Kickstarting MEDem Training and Capacity Building: First Workshop held in Katowice
On April 16, 2025 the first MEDem Workshop hosted by the Service Center for Training and Capacity, led by Damian Guzek from the University of Silesia in Katowice. The event marked a significant step in the development of the MEDem Service Center for Training and Capacity Building, offering a dynamic platform for fostering collaboration and strengthening comparative democracy research.
A central feature of the workshop was a training session titled “MEDem: The Vision and the ATLAS Service Prototype”, by Lorenzo De Sio from LUISS University in Rome. His presentation introduced participants to ATLAS—the prototype of a living encyclopedia that documents how democratic concepts are measured in surveys, including their operationalizations, use across studies, and assessments of validity and reliability. Currently under development, ATLAS will be one of the core tasks the MEDem team will be working on over the next months.
Presentation by Lorenzo De Sio: MEDem, the vision, and the ATLAS Service Prototype (in development)
The workshop brought together 26 participants from across Europe and North America, reflecting MEDem’s expanding international network. Attendees included scholars from the PODTRUST project (part of the T-AP initiative) and representatives from key Polish partner institutions, including the University of Silesia in Katowice, Jagiellonian University, SWPS University, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, the University of Wrocław, and the University of Warsaw.
International contributions came from researchers based at the University of Ottawa, the University of Sheffield, and Audencia Business School Nantes Paris, who enriched the discussions with diverse perspectives on digital democracy and methodological innovation.
This inaugural MEDem workshop not only strengthened existing partnerships but also laid the groundwork for future training and joint research activities. It marks the beginning of MEDem’s broader strategy to support researchers, build capacity, and shape the future of comparative democracy research in Europe and beyond.
The European infrastructure for unlocking the true potential of data-driven democracy research