Members of the Pool of European Youth Researchers
Dr. Dan Moxon
Research interests: youth participation, youth policy, social inclusion
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.
[email protected] @dan_moxon
Dr Ignatovitch Alena
Research interests: youth work, youth policy, youth mobility, radicalisation, employability, transitions, social inclusion
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.
[email protected]
Ondřej “Ondras” Bárta
Research interests: youth policy, non-formal learning, evaluation and impact research, youth volunteering
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
[email protected]
Sofia Laine
Research interests: young people, political engagements and democracy, volunteering among the refugees
[email protected]
Cristina Bacalso
Research interests: youth participation; youth policy; human rights; child rights
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.
[email protected]
Adina Marina Șerban, PhD
Research interests: youth participation, social inclusion, digitalisation, cross-sector cooperation, youth work.
[email protected]
Areas of research interest and expertise: Youth participation, social inclusion, digitalisation, cross-sector cooperation, youth work.
Prof. dr. Tomaž Deželan
Research interests: 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
[email protected]
Lutjona Lula
Research interests: political participation, youth mobility, employability, youth work, policy
[email protected]
Parvan Simeonov
Research interests: environment and climate activism, participation and citizenship, radicalisation and security, mass media, technology and youth, youth volunteerism and youth organizations, youth policy
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
[email protected]
Frank Tillmann
Research interests: growing up in rural areas, youth transitions, social welfare regimes, youth mobility
[email protected]
Dr Frederike Hofmann-van de Poll
Research interests: youth policy, youth work, cross-sectoral youth policy, participation, social inclusion
[email protected]
Dora Giannaki
Research interests: youth work, history of youth work, youth radicalisation, youth policy, cross sectoral youth policy/co-operation, participation and citizenship
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).
[email protected]
Dr Mary Drosopulos
Research interests: youth work, reconciliation, social entrepreneurship, participation, HRE, inclusion
She is the founder of the EuroBalkan Youth Forum, an interethnic, women-led platform, youth via community projects based on evidence-based research.
[email protected]
Dr. Tamar Makharadze
Research interests: social policy, inclusion, youth work, mental health, disability.
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.
[email protected]
Anna Lavizzari
Research interests: political participation, activism, gender, social inclusion
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.
[email protected]
Marie-Claire McAleer
Research interests: social inclusion, political engagement and participation, youth migration and unemployment
[email protected]
Amy Stapleton
Research interests: transitions, inclusion, marginalisation, migration, participation, human rights
[email protected]
Neringa Marija Tumėnaitė
Research interests: youth, peace and development, social movements, human rights education, media literacy, roma youth participation, north-south cooperation, advocacy-formal learning, youth mobility, youth work
Neringa has organised several Youth Forums in Asia, MENA and Eastern Africa, bringing together CSOs, entrepreneurs, activists and institutions (the EU, AUC, UfM, ASEAN, Ministries) to facilitate youth-lead policy recommendations, i.e. “Building Youth Partnership Opportunities to Advance UN Sustainable Development Goals for Education, Peace & Innovation.” Her policy experience also includes working at the EU Delegation to Myanmar and serving at the Advisory Council on Youth of the Council of Europe, where Neringa focused on advancing Minority Rights, Roma youth participation, and North-South cooperation.
![]()
[email protected] @neringatu
Mr. Igor Ciurea
Research interests: participation, digitalisation, youth policy, human rights
Igor Ciurea, Institutional Development Director at the Public Association Information and Resource Center PRO BONO, has extensive experience in the human rights and youth policy development fields.
For more than 10 years Igor has been involved in research and monitoring activities related to human rights, civil society development and youth policy development. He is the former Secretary General of the National Youth Council of Moldova and President of the Students Alliance of Moldova. Since 2018 he is a member of the Advisory Board of the National Agency for Research and Development.
Igor Ciurea has been and continues to be implicated in national and international civil society networks that research, monitor and advocate for human rights, civil society development and evidence-based policies. Mr. Ciurea has got the experience of working in the CSOs sector as an activist and policy advocate, as a private lawyer and a legal advisor in the Parliament, researcher and CSOs representative in a diverse range of stakeholders (Governmental working groups and permanent commissions, Experts Groups, non-governmental coalitions and networks).
![]()
[email protected]
Ivana Boskovic
Research interests: youth mobility, youth work, cross-sectoral youth policy, impact measurement and quality assurance, employability, digital and social inclusion, mental health, autism
![]()
[email protected]
Alicja Pawluczuk
Marzena Ples
Research interests: volunteering, participation, intercultural communication, youth work, non-formal learning, soft skills.
In addition, she has a long experience of co-ordinating, developing and implementing international projects and education programmes in the field of youth. She has contributed towards the development of numerous educational tools in non-formal learning approaches, few manuals and publications and has been co-operating with various non-governmental and youth organisations.
![]()
[email protected]
Sérgio Xavier
Research interests: democratic education, democratic imaginaries, pluralism and dissensus.
His recent youth research work include the upcoming chapter on the Youth Knowledge Book on Youth Political Participation “Pluralizing the democratic imaginary - Youth beyond the liberal-democratic canon” and the talk “Unlearning European Youth Work and disengaging the XXI century liberal democracy dystopia” (Offenburg Talks #3).
[email protected]
Irina Lonean
Research interests: youth policy, youth policy evaluation, cross-sectoral youth policy, employment, participation
[email protected]
Ruzanna Ivanian
Research interests: media, youth work, solidarity, participation, active engagement
Ruzanna authored over 150 research papers, reports, book chapters and 4 books on media, social work and youth work.
Ruzanna has a wide range of experience in NGO sector, youth work on local and international level in different capacities. She is a founder and a director of a grass-root level youth NGO “Youth information centre”, was a coordinator of United Nations Children’s fund (UNICEF) in Saint-Petersburg for 4 years. Ruzanna has extensive record in working with the international and local organizations: Partnership between the European Commission and the Council of Europe in the youth field, SALTO Resource centers, UN Agencies; youth organisations and International donors. At the moment she is a consultant for EU-Russia Civil society forum.
In 2008 Ruzanna was awarded from S-Petersburg Government for the personal contribution to the development of youth policy in the city, in 2006 she got Ekaterina Dashkova price for assistance in developing youth libraries in RF, in 2006 – she got the Great bear price for the positive results in intercultural learning of young people in Saint-Petersburg, in 2005 was awarded by diploma of Committee on youth affairs of Saint-Petersburg State Administration for the good results in youth work.
Dr. Ruzanna Ivanian is currently employed as an Associate Professor in Saint-Petersburg.
She is also a visiting lecturer at Fulda university of applied sciences (Faculty of social work (Germany) running annual courses on youth work and youth policy. Since 2000 Ruzanna is deeply involved in non-formal education as a member of Trainers pool of Youth Department of Council of Europe.
![]()
[email protected]
Aleksandra Djurovic
Research interests: formal and non-formal education, youth (un)employment, career development, youth participation, climate and environment
Aleksandra has authored more than twenty research reports, articles, and policy papers and has experience in youth policy development and monitoring. She holds MSc in Psychology. Her main research interests are related to education, the interrelation between education and labour market, career development, youth participation, and climate and environment.
[email protected]
Mr Alonso Escamilla
Research interests: youth, participation, citizenship, employment, well-being, digitalisation
He has presented his research at various international conferences and published several academic articles on the Youth in Action and Erasmus+ Programmes. At the same time, he was selected by Spanish Radio Television and the European Broadcasting Union to carry out the research: “A brief portrait of a Generation: Spanish millennials”.
Master in Social Policies and Public Services by the University of Salamanca and European Bachelor in Psychology by the Pontifical University of Salamanca.
![]()
[email protected]
Daniel Silander
Research interests: democracy, participation, right and liberties, citizenship, security, political entrepreneurship
Daniel Silander
Associate Professor of Political Science, Linnaeus University, Sweden
My main areas of expertise on Youth Research are:
- Democracy and Democratization, including participation, institutionbuilding, political rights, civil liberties and human rights
- Security and Democracy, including antidemocratic ideologies, mobilization, integration and inclusion
- Entrepreneurship and EU Policymaking including political entrepreneurs and policy entrepreneurs for entrepreneurship
- EU Policymaking, including EU policies on global sustainable development goals
![]()
[email protected]
Gökay Özerim
Research interests: young refugees and migrants, integration, inclusion, volunteerism, civil society, youth work
[email protected]
Dr. Avril Keating
Research interests: young people’s sense of belonging to their communities and their attitudes towards including/excluding others (e.g. immigrants and minorities) ; the relationship between youth aspirations for the future and the communities they grow up in ; youth attitudes towards and aspirations for geographical mobility
UCL Institute of Education
I am an Associate Professor at UCL Institute of Education, where I established the Centre for Global Youth at UCL-IOE in 2017. The core aim of this Centre is to foster interdisciplinary research that examines young people’s views on what it means to grow up in a global world.
My particular area of expertise is in researching the civic values, attitudes and actions of young people, using mixed-method and inter-disciplinary perspectives. I have recently conducted research on: citizenship education policy and practice in the EU and England; youth attitudes towards immigrants and minorities; youth cosmopolitan values; and new forms of civic and political participation (e.g. using social media).
[email protected]
Dr. Ilona-Evelyn Rannala
Research interests: youth work, non-formal learning, youth participation, youth policy
Dr Justine Gangneux
Research interests: digitalisation, citizenship and participation, place-based/local, media and communications
Mette Ranta
Research interests: transitions, financial well-being, mental health, agency, employment, digitalisation
Post-Doctoral Researcher, Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Helsinki, Finland
Mette Ranta is a researcher in the DigiConsumers consortium (2019-2025) funded by the Strategic Research Council, Academy of Finland. The project focuses on youth financial skills and consumption in a digitalised consumer society.
Dr. Ranta’s multidisciplinary research integrates sociology, developmental psychology, and educational sciences. She focuses on life course transitions to adulthood with core interests in youth well-being, financial independence, social relationships, and agency. Recently, she has studied youth financial capability, financial vulnerability, and COVID-19 related personal concerns. She has vast experience in longitudinal research, quantitative methods, and data management.
Dr. Ranta is a Bank of Finland research working group member in coordinating a national financial literacy strategy, and an expert group member of a youth financial vulnerability project of The Children and Youth Foundation in Finland. She is also involved in the OECD Study on Social and Emotional Skills as Project Manager at the City of Helsinki Education division.
[email protected]