Blue Bird Club

Blue Bird Club: Reshaping Visibility of the Balkans in Europe

The objective of the Blue Bird Club is to provide a discussion forum for brilliant and concerned scholars from Eastern Europe and for journalists from all over Europe, bridging gaps in communication, thus contributing to the diversification of the intellectual debate in Europe. The Club gathers a group of about 25 highly qualified, vibrant intellectuals from South East Europe - some of them brilliant younger scholars, others experienced, internationally renowned scholars who excite attention among the politically-engaged public all over Europe - and journalists from Europe at large to discuss questions and topics of mutual interest: Are the Balkans the first EU colony? Can the EU draw lessons for its own future from the disintegration of Yugoslavia?

The leading minds of South East Europe's first post-communist generation have substantial contributions to make to questions and debates whose relevance transcends the problems of the Balkan region. The Blue Bird Club challenges this situation, aiming at directing the attention of the public to the rich intellectual life in South East Europe and its capacity to contribute to the analysis of topics which are of concern for entire Europe.
The Blue Bird Club meets once or twice a year at different locations so as to acquaint participants with the region's diversity. Meetings are not conceived as conferences in the usual format; they are rather conceived as places and spaces for exchange, allowing for the Blue Bird Club to become a community of scholars and journalists. Thereby this initiative is building upon the experiences and results of the international research project "Blue Bird: Agenda for Civil Society in Southeast Europe" (2001-2003).

Period: November 2007 - June 2008

Coordinators: Vessela Tcherneva

Financing Organisations: Robert Bosch Stiftung; Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin - Institute for Advanced Studies, Berlin

Partners: Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin - Institute for Advanced Studies, Berlin