At the invitation of John Smith Trust, Professor Elena Korosteleva and Dr Tatsiana Chulitskaya (WUB-hub) were invited to train the first cohort of the Future Leaders from Belarus in Oxford. This was a great opportunity to establish professional connections, and to offer feedback to the Action Plans of the JST Fellows. They are invited to be part of the WUB-hub conference on 28 June 2024, held in Europe House, with high-level policy, academic & practitioner stakeholders. The JST & IGSD will work together on developing a bespoke training programme for the future JST fellows at Warwick.

Professor Elena Korosteleva is featured in the Democracy Support DialoguesLink opens in a new window, a podcast that takes a closer look at the European Union's support for democratic politics in its Eastern and Southern Neighbourhoods. Professor Korosteleva discusses democratic practices and the future of democracy in the EU's Eastern Neighbourhood.

The episode is available through the following streaming services:

• SpotifyLink opens in a new window
• Amazon Music
• Apple PodcastsLink opens in a new window

SHAPEDEM-EULink opens in a new window, a transnational research project, where the University of Warwick is a partner, launched its podcast series “Democracy Support Dialogues”. In this podcast series we will explore the European Union’s democracy support in the Eastern and Southern Neighbourhoods. From best practices to shortcomings of Europe’s democracy support agenda in its Neighbourhoods, this 12-episode series walks through the policies of a variety of institutions and states to harness our collective democratic knowledge. Join the host, Fabian Schöppner, as he speaks with a range of guests and experts on democracy support in Armenia, Georgia, Ukraine, Lebanon, Palestine and Tunisia.

The first episode featuring Professor Michelle Pace, Roskilde University, is available at the following platforms:

• SpotifyLink opens in a new window
• Amazon Music
• Apple PodcastsLink opens in a new window

Dr Paul Hansbury joined the WUB-hub project (and the IGSD team) as a lead researcher on Belarus and Ukraine examining the issues of democracy-building, conflict and war, geopolitics and EU strategies towards these countries and the wider neighbourhood. Welcome, Paul!

On 19 Feb 2024 Dr Aijan Sharshenova joined our SHAPEDEM project (and IGSD team) as a lead Research Fellow. Prior to this Aijan was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the OSCE Academy in Bishkek. Dr Sharshenova holds a PhD in Politics awarded at the University of Leeds, UK. Prior to joining the OSCE Academy, Dr Sharshenova worked at the UN and UNDP country offices in the Middle East, and taught courses in International Politics and Academic Writing. Aijan’s research interests include public diplomacy, the EU and Russian policies towards Central Asia, EU policies towards the eastern neighbourhood, and international development. Recently, Dr Sharshenova published her book ‘The European Union’s Democracy Promotion in Central Asia’ available here.

Aijan replaced Dr Asya Kudlenko, who is currently on maternity leave.