The Network for European Social Policy Analysis (ESPAnet) is an association of academics involved or interested in the analysis of social policy in Europe. ESPAnet organizes on 31 Aug-3 Sept the 2021 an Online conference and the registration has now opened. https://kuleuvencongres.be/espanet2021

Are our European welfare states up for the future? Given worldwide changes in economic structures and balances, the acceleration of technological developments, substantial environmental risks and globally disruptive events as, for example, the COVID-19 pandemic, will they be able to uphold, and where necessary even extend, the range of social objectives they are known for in the world? Will their social policies succeed in effectively promoting sufficiently high living standards of their citizenry?

For the first time in its existence, the ESPAnet Annual Conference will be held online. This is to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic and to respond to the various, perhaps longer-lasting, health, logistical and financial risks and challenges it poses for all the colleagues from all over Europe.

The stream 24. Social policy, culture and value change in Europe, organized by EVS members Edurne Bartolomé Peral and Morten Frederiksen, focuses on cultural and social values:

“Modernization processes and human development have led through history to a set of transformations in human mindset and value structures according to a range of value preferences and attitudes, which have adapted to new social, political, scientific and technological changes. There is a continuous adaptation process between culture and structure, as value orientations in a society act as orientation for the formulation of policies. We contextualize our proposal on the process of continued modernization of European societies in a new domain gaining societal and political relevance.

The study of values and value change in their different domains increases our understanding of European societies in regard to changing cultural notions of right and wrong and the direction the formulation of policies should follow to adapt to society ́s values and value change. This stream focuses on the analysis and reflection on how values are being configured across European societies (comparative perspective), how values are changing and readapting though the times (longitudinal perspective), how values are being studied and analysed (methodological perspective) and how values inspire, shape and come into conflict with social policies (policy perspective).

This stream proposes an organization of sessions according to value domains. Papers can be related to the analysis of values and value change, social policy papers matching the different domains and methodological papers for the study of values and/or social policies. Topics to be covered in the session include:

• Gender values and policies
• Diversity, solidarity, migration, welfare attitudes and values
• Beginning and end of life and its study in terms of values and policies (euthanasia, IVF,abortion, surrogacy)
• Environment, energy transition and climate change
• Methodological approaches and advances in the study of values and social policies”

Abstract submission here (A list of all streams can be found on the conference website.)

The deadline for abstract submission: 18 April 2021.

Notification of acceptance: 31 May 2021. 

Final registration for paper presenters: 1 July 2021

Final registration for non-presenting participants: 22 August 2021

On 9.10, Vera Lomazzi gave the keynote speech “Cross-Cultural Comparability in Large-Scale Surveys. Challenges and Innovation through Research Infrastructure Synergies” at the Mid-term conference of the European Sociological Association, Research Network 21 “Quantitative Methods”.

In her talk, she presented the methodological innovation of EVS2017 and how the cooperation with European survey infrastructures in the SERISS project as well as with the World Values Survey, favored the improvement of data quality and cross-cultural comparability in the fifth wave of EVS.

In the same keynote session, Rory Fitzgerald (ESS ERIC) presented the European Social Survey and the current challenges (and possible solutions) of empirical data collection. Furthermore, the collaboration between EVS and ESS ERIC in the context of the EC funded project “SUSTAIN II” has been presented.

Vera Lomazzi also informed about the upcoming final release of EVS2017 (20 October 2020) and of the EVS-WVS Joint Core Dataset (30.10.2020).

The representatives of the EVS and WVS secretariats and data archives met on Friday 14 August 2020 to agree on the workflows, procedures and standards for data archiving and data release of the joint EVS-WVS core dataset.

The preparation of the joint file is one of the core aspects of the agreement between the European Values Study and the World Values Survey. Thanks to this cooperation, the two organizations will offer the research community a joint product, which is expected to include data from 96 countries.

In May 2020, EVS published the third pre-release of EVS2017, which is available alongside accurate documentation via GESIS Data Archive.

In July 2020, WVS published its 7^th wave. WVS provides a provisional EVS-WVS Cross-National dataset, created by merging provisional versions of WVS and EVS files. For any questions arising from the use of this dataset, please contact the WVSA Secretariat.

The jointly release of the EVS-WVS dataset, prepared according to the agreed standards, is expected in October 2020.

Ruud Luijkx was keynote speaker at the 4th International Conference of Social Science and Education in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, on 4-5 August 2020.

He presented the European Values Study project and the first results from the fifth wave of EVS.

The conferences focused on the them: RECONSTRUCTING MORAL, EDUCATION, AND SOCIAL SCIENCES FOR ACHIEVING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS and offered the keynote speeches of Dr. Ruud Luijkx (Tilburg University), Prof. Dr. Komaruddin Hidayat (Professor of Phylosophy of Religion, UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta, Indonesia), Prof. Brian Stout (Dean of School of Social Science, Western Sydney University).

Host:  Faculty of Social Sciences, Yogyakarta State University

Co-Host:

1. Universitas Negeri Jakarta (UNJ) 
2. Universitas Negeri Malang (UM)
3. Universitas Metro Lampung (UM Metro)
4. Universiti Teknologi MARA  (UiTM)​
5. Universitas Bunda Mulia (UBM)​
6. Perkumpulan Prodi Pendidikan Sejarah Se-Indonesia​