A look back at the 5th ISPOLE Research Day!

On Thursday, May 28, ISPOLE celebrated the 5th edition of its Research Day. For the occasion, members of our institute headed to the Mons campus at the Ateliers de l'UCLouvain en Hainaut for an intensive day of scientific presentations, debates, and institutional activities.

Diversity as a Driver of Research

Remaining true to its mission of fostering interdisciplinarity, this edition focused on the diversity of perspectives. Unlike traditional academic formats, the day's five panels were not strictly organized around specific themes. The objective? To encourage dialogue among researchers from different ISPOLE research centres and teams who do not necessarily work on the same topics.

This approach made it possible to bring together a wide range of research projects, from Gulf geoeconomics and climate justice to gender policies at the UN and historical memory in the Middle East. These cross-disciplinary exchanges provide presenters—both doctoral researchers and senior scholars—with unique feedback and fresh perspectives that often remain unseen within a single field of specialization.

A Rich and Diverse Programme

The day was marked by several highlights:

• Presentation sessions: Five panels ran in parallel during both the morning and afternoon, covering topics as diverse as OECD family policies, EU humanitarian aid, and citizen participation in the digital age.
• The ISPOLE Council: Time was set aside at the beginning of the afternoon for a collective discussion on the life of the institute and its future directions.

Acknowledgements

The institute would like to warmly thank the organizing committee (Analise Schmidt, Loïc Fierens, Virginie Van Ingelgom, Valérie Rosoux, Tom Delreux, Marina Kyndt, and Chantal Herman) for the success of this event, as well as all participants, presenters, discussants, and session chairs, whose commitment brought ISPOLE's research community to life.

We are already looking forward to seeing you again at the next edition!