About Security in Open Societies

In a world of asymmetrical conflicts and geopolitical turbulence, the preservation of internal and external security has become a major strategic concern for democratic states. Security concerns permeate the way in which societies and governments address a wide range of phenomena, ranging from IT innovations and public infrastructure to sports tournaments, shopping centres and major crowd events. Fake news, trans-border crime, terrorist attacks and cyber threats caused once robust security structures to no longer be sufficient.

How can governments provide security to their citizens without trampling democratic values and the rule of law?

Security in Open Societies facilitates interdisciplinary academic meetings on the topics of crisis, security and democracy for staff and students. The members of our platform work on transdisciplinary projects with public organisations on pressing matters in society surrounding security and democracy. The platform is closely connected to the ADAPT and TerInfo projects. We are always open to exploring new ways of connecting science and society.

Our mission

Security in Open Societies aims to be an open and active platform where science and society come together. We believe in the power of collaboration and are committed to fostering bottom-up initiatives in which researchers, students, and societal partners work together on urgent issues related to security, crisis, and democracy.

Our mission is to create space for new ideas and initiatives. We actively encourage people to approach us with their thoughts and proposals, and we are always looking for innovative ways to connect academic knowledge with real-world practice. With strong ties to projects such as ADAPT and TerInfo, we build on existing networks while remaining open to new forms of collaboration.

Interdisciplinary platform

The IOS-platform Security in Open Societies provides an independent, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary space for generating, sharing, and debating accurate and systematic knowledge on (co-)production of new forms of crisis and security governance, engaging both those involved in and affected by these developments.