Senada Šelo Šabić Participated in the IUC Course “Identity of Europe: Imagined Futures”

Senada Šelo Šabić, Scientific Adviser at IRMO, participated in the course “Identity of Europe: Imagined Futures”, held at the Inter-University Centre (IUC) Dubrovnik in September 2026.

For decades, the IUC has served as a meeting place for scholars, teachers and participants from different countries and disciplines — a setting for exchanging ideas, comparing perspectives and generating new questions about shared societal challenges. In this spirit,

the course offered dedicated time for in-depth reflection on Europe’s futures through the lenses of the social sciences and humanities.

Discussions explored how imaginaries of the future shape social expectations, public policy, technological innovation and power relations. Particular attention was given to the relationship between utopian and dystopian visions, the role of digital technologies and environmental crises, democratic dissent, nationalism, political violence, and the question of who has the capacity to imagine and institutionally shape the future.

Šelo Šabić delivered a lecture entitled “From Within or Not at All: Social Mobilisation, New Actors, and the Possibility of Change in a Divided State.” Her contribution went beyond describing the challenges of a deeply divided society. It addressed possibilities for overcoming them, focusing on social mobilisation, the role of new actors and the importance of responsible civic engagement in creating meaningful change.

The course brought together lecturers and participants from Croatia, Germany, Slovenia, Spain, China and Brazil.