The Winter School on Federalism and Governance is a shared cross-border project of the Institute for Comparative Federalism of Eurac Research, the Faculty of Law and the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences of the University of Innsbruck. Since its first edition in 2010, it has taken place under the auspices of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe.
The Winter School is a two-week international postgraduate programme on federalism, regionalism and multilevel governance. Through an interdisciplinary and comparative approach, it explores how federalism can contribute to multilevel, integrated and pluralistic decision-making. Each edition focuses on a specific topic, which is then approached in detail by legal scholars, political scientists and practitioners.
The 2023 Winter School will focus on federalism and equality and it will take place from 06 to 17 February 2023. One aspect will centre on the exploration of constitutional provisions with regard to equality and the discussion of symmetric and asymmetric federalism. Furthermore, participants will examine the impact of territorial diversities and the representation of subnational units in multilevel systems.
A wide range of lectures gives participants the opportunity to broaden their knowledge of multilevel governance and government, especially from the perspectives of law and political science. The Winter School provides a cutting-edge international learning environment with world-class scholars of various academic disciplines from around the globe.
The program will also review how multilevel arrangements might stimulate or limit individual, groups’ and territorial equality. It provides, amongst others, insights into indigenous rights and minorities in multilevel systems, as well as into the topic of segregation and desegregation in the USA. One day will be dedicated to the role of autonomous regions in Italy and the case of South Tyrol. The relation between federalism and equality is also to be discussed with regard to emerging and mature federations, as well as “coming-together”-federations. The 2023 Winter School will offer in-depth sessions on (in)equalities in relation to economy, social issues, environments, and institutions.
The postgraduate programme welcomes an international audience: young researchers and academics, post-docs and post-graduate students, civil servants from a local, regional or national government as well as employees of international organizations or NGOs.
Organiser
The Institute for Comparative Federalism carries out comparative legal studies and applied research on governance trends in federal, regional and supranational systems in Europe and throughout the world. It is part of Eurac Research, an innovative centre for research and training based in South Tyrol, Italy. Founded in 1992 as a private institution, Eurac Research is composed of 11 research institutes and four centres.
Location
The Leopold-Franzens-Universität Innsbruck, Austria, was founded in 1669 and has a long and internationally renowned tradition of studies on federalism. It serves as the main academic centre of Western Austria and its neighbouring regions. Its 16 faculties, among them the Faculty of Law and the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, offer a wide range of studies. The University is situated in the heart of the Land Tyrol, one of the 9 Länder that constitute the Austrian federal state.
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