CHANGER_EU_PROJECT: KEY INSIGHTS FROM THE 4TH PLENARY MEETING, Fredrikstad, Norway (10–11 September 2025)
The CHANGER project has reached its halfway point, and the plenary meeting marked a significant milestone. This gathering, under the coordination of Vasiliki Mollaki, was a crucial moment for reflection and preparation for the following exciting stages.
This mid-term meeting offered a valuable chance to review achievements, evaluate ongoing work, and plan future actions, all within a spirit of open dialogue and strong collaboration.
Some of the KEY PROJECT ACTIVITIES AND OUTPUTS HIGHLIGHTED BY THE WP LEADERS (Ana Marusic, Marjo Rauhala, Matthias Kaiser, Luciano D'Andrea, Jeanne Pia Mifsud-Bonnici, Marina Markellou) during the meeting included:
🔹 A thorough review and critical assessment of current international literature, providing a solid foundation for future research and informed policy development.
🔹 The systematic gathering and analysis of insights from REC members and ethics experts, already generating valuable evidence on the practical challenges and contextual realities of ethical review processes.
🔹 The development of policy recommendations that address structural challenges — such as resource limitations and diverse institutional settings — and advocate for stronger institutional and political support across Europe and within national systems.
In my view, the meeting also reaffirmed SEVERAL CRITICAL INSIGHTS ABOUT THE NATURE OF ETHICS IN RESEARCH:
🔸 Ethics should be addressed through both top-down and bottom-up approaches, with careful consideration of the various disciplinary, national, legal, and institutional contexts where research occurs.
🔸 Training, capacity-building, and awareness-raising are not optional but vital for the operation of Research Ethics Committees and the broader research community.
🔸 To meaningfully progress ethics in research, we must expand the discussion, recognise alternative paradigms and contextual differences, and resist overly standardised or technocratic approaches.
🔸 In the SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES, especially, it is vital to adopt a new mindset—one that considers ethics as intrinsically linked to the epistemology and methodology of research, rather than merely a matter of regulatory compliance. Recognising this can encourage more meaningful and responsible research practices.
I am grateful to all colleagues/partners (Hella von Unger, Prof. Tina Garani-Papadatos, Jonas Benedikt Pfister, Dr. Antonija Mijatovic, Dr. Alexander Bagattini, Phaedra Locquet) from whom I continue to learn so much.
Many thanks to the local organisers (NORSUS and Majvi Brandbu), the Democritus coordinator, and the NCSR "DEMOKRITOS" coordination team and particulalry Fay Pitsilidou for an engaging and productive meeting.
