Chaired by
CHAIR:
- HerbertKubicekE-Mail
- University of BremenInstitut für Informationsmanagement Bremen (ifib)BremenGermany
Dates
21-25 November 2007
Location
Klosterhotel, Vadstena, Sweden
The conference will take place at Klosterhotel in Vadstena, Sweden. Vadstena is located in the south-eastern province of Östergötland, in a lovely natural setting on the shores of beautiful Lake Vättern, offering comfortable accommodation in a historic environment. During the Middle Ages, Vadstena was the location of a catholic monastery for monks and nuns of the Birgittine order and nowadays the conference center and hotel is largely located in the same medieval buildings that were once the monastery. With 5 600 inhabitants, Vadstena is 45 km from Linköping and 330 km from Stockholm. Group transportation will be arranged from/to Linköping airport, via Linköping train station, on arrival and departure days.
Final Programme & List of Accepted Participants
Electronic Democracy (eDemocracy) and to identify theoretical and methodological challenges for the future research agenda by combining a top-down and a bottom-up approach. Top-down means providing general inputs from a theoretical or methodological point of view; bottom-up means to assess and reflect actual research in different subfields in the area of eDemocracy.
General inputs on the state-of-the-art will reflect research over the last thirty years, and look at the basic challenges to democracy in an extended Europe as well as in the face of new upcoming technologies. They will be provided by internationally well known invited speakers such as William Dutton, Brian Loader, Philippe Schmitter and Jean Claude Burgelmann.
Within the bottom-up approach the state of the art of research in the following six subfields of eDemocracy will be discussed:
- eInformation (freedom of information, access to public information);
- eConsultation and eDeliberation;
- eCommunities and eMovements;
- eCampaigning and eActivism;
- ePetitioning;
- eVoting.
Each working group will be chaired by international experts. There will be three to five presentations per group, followed by intense discussion on the achievements and challenges of this research area. Some presentations will be invited. Additional presentations may be proposed by applicants.
Rapporteurs and a few invited speakers will put together assessments of the subfields in three panels. One panel will deal with the practical challenges for proceeding with eDemocracy in a more and more multi-cultural Europe. A second panel will discuss the theoretical challenges identified in the working group, while the third panel will concentrate on methodological challenges, in particular those concerning the assessment of the impact of eDemocracy activities.
It is a particular objective of the conference to have an exchange between about 20 invited experienced senior researchers and the same number of students, working in this field and shaping research in the future. An application procedure has been set up and some travel grants are available.
Abstracts, Posters & Short Oral Contributions
There will be no short talks other than those listed on the final programme (see above). All other abstracts are accepted as posters.
Posters can be fixed with cellotape and pins onto poster panels. Poster size should be no more than 100 cm high x 70 cm wide. Use letters and drawings that can be read from approximately 100 cm distance.
Invited Papers
List of Invited Papers  |
Group Transportation & Practical Information Guide
Detailed information on all practical aspects of the conference (access to site, registration & fee payments, accommodation, travel reimbursements...) is available from the Practical Information Guide. Please read it fully and carefully...
GROUP TRANSPORTATION
Two buses will be arranged on arrival day from Linköping airport, via the Linköping train station, to Vadstena. The journey takes approximately 1 hour.
Bus departure times - Wednesday 21 November:
- from Linköping airport: 16.00 – 18.00
- from Linköping train station: 16.15 - 18.15
Airport departure point: the meeting point is located just outside the small airport building. The coaches will have a sign in the window indicating “ESF Research Conferences” for easy recognition.
Train station departure point: the meeting point is located in the long distance bus terminal of the station. From the exit of the main building of the railway station, it is approximately 300 metres to the right.
Group transportation back to Linköping will be arranged in a similar way for the departure day. Bus departure time - Sunday 25 November: 08.30 (to Linköping airport AND train station).
ACCOMMODATION
Please note that SINGLE accommodation can only be guaranteed to invited speakers. All other participants will have to share a TWIN room. In case single rooms would become available at the time of the conference, rooms will be attributed on a “first come, first served” basis. Only the TWIN conference fee (EUR 720) should be paid to the ESF when registering. The supplement for single (EUR 150) should be paid to Vadstena Klosterhotel. Should you wish to be put on waiting list for single accommodation, please contact Ms. Jean Kelly.
Conference Fees
Fees | What the fees cover |
EUR 880 | conference, meals and single room |
EUR 720 | conference, meals and twin OR double room |
EUR 380 | non-resident: conference, meals (no room) |
Some grants available for young researchers to cover the conference fee and possibly part of the travel costs. Grant requests should be made by ticking appropriate field(s) in the paragraph "Grant application" of the application form.
Registration Form
All participants - including speakers & session chairs - are kindly expected to confirm their attendance (and, when applicable, to pay the conference fee) by filling in a Registration Form.
Closing date for registration & fee payment: 6 November 2007 
ESF Contact
- JeanKellyE-Mail
- Conference Officer
Phone: +32 (0)2 533 2025
Fax: +32 (0)2 538 8486
Please quote 07-236 in any correspondence.
Partnership
This conference is organised by the European Science Foundation (ESF) in partnership with Linköping University.
Links of Interest
- Council of Europe - Integrated Project on Making Democratic Institutions Work
- Access2Democracy: access2democracy aims to promote the principles and practice of participatory e-democracy within the global arena.
- Evoice: evoice intends to enhance the interest and the engagement of European citizens in general political issues within a representative democracy.
- ICELE: International Centre of Excellence for Local eDemocray
