IFZO Expert Interview

Change and new ramifications raise new questions and often require new perspectives. Especially in times of crisis and transformation, it helps to look beyond the horizon. On the one hand, we cannot assume to find contained (national) solutions for considerable problems on our own. On the other hand, joint approaches produce further social and cultural challenges. This is true for major difficulties of the last 20 years as much as for future developments, as one can recognise for instance in the context of the corona pandemic. We have invited experts from the Interdisciplinary Centre for Baltic Sea Region Research to reflect their research questions in the context of the pandemic in the Baltic Sea Region and look for answers and further questions.

This talk of Dr. Anna Novikov with Prof. Anna Kargol, a political scientist at the Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski Krakow University (AFMKU) was dedicated to the current nationwide mass protests against the abortion ban issued by the government. In some opinions, these protests dedicated to the body politics decisions are regarded as the largest ones since the fall of communism.

Professor Cordelia Hess explains the changing positions of nationalist parties during the corona pandemic in the Baltic Sea region, focusing on Sweden and Germany (in German only).

The kick-off gives Prof. Dr Steffen Fleßa, economist and expert for health care systems in the IFZO Research Cluster "Regional Development and Rural Areas". He will discuss questions about the relation of health systems and pandemic measurements taken by governments in the Baltic Sea region, connected differences and innovations. (In German only)