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On 27 October 2025, the EC2U Conference “Building Peace and Justice Resilience in Europe” took place at the Friedrich Schiller University Jena, hosted within the framework of the Thuringia Day of Philosophy 2025. An event which brought together multidisciplinary perspectives to explore current challenges for peace and justice in Europe.
Closely linked to the EC2U Alliance, specifically to Work Package 7 “Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions,” which aligns with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goal 16, the event advanced the objectives of the EC2U Joint Master’s Programme (JMP) in Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions, reinforcing the alliance’s commitment to promoting peaceful and inclusive societies, access to justice, and accountable institutions.
After University President Prof. Marx, the Chair of Applied Ethics Prof. Knoepffler, and the EC2U Work Package 7 project lead O’Malley PhD opened the event and welcomed the audience, the academic programme began. Renowned scholars from the universities of Pavia (Italy), Turku (Finland), Poitiers (France), Salamanca (Spain), and Friedrich Schiller University Jena discussed historical experiences, political concepts, and legal frameworks for building a resilient Europe. Particular attention was given to questions of solidarity, subsidiarity, corporate social responsibility, and the humanitarian support of migrants.
The programme was followed by a panel discussion and workshop with the speakers, during which questions from the audience were addressed. Afterwards, the annual awarding of the best academic poster contributions from students of the past two years of the Chair of Applied Ethics took place.
Finally, the conference concluded with an evening keynote lecture by Prof. Reiner Anselm from LMU Munich on the topic “Peace and War – Debates in the Protestant Church in Light of the War in Ukraine.”
Image: Eric Schuh
On the following day, a doctoral workshop among the European partner universities offered further opportunities for scholarly exchange and networking. Seven doctoral candidates from the partner institutions presented and discussed their dissertation projects and subsequently received feedback from the attending faculty.
Image: Eric Schuh