Report from the kick-off conference (published September 2007)
Conference summary (D01) (pdf)
The first day of the conference was an open event that attracted some 160 researchers from Norwegian and European institutions, coordinators of other projects within the Sixth Framework Programme, as well as policy makers, practitioners, and representatives of civil society. Norwegian State Secretary Liv Monica Stubholt from the Centre Party (Senterpartiet) held the opening speech on Democracy in the Age of Globalisation. This was followed by an introductory speech by RECON's scientific coordinator Erik O. Eriksen.
Keynote speeches were held by John Dryzek, one of the leading political scientists on democracy beyond the nation state, and James Bohman, prominent theorist in the field of normative political theory and cosmopolitanism. Hauke Brunkhorst and Rainer Forst commented on their speeches. After lunch, John Erik Fossum, RECON substitute coordinator chaired the sessions where the RECON work package leaders presented the project's research fields. The sessions included comments by Tanja Hitzel-Cassagnes and Philippe C. Schmitter, and were followed by a final discussion.
Angela Liberatore from the European Commission gave a presentation at the opening of Day II on RECON in a Framework Programme perspective.