Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi (UAIC) organized a Think Tank on Social Innovation for Peace Building on Friday, 14 June 2024. The event was attended by university representatives (students, teachers and researchers), the Iași Municipality and the civil society (the North-East Regional Development Agency, Europe Direct Iași Information Center, Romanian Red Cross, Iași Community Foundation).
The discussions held within the think tank aimed to identify innovative solutions for current societal problems, encouraging positive relations between citizens and rectifying injustices, promoting peace and sustainable social development.
In this context, participants shared good practices, concrete actions taken so far, as well as barriers encountered and ideas on how inclusive and sustainable peace can be strengthened through social innovation.
The event belongs to a series of Europe-wide events in the framework of the EC2U European University Alliance that will also take place in seven other European cities: Coimbra (Portugal), Jena (Germany), Linz (Austria), Pavia (Italy), Poitiers (France), Salamanca (Spain) and Turku (Finland), in universities that together form the European Consortium EC2U – European Campus of City Universities.
The results of all the focus groups will be presented at the EC2U Forum in Linz, Austria, on 23 October 2024. They will be used to develop a joint policy recommendation that will strengthen knowledge transfer at the local and European levels and jointly address societal challenges.
