* Universität für Bodenkultur Wien (Institute of Forest, Environmental, and Natural Resources Policy) 
* The Good Lobby - Bilbao/Brussels 
* University of Trento (associated partner) 

It is a composite partnership, an international work group including scholars from various disciplines converging on themes inherent to civil society, social movements, transnational dynamics, political philosophy and human rights, the policies of work and trade union relationships, environmental policies, European affairs and EU law. 

The two non-academic partners (Osservatorio dei Balcani –a think tank engaged in promoting the construction of Europe from the base – and The Good Lobby – a European civil start-up active in the promotion of European citizenship and participative democracy) complete the consortium, opening up further to civil society.
The partners are developing a joint research programme; they promote the enrichment of the teaching syllabuses of the partner universities and stimulate dialogue between academe and society through seminars, an international summer school and various meetings with political decision makers at national and European level.