Academic Freedom in Europe: safeguarding democracy, science and innovation

Academic Freedom in Europe: safeguarding democracy, science and innovation

Academic freedom and democracy are not parallel values — they are interdependent. Where democracy weakens, academic freedom erodes. And where academic freedom is constrained, democracy itself is undermined. This is the central question that brought together policymakers, researchers and institutional leaders at the House of European History on March 4th, for the annual STOA high-level ...

Zofin Primeval Forest is a Czech rainforest-like looking forest and natural heritage in South Bohemia, Czech Republic

Primary forests: ‘Allowing biodiversity to spread out again’

“Primary forests can help the EU meet several of its objectives, including its targets under the EU Biodiversity Strategy 2030 and the EU Forest Strategy 2030. They would also help with key climate objectives by providing long-term carbon storage”, says expert Bart Nyssen. Nyssen is a forest ecologist at the Department of Earth & Environmental ...

Interview with Prof. Svend-Erik Skaaning on democracy and academic freedom

Interview with Prof. Svend-Erik Skaaning on democracy and academic freedom

Political science professor Svend-Erik Skaaning (Aarhus University, Denmark) will be the academic keynote speaker at the high-level conference “Academic Freedom in Support of Democracy” organised by the European Parliament’s Panel for the Future of Science and Technology (STOA) in the European House of History in Brussels on Wednesday 4 March 2026. What trends do you ...

Planetary health: a critical discipline for the future

Planetary health: a critical discipline for the future

Seven of nine planetary boundaries have now been breached which means that humanity is pushing Earth's critical support systems beyond their safe operating limits. The consequences are not distant threats but present realities: destabilized ecosystems, compromised food security, and mounting risks to human health and well-being. Planetary health has emerged as the scientific discipline that ...

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ESMH Summer School 2026 – Call for young journalists and content creators

Are you a young journalist writing about science and technology? Do you have questions about the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on newsrooms, content consumption and production, and science communication? ➡️ Apply to the 2026 ESMH Summer School on science communication in the age of AI! The European Science-Media Hub (ESMH) of the European Parliament ...

A man with a stop gesture refuses drugs, the fight against drug addiction. Social problem, drug addiction, death, addiction

The changing attitudes of Generation Z towards substance use and risky behaviours

For approximately 30 years, the Italian National Research Council has partnered with the European Union Drugs Agency (EUDA) to survey more than 113,800 students aged 15–16 across Europe to monitor adolescent risk behaviours. The latest findings reveal that, although cannabis, alcohol, and traditional cigarettes use among European teenagers has steadily declined, new behavioural and health ...

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Cybersecurity threats: how ready is the EU? Interview with Florian Pennings of ENISA

As the ongoing digital transformation leads to increased cybersecurity threats, the European Parliament’s Panel for the Future of Science and Technology (STOA) is organising a workshop on enhanced EU cooperation on cybersecurity in Brussels on 4 February 2026. One of the speakers is Associate Chief Cybersecurity and Operational Officer, Florian Pennings of the European Union ...

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Beyond technology: How social sciences and humanities drive human-centric innovation

As the European Union (EU) prepares the groundwork for the next Horizon Europe Framework Programme, many experts have been calling for the human and social dimension of progress to be better integrated into the EU’s research and innovation agenda. The STOA workshop ‘Humanities and social sciences at the heart of Europe’s future’, organised on 3 ...

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