Category: Outreach

T4EU INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE MARKING THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF SCHOLARS AT RISK AND THE CLOSING OF THE TRAVELLING EXHIBITION ‘THE GARDEN OF THE (IN)VISIBLES

Students, researchers, and members of the public are warmly invited to attend the T4EU International Conference, Standing up for Higher Education in Times of Global Crises’, taking place on 9 December 2025 at 3:00 pm at the Gorizia campus (via Alviano 18, 34170 Gorizia).

The event marks the 25th anniversary of Scholars at Risk (SAR), the global network that defends academic freedom and protects scholars at risk. It forms part of SAR’s “Truth Matters” 2025–2026 celebrations, highlighting resilience, the right to research, critical thinking, and academic dialogue.

Organised within the framework of the European Transform4Europe (T4EU) alliance, the conference features two thematic sessions:

• Gaza: Challenges facing higher education, with talks by Omar Shweiki (Friends of Palestinian Universities) and Prof. Ahmed Abu Shaban (Al-Azhar University, Gaza).
• Sudan: Political and academic perspectives, featuring Prof. Munzoul Assal (University of Bergen), Irene Panozzo (political analyst), and Prof. Federico Donelli (University of Trieste).

The conference coincides with the closing of the travelling exhibition “The Garden of the (In)visibles”, part of WP7 – Common Heritage and Multilingualism. The exhibition presents objects left by migrants at the edges of cities or in forests, offering tangible traces of migration while exploring intangible themes such as identity, memory, and shared heritage.

Conference programme (summary):

• 15:00–15:30 – Institutional welcome, presentation of SAR and Free to Think Report 2025
• 15:30–17:00 – Session 1: Gaza
• 17:00–17:30 – Coffee break
• 17:30–19:00 – Session 2: Sudan

Participation options:

• In person: Aula Magna, Gorizia Campus, University of Trieste
• Online (streaming): Microsoft Teams (Meeting ID: 315 016 818 135 57 Passcode: f7rw3yR6)

Contact: t4eu.heritage@units.it

This is a unique opportunity to reflect on the importance of academic freedom, truth, and culture in times of global crises, bringing together academic engagement, human rights advocacy, and cultural reflection.

After its first stop at Saarland University (Germany), the travelling exhibition The Garden of the (In)visibles arrives in Gorizia, hosted in the library of the Gorizia campus of the University of Trieste.

The travelling exhibition, promoted within the Transform4Europe University Alliance as a Common Cultural Activity of Work Package 7 – Common Heritage & Multilingualism, was organised by the Department of Humanities of the University of Trieste (UniTS) in collaboration with the University of Primorska (UP).
The exhibition presents a selection of objects abandoned by migrants along the borders between Croatia, Slovenia, and Italy. These artefacts, collected by students and faculty from the two universities, are recontextualised as testimonies of memory, identity, and shared heritage, inviting reflection on the visible and invisible meanings of the migratory experience in Europe.

The opening will take place on Thursday, 27 November at 17:00, with interventions by:
– Prof. Roberta Altin, anthropologist and Rector’s Delegate for Development Cooperation, University of Trieste
– Prof. Katja Hrobat Virloget, anthropologist, University of Primorska
– Prof. Jure Gombač, anthropologist, Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Ljubljana
– Dr Giuseppe Grimaldi, anthropologist, University of Trieste

Students from UniTS, UP, and Collegio Fonda will also participate. In particular, the Fonda for Others working group will be present to interview exhibition visitors, collecting impressions and reflections on the experience.

The Gorizia stop represents a significant moment in the project, as the exhibition returns to the border from which its journey began, presenting the migrants’ objects within a space that increasingly functions as a symbolic European border.

On Thursday, April 10, at 5:00 PM, at the Department of Humanities of the University of Trieste, the book Multicultural Cities of the Habsburg Empire, 1880-1914. Imagined Communities and Conflictual Encounters by Catherine Horel (CEU Press, 2023) will be presented.
(Open-access link: here)

The book, the result of extensive and passionate research, offers a comparative analysis of 12 cities within the Habsburg Empire, including Trieste. It examines aspects of daily life such as education, associations, culture, and economy. Horel’s study presents an image of an empire whose urban centers were marked by cultural and political dynamism, despite ongoing national conflicts.

The author will be joined in discussion by historians Borut Klabjan, Francesco Toncich, and Tullia Catalan.

MY CHATBOT IS ALWAYS THERE FOR ME: THE ETHICAL DILEMMAS OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ASSISTANTS AND COMPANIONS

🌐 Follow the event live via streaming on the Transform4Europe YouTube channel
📅 Sunday, September 29th | 11:30 AM – 12:45 PM

📖 Public open discussion by William Hasselberger, Professor of Politics and Director of the Digital Ethics Laboratory at the Catholic University of Portugal.
🎤 Presented by Francesco Miele, Researcher in General Sociology, University of Trieste

AI companions and humanlike conversation – Should we embrace artificial relationships to combat loneliness and social isolation? Explore the ethical and societal impacts of AI companions with leading experts in the field.

🔍 Don’t miss this insightful discussion on the future of AI and human connections!

On May 21st, from 5.30 to 7 pm at Sala Bobi Bazlen, Palazzo Gopcevich, Via G. Rossini 4, Trieste

This roundtable discussion aims to investigates the strategies and mechanisms crucial for enhancing public engagement in citizen science, science communication, and open science initiatives. 

The round table will be divided into two sessions, one in Italian and one in English. In the first one, the discussion will focus on the key themes of the meeting (public engagement/citizen science, science communication and open science), exploring the most significant issues. In the second part, the focus will be on best practices of citizen science with the experiences of some early research careers and on the role of public engagement concerning stakeholder involvement to stimulate a debate involving the public.

Recognizing the pivotal role early research careers play in shaping the future of science and fostering public confidence in science issues, the discussion aims to identify and discuss best practices according to their specific problems and needs.

Citizen science, science communication, and open science are fundamental tools for engaging the public in scientific activities, promoting transparency, and developing collaborations between citizens and the scientific world. In this respect, early research careers play a central role in shaping the future of science and promoting public knowledge and trust on these themes.

Moderator:

Dr. Alessandro Carrieri, T4EU-T4ERI projects, University of Trieste

• Institutional greetings:

Prof. Alberto Pallavicini, Rector Delegate for T4EU

• Part 1 – Public engagement, science communication, open science and citizen science.

Prof. Stefano Martellos, University of Trieste

Prof. Andrea Cerroni, University of Milano-Bicocca

Dr. Federica Sgorbissa, Medialab Sissa

• Part 2 – Best practices for fostering public engagement and citizen science

Prof. Tullia Catalan, University of Trieste

Dr, Anna Krekic, Castello di San Giusto and Risiera di San Sabba, Municipality of Trieste

Dr. Chiara Vitillo, The University of Siena

Dr. Katia Rupel, University of Trieste

Starting from an analysis of the Italian-Slovenian border and of its past and present function, this public roundtable allows for discussion between scholars, local institutions and those who have crossed and experienced the border in their migratory journeys, in order to reflect on the (in)visibility of migrations across borders.

23 November 2023 from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Auditorium of the Department of Humanities, University of Trieste – Androna Baciocchi 4

Organised by the University of Trieste in collaboration with the University of Primorska, Koper

Working language(s): Italian. The abstracts will be multilingual (ITA/ ENG/SLO)

The roundtable will focus on the Trieste border and the (in)visibility of migration from both an Italian and Slovenian perspective. Depending on the time period and on the people crossing it, the Trieste border has been part of the Iron Curtain, a space connecting different worlds, an everyday transit space or a European barrier. The border conceals and exposes, constructs identities, routes and patterns of life. But, above all, it builds cross-border territories and identities, it shapes the areas it encompasses and it gives rise to new social meaning.

Starting from an analysis of the border and its past and present function, this public roundtable allows for discussion between scholars, local institutions and those who have crossed and experienced the border in their migratory journeys. UniTS roundtable is the second stop in a European alliance path that began with the Koper roundtable on the theme of Borders & Migrations. It will be an opportunity to present the Border’s Archive (Archivio di Frontiera), an ongoing operative research project of students from the Universities of Trieste and Primorska.

With the participation of:

• Alessandro Monsutti (Anthropologist, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva)
• Katja Hrobat Virloget (Anthropologist, University of Primorska)
• Roberta Altin (Anthropologist, University of Trieste)
• Tullia Catalan (Historian, University of Trieste)
• Sandi Klun, (Mayor of the border municipality of- Dolina)
• Rita Casseler (border witness)
• Ismail Swati (border witness)
• Students of the ’Archivio di Frontiera – Border’s archive’ Laboratory

Moderators:

Giuseppe Grimaldi ( Anthropologist, University of Trieste) and Alessandro Carrieri (Historian, University of Trieste).

With the participation of voluntary associations, local stakeholders, students and citizens.

TEAMS: https://u.garr.it/9S5fc