Director, People Dialogue and Change

Dan is researcher and practitioner specialising in inclusive youth participation with over 20 years experience working with children and young people in the voluntary, public, for-profit and academic sectors. His research focuses on how children and young people's participation can influence policy, as well and the development of participatory structures and processes. Originally a youth worker at local and regional level in the North West of England, he now works throughout Europe and beyond supporting a variety of organisations, to develop their approach to youth participation. In 2017 he was invited to re-develop the consultation process behind the EU’s Youth Dialogue. This engages nearly 50,000 young people from across the EU, and was instrumental in developing the new European Youth Goals. In 2020, his advice paper to the Ukranian Government led to a revision of a draft law which enabled under 18s to participate in local civic processes.

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 @dan_moxon

Dr. Ignatovitch A, PhD, the Head of the Youth Policy and Sociocultural Communications Chair (National Institute for Higher Education).

Alena is an expert in the field of youth policy and youth work with over 15 years’ experience working in the voluntary, public and academic sectors.

She is passionate about applying innovative knowledge based and human centred approaches to policy development and service design targeting young people in Eastern Europe and beyond.

Alena authored more than 80 academic, legislative and methodological publications reflecting the following interests: fostering youth employment; developing social inclusion of various minor youth groups; promoting evidence-based youth policy; realizing continuity and integrity of education; creating educational multicultural environment.

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Ondřej “Ondras” Bárta

Ondřej Bárta is a freelance youth researcher and consultant whose assignments on national and international levels cover areas such as youth participation, youth policy, youth mobility, or volunteering. At the same time, he works in the area of evaluation and impact research, where he conducts both the macro level (youth policies) and the micro level (single projects) evaluations on both national and international levels, as well as writes open access publications. He has long been engaged with the RAY Research Network as a researcher and appears regularly on various conferences where he tackles youth-related research findings. Given his experience with quantitative and impact research methodologies, he has been engaged in setting up youth indicators in the Czech Republic and on the EU level. His experience with qualitative and mixed methodologies enabled him to conduct research into mobility experience of young people. For more information, please see www.ondrabarta.eu

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Sofia Laine is a university researcher at the University of Helsinki, Finland. She is an adjunct professor in Youth Studies at the University of Tampere, Finland. Her multidisciplinary research has focused on young people, political engagements and democracy in multiple European and global settings. Her ongoing research focuses on the volunteering among the refugees. This project goes hand-in-hand with her membership in the “Young refugees and youth work” expert group at the Youth Partnership. She is one of the three editors of the anthology that explores young refugees and youth work around the Europe (will be published by the end of the year 2017). During the years 2012-2017 she was part of two research projects that examined youth political engagement in North Africa: YoPo and the SAHWA Project – this is the background for her active engagement in the Euro-Med Youth Partnership.

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Research Consultant on Adolescents, Youth & Policies

Cristina Bacalso is a research consultant with a specialisation in public policies for adolescent and youth development. She has over 14 years of experience in policy and advocacy for young people, and her roles include Adolescent and Youth Consultant for UNICEF Europe and Central Asia Office, Adolescent Evidence Synthesis and Policy Advisor for UNICEF Innocenti, and Research Coordinator for Youth Policy Labs, a global think-tank specifically focusing on youth. She was the project and research lead for "Age Matters!", a multi-year, multi-country study on minimum age legislation, which was selected as one of the top 10 projects for the Best of UNICEF Research Award 2019.

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PhD in Political Sciences (Comparative European Youth Policies in Romania and Turkey), with extended expertise in grassroots youth work and youth work methodologies and practices, youth participation methodologies and inclusion policies. MA in Comparative European Social Studies (MACESS) at London Metropolitan University, holding a BA in Political Sciences and one in Social Work – University of Bucharest. Her research interests are in the field of social policies for young people, structured dialogue and participatory youth structures, youth led movements, as well as into the transfer mechanisms of European policies and programmes to the local realities.

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Professor of Political Science, at the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana. His recent research covers citizenship of young people, political participation of youth, political institutions and youth, youth representation, quality of youth work, youth programme evaluation, youth and political parties, citizenship education. He coordinated more than 20 EU and national research projects on youth, citizenship education and political participation, is a research partner of the Slovenian Erasmus + Youth in Action National Agency, and regularly performs evaluations of youth and citizenship policies, programmes and projects at national and international levels. He acts as expert/consultant/policy advisor to several national governments, Organization for the Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE; OSCE ODIHR), European Youth Forum (EYF), the International IDEA, the European Commission, the EACEA, Council of Europe, ICF, WYG etc. His bibliography includes more than 50 peer reviewed articles in international journals, more than 30 chapters in edited volumes and authored or co-authored more than 15 scientific monographs.

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Lutjona is a researcher at communication expert with demonstrated expertise in youth projects. She has been actively engaged in youth mobility projects under Erasmus+ as Institutional Coordinator. Lutjona Lula, M.A. pursued her graduate studies at the Joint Interdisciplinary Master in South East European Studies, University of Belgrade and Karl Franzens University of Graz. She holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from University of Tirana. Lutjona has successfully a one-year research and study mobility at University of Zagreb, 2014. In 2012 she has been awarded a Research Scholarship at Georgia Southern University, USA. She has been actively involved in  Western Balkans Berlin Process, Youth Forums and EU integration initiatives. She has actively engaged in research/consultancies with several bodies such as OSCE Presence in Albania, Westminster Foundation for Democracy, Thomson Foundation, SCiDEV, CSR Center in Albania, ESAA Brussels as trainer on Stakeholder Management, INFORM Horizon 2020 project as junior researcher, etc.

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Parvan Simeonov (PhD in political science) is a researcher, publicist and civic activist. Public opinion polling, political analysis, urban space sociology, youth research, etc. are among his fields of interest.

Simeonov teaches political campaigning and research methods at “St. Kliment Ohridski” University of Sofia. He is the CEO of Gallup International Balkan, a research partner at “Ivan Hadjiiski” Institute of Sociology, etc.

Simeonov is the main author and editor of the “Political Process and Public Opinion in Bulgaria” – Gallup International Balkan Yearbook for 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019. He is a co-author of "Bulgarian Youth 2018/2019" – the essential book about young people in Bulgaria along with Petar-Emil Mitev, Boris Popivanov and Siyka Kovacheva. Author of publications on radical right and populism, in the field of youth research, urban spaces, etc. as well as numerous texts in the media.

Environment and climate activism, participation and citizenship, radicalisation and security, mass media, technology and youth, youth volunteerism and youth organizations, youth policy

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Frank Tillmann is Senior Researcher at the German Youth Institute in Halle (Saale) who specialises in research on school to work transitions as well as on young people in disadvantaged regions. He holds a Diploma in Sociology from the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg. Since 2004, Frank worked in various research projects of the German Youth Institute mainly addressing needs of young people in difficult circumstances – such as homelessness or educational disadvantage. In 2019, he obtained a doctorate in Philosophy examining aspects of applied ethics in view of the legitimacy of social inequality. As youth researcher, Frank is a guest member of the committee on youth, education and youth policy of the German Association of Youth Care (AGJ).

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Dr Frederike Hofmann-van de Poll is a political scientist and researcher at the Centre for European Youth Policy at the German Youth Institute. Her main areas of research are youth policy and youth work. In youth policy, her research interests focus on European youth policy and its implementation as well es its fluent connections to national, regional and local youth policy, on questions of cooperation, both multi-level and cross-sectoral, and on youth participation (e.g. how young people's opinions influence policy, or selectivity mechanisms in youth participation). In youth work, her research interests lies in the further development of qualitative youth work through monitoring and evaluation and in discussions surrounding the impact of youth work. A current strand of research combining both youth policy and youth work concerns the implicit and explicit images of young people that can be found in European documents on youth work.

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Research Associate at the Centre for Political Research - Panteion University of Social & Political Sciences (Athens, Greece).

Dora Giannaki is a political scientist, security & justice expert and an experienced youth researcher. She holds a first degree in Political Science (Panteion University), a Master’s degree in Political Theory (University of Essex) and a Master's degree in Security & Justice (University of Leeds). Since 2004, she has been collaborating on a regular basis, as a research associate and a policy advisor, with members of the Greek Parliament and governmental bodies in the field of Youth. In this framework, she had the opportunity to work at the General Secretariat for Youth-Greek Ministry of Education in two different periods (2004-2006 & 2017-2019). She was also a Correspondent for Greece at the European Knowledge Centre for Youth Policy (September 2004-September 2006) and a National Representative at the European Commission’s Expert Group on Youth Work for Young Migrants and Refugees (September 2017-December 2018). She has been conducting research on youth issues for more than 10 years, publishing essays, articles and chapters in relevant books (for a comprehensive list of publications, see her page in Academia: https://220.academia.edu/DoraGiannaki).

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Mary is a multilingual expert in intercultural studies and social education, specialized in youth-centered, cross-sectoral approaches to civil society building in conflict-affected regions. Her work explores how human rights education, arts, heritage and social entrepreneurship can lead to more inclusive societies, promote interregional cooperation and prevent violent radicalisation in both formal and non-formal learning settings, Mary combines research with educational practice and grassroots youth work, especially in multiethnic settings. Mary sees research as a medium though which the study of social phenomena/challenges can turn into policy recommendations. In the last years, her research has focused on the social/educational integration of refugees in Europe; civil society and youth in the Western Balkans; Berlin process; diaspora and radicalisation, cultural context adaptation and ideology in Turkey; Euro-Arab youth co-operation etc.

She is the founder of the EuroBalkan Youth Forum, an interethnic, women-led platform, youth via community projects based on evidence-based research.

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Associate Professor at Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University

Dr. Tamar Makharadze has been working at the Department of Sociology and Social Work, Ivane Javakhshvili Tbilisi State University (TSU). She obtained her PhD in Public Policy. Tamar is a Head of Disability Research Studies at TSU.

Dr. Tamar Makharadze is an experienced researcher - she has been a Principle Investigator in a number of research projects financed by the local and international organizations. Her research interests are focused on exploring social policy, factors affecting marginalization and stigmatization different groups of society. She has a vast experience of researching disability issues - she has been studying barriers hindering the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Person with Disabilities in Georgia. She is an author of various local and international publication.

Dr. Tamar Makharadze has expertise in researching youth policy - recently she has carried out the study focusing on exploring factors affecting the implementation of the social rights of youth in one of the municipalities in Georgia.

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Dr. Anna Lavizzari

Anna is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Faculty of Political and Social Sciences and Research Fellow at the Centre on Social Movement Studies at the Scuola Normale Superiore in Florence. She is also an Adjunct Faculty Member at James Madison University, Florence Campus.

Anna holds a PhD in Political Science from the School of Politics and International Relations at University of Kent. Her research focuses on political participation and behaviour with a notable attention to social movements and protest politics among young people. She is particularly interested in gender approaches to social movements, how gender dynamics play a role in the way protests unfold, social movements build their strategies, alliances, claims as well as in the biographical trajectories of young activists.

Beyond academia, she is involved in projects as a research consultant for different civil society organisations.

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Marie-Claire McAleer is a graduate of University College Dublin and is currently undertaking a doctorate in Social Science at University College Cork. The focus of her doctoral research is on youth unemployment and her other research interests lie in the areas of social inclusion, youth political engagement and participation, and youth migration. Marie-Claire has extensive experience conducting research on youth issues and contributing to the development of public policy at a national and European level. She has publications on educational disadvantage, youth emigration, youth unemployment, the use of social and digital media in youth work, and the provision of youth work in rural Ireland. She is a board member of Alcohol Action Ireland, a national charity advocating for the prevention and reduction of alcohol-related harm, and works as a Senior Manager, Policy and Research for a national voluntary organisation in Ireland in the field of homelessness and addiction.

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As an Irish Research Council PHD scholar in the School of Social Work and Social Policy in TCD, Amy is currently completing her PhD on the rights and welfare of migrant youth in France. With a Masters in intercultural mediation and migration studies as well as ten years professional experience working directly with marginalised young people across different contexts, Amy is also a freelance project manager, researcher and youth trainer with experience working on international, national and local commissioned projects. She focuses primarily on areas including human rights education, social inclusion, youth and migration policy, youth transitions, youth and AI, and youth participation. Amy actively works to promote the increased participation of young people in policy making and academia, for example, as a youth trainer with Voices of Young Refugees in Europe and the Council of Europe, and as associate editor of the AI and Society Journal’s Student Forum.

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