On 21–22 May 2026, the second annual BRIDGE Consortium Meeting took place at Erasmus University Rotterdam 

The Consortium Meeting is an annual gathering of members of the BRIDGE project consortium: KSE, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Technische Universität Berlin, the University of Tartu, and the Centre for Innovation Development. The team comes together to reflect on progress made, share achievements, receive feedback from peers, and coordinate future joint activities.

This year, the meeting was attended by members of the project's External Experts Advisory Board: Mariana Gustafsson (Linköping University), Olga Kutsenko (Institute of Sociology, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine), Eva Sørensen (Roskilde University), and Joanna Bryson (Hertie School). They reviewed the project's research outputs and provided valuable feedback on the consortium's progress and plans.

Participants discussed the results of the Citizens’ Assembly in Zhytomyr and potential academic outlets for publishing the findings.

Considerable time was devoted to discussions regarding the Deliberative Democracy Lab. Since February 2026, this platform for exchange and dialogue (first meeting, second meeting, third meeting) has brought together experts and practitioners to discuss their experiences and develop shared methodological recommendations. These recommendations will support experts and communities in Ukraine in the effective use of deliberative democracy tools.

During the communication session, participants explored strategies for disseminating the project's results, including ways to reach broader audiences and engage stakeholders at the EU institutional level.

The consortium also discussed future grant applications, including potential Horizon Europe projects, new partnerships, and ideas for addressing democratic processes during wartime and post-war recovery.

The meeting concluded with a joint planning session, during which participants assigned responsibilities, agreed on deadlines, and outlined the project's next steps.

We would like to thank our partners at Erasmus University Rotterdam for their warm hospitality, as well as all consortium members for their collaboration and commitment.

The BRIDGE project has now reached its halfway point. The next phase of the project will focus on academic publications and new initiatives, more details on which we will share in due course.