The Transitions Institute aims to explore the different ways in which transitions are challenging and affecting nature and human societies in unprecedented ways, requiring a radical shift in our previous political, social and ethical patterns.

The Institute's research focuses on areas of critical importance such as the environment, economics, politics, mobility, law, justice, social cohesion, development, education, protection against vulnerability, etc.

Logo de l'Institut Transitions

The Transitions Institute promotes interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary collaborative research around themes rather than disciplines, through a combination of methods, concepts and theories.

Thanks to their nationally and internationally recognized expertise (F.R.S.-FNRS, European Union, Federal State, Walloon Region, etc.), the members of the Transitions Institute develop "fundamental" research projects but also "action research" projects in the service of society.

Research poles

Image
Des mains protégeant des personnages en papier représentants les vulnérabilités
See content

Spotlight

News

University and democracy: a living, sometimes threatened, link

What the experts have to say
Démocratie

Trust of traditional political institutions and elected representatives, rise of authoritarian logics, definition of public services... Democracy today seems to be going through a turbulent zone. What role does the university play in this context? To shed light on this question, we interviewed four researchers from different disciplines: educationalist Sephora Boucenna, philosopher Louis Carré, political scientist Vincent Jacquet and legal scholar Aline Nardi. Their contrasting views sketch out the contours of an issue that is more topical than ever: thinking about and defending the link between university and democracy.

démocratie-visages

Democracy is by no means a fixed concept. It is the subject of debate, especially today. Louis Carré, Director of the Department of Philosophy and member of the Espace philosophique de Namur (Institut ESPHIN), proposes a three-dimensional definition: a political regime, a state of law and a way of forming society.

.

The concept of democracy: between people power and centralization

"Etymologically, democracy is a political regime that consists in giving power to the people," he reminds us. "Our Western democracies today are based on the idea that the people are sovereign, without governing directly. From this arises a tension between ideal democracy and real democracy."Vincent Jacquet, professor in the Department of Social, Political and Communication Sciences and president of the Transitions Institute supports the point: "Democracy is an ideal of citizen self-government, but it is in tension with more centralizing, authoritarian logics. [...] Our political systems are crisscrossed by these different tensions, with both authoritarian logics increasingly present, including in our own country, and logics of participation that are sometimes accompanied by a great deal of hope and disappointment too."

The second pillar according to Louis Carré: the rule of law. Democracy guarantees the fundamental rights of all citizens through the constitution. But here again, beware of paradoxes: "One could indeed imagine laws passed by a majority of representatives or by a referendum, but which contravene fundamental rights" the philosopher stresses. Democracy cannot therefore be summed up by the majority principle alone.

Finally, democracy is also a way of forming society. It is based on real pluralism: diversity of opinions, beliefs and values. "This presupposes the existence of a relatively autonomous public space in the face of the power in place, which at times challenges the decisions taken by the governments that have been elected,"insists Louis Carré.

As such, citizens' distrust of politics is not necessarily a symptom of democratic crisis. It may even be a sign of its vitality, as Vincent Jacquet explains:"The fact that citizens are critical of their government is not necessarily negative because, in a democracy, citizens must be able to control the actions of those in power."

Photo de Vincent Jacquet
Vincent Jacquet

Training the governors... and the governed

In this context, what is the university's responsibility? Louis Carré begins by reminding us of a simple fact: a large proportion of our elected representatives have passed through university benches. But its teaching mission doesn't stop there. "It's about training enlightened citizens, not just rulers. Universities must offer quality higher education, open to as many people as possible", he asserts.

"Democracy does indeed presuppose citizens capable of debating, reflecting, problematizing issues", adds Sephora Boucenna, Dean of the Faculty of Education and Training Sciences and member of UNamur's Institut de Recherches en Didactiques et Éducation (IRDENA). It's all about training reflective minds, capable of questioning their times.

Training reflective teachers for critical citizens

Universities also train those who, tomorrow, will educate future generations: teachers. And here again, democracy is at stake.

"Our mission is to train reflective teachers who, in turn, will teach their students to think critically"insists Sephora Boucenna. This requires in-depth work on analyzing practices, collective construction and learning to debate, from initial teacher training through to in-service training.

Sephora BOUCENNA
Sephora Boucenna

Producing and disseminating knowledge... in complete independence

In addition to teaching, universities also have a research and social service mission. It produces knowledge that can enlighten public policy, but also question it. This critical function presupposes real independence from politics. "To analyze democratic mechanisms with lucidity, including those that governments put in place, the university must retain its freedom of research and speech," insists Vincent Jacquet.

Louis Carré goes further: "Like the press, the university is a form of counter-power in the public space". He also points out that "there is a confusion between freedom of opinion and academic freedom. Academic knowledge goes through a series of verification, experimentation and discussion procedures within the scientific community. This gives it a robustness that is not that of an opinion, a value, a belief."

Louis Carré
Louis Carré

This critical function of the university presupposes strong independence. In Belgium, however, university funding is largely a matter for the political authorities. "Celane must not mean being placed under tutelage", warns Louis Carré. "Conducting critical research that doesn't satisfy short-term sponsors requires independence, including in terms of resources. We need a large number of researchers who can analyze different types of dynamics. The more we cut research funding, as is the case today, the fewer researchers we'll have and therefore the less capacity for independent analysis and diversity of perspectives, insists Vincent Jacquet.

The "Université en colère" movement, recently launched within the universities of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, intends to denounce the effects of definancement. Its representatives are calling for "guarantee the conditions for the development of an open, independent, quality university accessible to the greatest number. Faced with the social, economic and political challenges of our time, and because other choices for society, and therefore budgets, are possible, it is more essential than ever to strengthen the institutions and players at the heart of knowledge production."

Between vigilance and commitment: a link to be reinvented

Democracy is therefore not limited to elections or institutions. It is based on collective vigilance, carried by citizens, knowledge... and the places where this knowledge is built. In this respect, universities are an essential link in the chain of democratic vitality. Provided it remains independent, accessible and open to society.

"Democracy is not just a matter of institutions. It's about citizens who bring it to life and organize themselves to assert their perspectives at different times", insists Vincent Jacquet. A clear invitation not to remain a spectator, but to participate, with lucidity and exigency, in the construction of a common democratic future.

On the same subject

  • Artificial intelligence, a danger for democracy?

An academic year focused on democracy

Find the speech given by Rectrice Annick Castiaux at the 2025-2026 Academic Back-to-School Ceremony.

Discours de la Rectrice à la Cérémonie de rentrée académique 2025-2026

Cet article est tiré de la rubrique "Enjeux" du magazine Omalius #38 (Septembre 2025).

cover-omalius-septembre-2025

New impetus for the humanities and social sciences at UNamur

Institution
Sciences humaines et sociales
ODD #4 - Quality education

A new platform dedicated to research in the humanities and social sciences (SHS) is being launched at UNamur. The aim? To offer SHS researchers methodological support tailored to their needs and strengthen SHS excellence at UNamur. This platform, SHS Impulse, will provide various services such as financial support for training, consultancy, access to resources, or co-financed software purchases.

Logo SHS Impulse

Whether it concerns linguistics, economics, politics, sustainable development, law, history, educational sciences, literature or translation, research in the humanities and social sciences is as eclectic as it is rich and essential for tackling society's challenges. Of UNamur's eleven research institutes, seven are directly involved in SHS research. While there is a high degree of complementarity in these areas of research, better pooling of resources, sharing and easier access to certain services, resources and support will help to sustain and strengthen the excellence of SHS research at UNamur. It is with this in mind that the SHS impulse platform has just been created.

Image
Laurence Meurant

We started from the needs of SHS researchers to establish four axes developed within this platform

.
Laurence Meurant Research Fellow F.R.S.-FNRS, Professor of Linguistics, President of the NaLTT Institute and member of the SHS Impulse management committee.

Resources organized around 4 axes

  • Axis 1 - Support for the acquisition of databases, documentary resources and software
  • Axis 2 - Subsidy for cutting-edge training in the use of specialized methods
  • Axis 3 - Funding access to the SMCS "Support en Méthodologie et Calcul Statistique" platform at UCLouvain, thanks to an inter-university partnership.
  • Axis 4 - Setting up an SHS space, containing a laboratory for running experiments and shared work tools promoting exchanges between researchers.

Outlook

This initiative, launched in January 2025, addresses the specific challenges faced by SHS researchers. The long-term aim is to sustain and expand the services. "We will also hire a researcher expert in methodological analysis in SHS who will be able to inform innovative methodologies and frame the methodological design of research projects," emphasizes Sandrine Biémar, vice-dean of UNamur's Faculty of Education and Training Sciences, a member of the IRDENA institute and the SHS Impulse management committee. "The wish is also to support networking between SHS researchers at UNamur and to be a lever for setting up interdisciplinary projects," adds Sandrine Biémar.

The platform's management team is made up of representatives of the university's various SHS institutes, and ensures efficient management of resources. The platform's impact will be assessed during its initial phase (2025-2027), enabling strategies for its sustainability and development to be defined.

Taking into account the family situation of members of parliament: a major challenge for the future

Political science
Economic and social vulnerabilities
Sustainable
ODD #5 - Gender equality
SDG #8 - Decent work and economic growth
ODD #16 - Peace, justice and effective institutions

Reconciling family life and a political career in the European Parliament poses major challenges, particularly for MEPs with young children. This is demonstrated by Elena Frech, researcher at the University of Namur, in her recent research on work-life balance in European institutions.

Elena Frech, chercheuse de l'UNamur

According to Elena Frech, member of the Transitions and of the Department of Social Sciences, and Communication (Faculty EMCP), the lack of parenting Members of the European Parliament, and in particular mothers and young parents, has a direct impact on political decisions. "Parents see the world differently and, if there are fewer parents in the Parliament, this will inevitably affect policy and the decisions taken," she explains in an interview with EUobserver.

The researcher highlights the difficulties faced by MEPs in reconciling their mandate and family life. Between long working hours, travel between Strasbourg, Brussels and their constituencies, as well as the absence of formal parental leave, many elected representatives are forced to curtail or interrupt their political careers. "The absence of a parental leave policy, combined with a demanding schedule, has led some MPs not to stand for re-election in 2024," adds Elena Frech.

The European Parliament currently provides neither maternity nor paternity leave for its members. According to Elena Frech, this lack of official recognition of parental leave increases the pressure on parent MEPs. "Their party loses a vote, because parents on leave cannot be replaced for the vote. So the pressure to return is very strong" (EUobserver).

An essential debate for the future of European institutions

Elena Frech's research highlights a structural problem within the European institutions, which limits the diversity and representation of parents, particularly women, in the European Parliament. Her work raises a fundamental question: how can internal regulations be adapted to take better account of the reality of MEPs' families? A key issue for the future of European democracy.

Credits : the interview passages in this article are taken from an interview with Elena Frech conducted by EUobserver.

Source for EUobserver article : Bonneyrat, S. (2025).Is the EU Parliament still letting down female MEPs with children? EUobserver.

Find the scientific studies on which the EUobserver article is based:

Frech, Elena and Sophie Kopsch.2024. "Beyond Rhetoric: The European Parliament as a Workplace for Parents and Current Reform Debates", Politics and Governance 12.

Frech, Elena.2024. Mothers, parliamentarians, leaders: career factors influencing women's representation in the European Parliament - a case study of German parliamentarians.European Politics and Society, 1–19.

FNRS 2024 calls: Thinking about work after legal retirement age

Economic and social vulnerabilities
Sociologie
Sustainable
ODD #1 - No poverty
SDG #8 - Decent work and economic growth

Nathalie Burnay, professor in the EMCP Faculty and member of the TRANSITIONS Institute, has just been awarded PDR funding from the F.R.S-FNRS for her BRIDGE-EXT project. In collaboration with the Haute Ecole de Travail Social de Lausanne, she will focus on the situations and reasons that contribute to the continuation of professional activity after the legal retirement age.

Photo de Nathalie Burnay avec les logos FNRS et Institut TRANSITIONS

At a time when various governments are trying to get us to work until we're 67, some workers are continuing to work past the legal retirement age.

The BRIDGE-EXT project, funded by the PDR du F.R.S-FNRS, aims to gain a better understanding of these professional situations by questioning both the individual and relational reasons that contribute to continuing to work, but also the structural dynamics involved. It is for the latter reason that the researchers have developed a partnership with colleagues in French-speaking Switzerland, under the supervision of Prof. Valérie Hugentobler of the Haute Ecole de Travail Social de Lausanne (HETSL/HES-SO).

The interest of this collaboration lies in understanding post-retirement work according to differentiated political contexts where retirement systems are both fairly comparable, but also very different. How, then, are we to apprehend this work, which poses both the question of life choices and the constraints, particularly financial, that weigh on individuals today?

The research team will be made up of sociologists and anthropologists specializing in issues of aging at work. Amélie Pierre will be hired at UNamur to work on these issues, which are at the heart of current affairs.

Mini CV

Nathalie Burnay is a sociologist and full professor at the University of Namur (EMCP Faculty). For many years, she has been working on the analysis of end-of-career and ageing at work from a disciplinary and interdisciplinary perspective. She approaches these issues from an analysis of social policies, changing working conditions and normative transformations in the contemporary world.

Photo de Nathalie Burnay

In recent years, her scientific horizons have opened up to questions related to transmissions, life courses and temporalities, as well as to the sociology of emotions.

She is also a member of the Institut TRANSITIONS - Pôle Transitions et âges de la vie. This cluster studies the way in which these life courses are recomposed according to new social constraints and normative imperatives. It focuses on the fragility of populations at all stages of life, and also on the repercussions of political measures and mechanisms on the construction of life courses. It brings together researchers from different disciplinary backgrounds who analyze both the normative transformations affecting life courses and life-age transitions.

FNRS, la liberté de chercher

Chaque année, le F.R.S.-FNRS lance des appels pour financer la recherche fondamentale.  Il a mis en place une gamme d'outils permettant d’offrir à des chercheurs, porteurs d’un projet d’excellence, du personnel scientifique et technique, de l’équipement et des moyens de fonctionnement.

Logo FNRS

University and democracy: a living, sometimes threatened, link

What the experts have to say
Démocratie

Trust of traditional political institutions and elected representatives, rise of authoritarian logics, definition of public services... Democracy today seems to be going through a turbulent zone. What role does the university play in this context? To shed light on this question, we interviewed four researchers from different disciplines: educationalist Sephora Boucenna, philosopher Louis Carré, political scientist Vincent Jacquet and legal scholar Aline Nardi. Their contrasting views sketch out the contours of an issue that is more topical than ever: thinking about and defending the link between university and democracy.

démocratie-visages

Democracy is by no means a fixed concept. It is the subject of debate, especially today. Louis Carré, Director of the Department of Philosophy and member of the Espace philosophique de Namur (Institut ESPHIN), proposes a three-dimensional definition: a political regime, a state of law and a way of forming society.

.

The concept of democracy: between people power and centralization

"Etymologically, democracy is a political regime that consists in giving power to the people," he reminds us. "Our Western democracies today are based on the idea that the people are sovereign, without governing directly. From this arises a tension between ideal democracy and real democracy."Vincent Jacquet, professor in the Department of Social, Political and Communication Sciences and president of the Transitions Institute supports the point: "Democracy is an ideal of citizen self-government, but it is in tension with more centralizing, authoritarian logics. [...] Our political systems are crisscrossed by these different tensions, with both authoritarian logics increasingly present, including in our own country, and logics of participation that are sometimes accompanied by a great deal of hope and disappointment too."

The second pillar according to Louis Carré: the rule of law. Democracy guarantees the fundamental rights of all citizens through the constitution. But here again, beware of paradoxes: "One could indeed imagine laws passed by a majority of representatives or by a referendum, but which contravene fundamental rights" the philosopher stresses. Democracy cannot therefore be summed up by the majority principle alone.

Finally, democracy is also a way of forming society. It is based on real pluralism: diversity of opinions, beliefs and values. "This presupposes the existence of a relatively autonomous public space in the face of the power in place, which at times challenges the decisions taken by the governments that have been elected,"insists Louis Carré.

As such, citizens' distrust of politics is not necessarily a symptom of democratic crisis. It may even be a sign of its vitality, as Vincent Jacquet explains:"The fact that citizens are critical of their government is not necessarily negative because, in a democracy, citizens must be able to control the actions of those in power."

Photo de Vincent Jacquet
Vincent Jacquet

Training the governors... and the governed

In this context, what is the university's responsibility? Louis Carré begins by reminding us of a simple fact: a large proportion of our elected representatives have passed through university benches. But its teaching mission doesn't stop there. "It's about training enlightened citizens, not just rulers. Universities must offer quality higher education, open to as many people as possible", he asserts.

"Democracy does indeed presuppose citizens capable of debating, reflecting, problematizing issues", adds Sephora Boucenna, Dean of the Faculty of Education and Training Sciences and member of UNamur's Institut de Recherches en Didactiques et Éducation (IRDENA). It's all about training reflective minds, capable of questioning their times.

Training reflective teachers for critical citizens

Universities also train those who, tomorrow, will educate future generations: teachers. And here again, democracy is at stake.

"Our mission is to train reflective teachers who, in turn, will teach their students to think critically"insists Sephora Boucenna. This requires in-depth work on analyzing practices, collective construction and learning to debate, from initial teacher training through to in-service training.

Sephora BOUCENNA
Sephora Boucenna

Producing and disseminating knowledge... in complete independence

In addition to teaching, universities also have a research and social service mission. It produces knowledge that can enlighten public policy, but also question it. This critical function presupposes real independence from politics. "To analyze democratic mechanisms with lucidity, including those that governments put in place, the university must retain its freedom of research and speech," insists Vincent Jacquet.

Louis Carré goes further: "Like the press, the university is a form of counter-power in the public space". He also points out that "there is a confusion between freedom of opinion and academic freedom. Academic knowledge goes through a series of verification, experimentation and discussion procedures within the scientific community. This gives it a robustness that is not that of an opinion, a value, a belief."

Louis Carré
Louis Carré

This critical function of the university presupposes strong independence. In Belgium, however, university funding is largely a matter for the political authorities. "Celane must not mean being placed under tutelage", warns Louis Carré. "Conducting critical research that doesn't satisfy short-term sponsors requires independence, including in terms of resources. We need a large number of researchers who can analyze different types of dynamics. The more we cut research funding, as is the case today, the fewer researchers we'll have and therefore the less capacity for independent analysis and diversity of perspectives, insists Vincent Jacquet.

The "Université en colère" movement, recently launched within the universities of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, intends to denounce the effects of definancement. Its representatives are calling for "guarantee the conditions for the development of an open, independent, quality university accessible to the greatest number. Faced with the social, economic and political challenges of our time, and because other choices for society, and therefore budgets, are possible, it is more essential than ever to strengthen the institutions and players at the heart of knowledge production."

Between vigilance and commitment: a link to be reinvented

Democracy is therefore not limited to elections or institutions. It is based on collective vigilance, carried by citizens, knowledge... and the places where this knowledge is built. In this respect, universities are an essential link in the chain of democratic vitality. Provided it remains independent, accessible and open to society.

"Democracy is not just a matter of institutions. It's about citizens who bring it to life and organize themselves to assert their perspectives at different times", insists Vincent Jacquet. A clear invitation not to remain a spectator, but to participate, with lucidity and exigency, in the construction of a common democratic future.

On the same subject

  • Artificial intelligence, a danger for democracy?

An academic year focused on democracy

Find the speech given by Rectrice Annick Castiaux at the 2025-2026 Academic Back-to-School Ceremony.

Discours de la Rectrice à la Cérémonie de rentrée académique 2025-2026

Cet article est tiré de la rubrique "Enjeux" du magazine Omalius #38 (Septembre 2025).

cover-omalius-septembre-2025

New impetus for the humanities and social sciences at UNamur

Institution
Sciences humaines et sociales
ODD #4 - Quality education

A new platform dedicated to research in the humanities and social sciences (SHS) is being launched at UNamur. The aim? To offer SHS researchers methodological support tailored to their needs and strengthen SHS excellence at UNamur. This platform, SHS Impulse, will provide various services such as financial support for training, consultancy, access to resources, or co-financed software purchases.

Logo SHS Impulse

Whether it concerns linguistics, economics, politics, sustainable development, law, history, educational sciences, literature or translation, research in the humanities and social sciences is as eclectic as it is rich and essential for tackling society's challenges. Of UNamur's eleven research institutes, seven are directly involved in SHS research. While there is a high degree of complementarity in these areas of research, better pooling of resources, sharing and easier access to certain services, resources and support will help to sustain and strengthen the excellence of SHS research at UNamur. It is with this in mind that the SHS impulse platform has just been created.

Image
Laurence Meurant

We started from the needs of SHS researchers to establish four axes developed within this platform

.
Laurence Meurant Research Fellow F.R.S.-FNRS, Professor of Linguistics, President of the NaLTT Institute and member of the SHS Impulse management committee.

Resources organized around 4 axes

  • Axis 1 - Support for the acquisition of databases, documentary resources and software
  • Axis 2 - Subsidy for cutting-edge training in the use of specialized methods
  • Axis 3 - Funding access to the SMCS "Support en Méthodologie et Calcul Statistique" platform at UCLouvain, thanks to an inter-university partnership.
  • Axis 4 - Setting up an SHS space, containing a laboratory for running experiments and shared work tools promoting exchanges between researchers.

Outlook

This initiative, launched in January 2025, addresses the specific challenges faced by SHS researchers. The long-term aim is to sustain and expand the services. "We will also hire a researcher expert in methodological analysis in SHS who will be able to inform innovative methodologies and frame the methodological design of research projects," emphasizes Sandrine Biémar, vice-dean of UNamur's Faculty of Education and Training Sciences, a member of the IRDENA institute and the SHS Impulse management committee. "The wish is also to support networking between SHS researchers at UNamur and to be a lever for setting up interdisciplinary projects," adds Sandrine Biémar.

The platform's management team is made up of representatives of the university's various SHS institutes, and ensures efficient management of resources. The platform's impact will be assessed during its initial phase (2025-2027), enabling strategies for its sustainability and development to be defined.

Taking into account the family situation of members of parliament: a major challenge for the future

Political science
Economic and social vulnerabilities
Sustainable
ODD #5 - Gender equality
SDG #8 - Decent work and economic growth
ODD #16 - Peace, justice and effective institutions

Reconciling family life and a political career in the European Parliament poses major challenges, particularly for MEPs with young children. This is demonstrated by Elena Frech, researcher at the University of Namur, in her recent research on work-life balance in European institutions.

Elena Frech, chercheuse de l'UNamur

According to Elena Frech, member of the Transitions and of the Department of Social Sciences, and Communication (Faculty EMCP), the lack of parenting Members of the European Parliament, and in particular mothers and young parents, has a direct impact on political decisions. "Parents see the world differently and, if there are fewer parents in the Parliament, this will inevitably affect policy and the decisions taken," she explains in an interview with EUobserver.

The researcher highlights the difficulties faced by MEPs in reconciling their mandate and family life. Between long working hours, travel between Strasbourg, Brussels and their constituencies, as well as the absence of formal parental leave, many elected representatives are forced to curtail or interrupt their political careers. "The absence of a parental leave policy, combined with a demanding schedule, has led some MPs not to stand for re-election in 2024," adds Elena Frech.

The European Parliament currently provides neither maternity nor paternity leave for its members. According to Elena Frech, this lack of official recognition of parental leave increases the pressure on parent MEPs. "Their party loses a vote, because parents on leave cannot be replaced for the vote. So the pressure to return is very strong" (EUobserver).

An essential debate for the future of European institutions

Elena Frech's research highlights a structural problem within the European institutions, which limits the diversity and representation of parents, particularly women, in the European Parliament. Her work raises a fundamental question: how can internal regulations be adapted to take better account of the reality of MEPs' families? A key issue for the future of European democracy.

Credits : the interview passages in this article are taken from an interview with Elena Frech conducted by EUobserver.

Source for EUobserver article : Bonneyrat, S. (2025).Is the EU Parliament still letting down female MEPs with children? EUobserver.

Find the scientific studies on which the EUobserver article is based:

Frech, Elena and Sophie Kopsch.2024. "Beyond Rhetoric: The European Parliament as a Workplace for Parents and Current Reform Debates", Politics and Governance 12.

Frech, Elena.2024. Mothers, parliamentarians, leaders: career factors influencing women's representation in the European Parliament - a case study of German parliamentarians.European Politics and Society, 1–19.

FNRS 2024 calls: Thinking about work after legal retirement age

Economic and social vulnerabilities
Sociologie
Sustainable
ODD #1 - No poverty
SDG #8 - Decent work and economic growth

Nathalie Burnay, professor in the EMCP Faculty and member of the TRANSITIONS Institute, has just been awarded PDR funding from the F.R.S-FNRS for her BRIDGE-EXT project. In collaboration with the Haute Ecole de Travail Social de Lausanne, she will focus on the situations and reasons that contribute to the continuation of professional activity after the legal retirement age.

Photo de Nathalie Burnay avec les logos FNRS et Institut TRANSITIONS

At a time when various governments are trying to get us to work until we're 67, some workers are continuing to work past the legal retirement age.

The BRIDGE-EXT project, funded by the PDR du F.R.S-FNRS, aims to gain a better understanding of these professional situations by questioning both the individual and relational reasons that contribute to continuing to work, but also the structural dynamics involved. It is for the latter reason that the researchers have developed a partnership with colleagues in French-speaking Switzerland, under the supervision of Prof. Valérie Hugentobler of the Haute Ecole de Travail Social de Lausanne (HETSL/HES-SO).

The interest of this collaboration lies in understanding post-retirement work according to differentiated political contexts where retirement systems are both fairly comparable, but also very different. How, then, are we to apprehend this work, which poses both the question of life choices and the constraints, particularly financial, that weigh on individuals today?

The research team will be made up of sociologists and anthropologists specializing in issues of aging at work. Amélie Pierre will be hired at UNamur to work on these issues, which are at the heart of current affairs.

Mini CV

Nathalie Burnay is a sociologist and full professor at the University of Namur (EMCP Faculty). For many years, she has been working on the analysis of end-of-career and ageing at work from a disciplinary and interdisciplinary perspective. She approaches these issues from an analysis of social policies, changing working conditions and normative transformations in the contemporary world.

Photo de Nathalie Burnay

In recent years, her scientific horizons have opened up to questions related to transmissions, life courses and temporalities, as well as to the sociology of emotions.

She is also a member of the Institut TRANSITIONS - Pôle Transitions et âges de la vie. This cluster studies the way in which these life courses are recomposed according to new social constraints and normative imperatives. It focuses on the fragility of populations at all stages of life, and also on the repercussions of political measures and mechanisms on the construction of life courses. It brings together researchers from different disciplinary backgrounds who analyze both the normative transformations affecting life courses and life-age transitions.

FNRS, la liberté de chercher

Chaque année, le F.R.S.-FNRS lance des appels pour financer la recherche fondamentale.  Il a mis en place une gamme d'outils permettant d’offrir à des chercheurs, porteurs d’un projet d’excellence, du personnel scientifique et technique, de l’équipement et des moyens de fonctionnement.

Logo FNRS
All news

Agenda

04

TRANSDEM Seminar | Markus Hermann Meckl

Séminaire

TRANSDEM Seminar | Markus Hermann Meckl

Economie
Environnement
Démocratie
4
12:45 - 14:00
Université de Namur - rue de Bruxelles, 61 - 5000 Namur

The TRANSDEM seminars focus on how current institutional, economic, environmental and migratory tensions are transforming and challenging the way our democratic regimes function.

Victimization and identity: the post-heroic society

More info to come

02

Methods" seminar | Philine Widmer

Séminaire

Methods" seminar | Philine Widmer

Pédagogie
Langues
Intelligence artificielle
2
12:45 - 14:00
Université de Namur - rue de Bruxelles, 61 - 5000 Namur
Contact person :  Santos Nelson

"Methods" is a series of seminars organized by the Institut Transitions at the University of Namur with the aim of fostering interdisciplinary collaboration and knowledge exchange. All seminars take place in a hybrid format.

Orator: Philine Widmer

More info to come.

"Methods "seminars

The Methods Seminar is a series of seminars organized at the University of Namur with the aim of fostering interdisciplinary collaboration and knowledge exchange. All seminars take place in a hybrid format.

This seminar series focuses on advanced methodological approaches, particularly in the fields of natural language processing (NLP), artificial intelligence (AI), video and image analysis, and multimodal analysis.

To stay informed about details of upcoming seminars, please subscribe to our mailing list below.

28

Methods" seminar | Computational approaches to meaning change

Séminaire

Methods" seminar | Computational approaches to meaning change

Pédagogie
Langues
Intelligence artificielle
28
12:45 - 14:00
Université de Namur - rue de Bruxelles, 61 - 5000 Namur
Contact person :  Santos Nelson

"Methods" is a series of seminars organized by the Institut Transitions at the University of Namur with the aim of fostering interdisciplinary collaboration and knowledge exchange. All seminars take place in a hybrid format.

Orator: Barbara McGilivray - Senior Lecturer in Digital and Computational Humanities at King's College London

Semantic change, i.e. the evolution of word meanings over time, offers crucial information about historical, cultural and linguistic processes. Language acts as a mirror of societal change, reflecting evolving values, norms and technological advances. Understanding how the meaning of words evolves enables us to trace these transformations and gain a deeper understanding of our distant and recent past.

This seminar explores how computational methods are revolutionizing our ability to analyze semantic change in historical texts, addressing a major challenge in the field of digital humanities. While advanced computational methods enable us to analyze vast datasets and uncover previously inaccessible patterns, few natural language processing algorithms fully take into account the dynamic nature of language, particularly semantics, which is essential for research in the humanities. As AI systems develop to better understand the historical context and dynamics of language, human annotation and interpretation remain essential to capture the nuances of language and its cultural context.

In this presentation, I will show how computational and human-centered approaches can be effectively combined to examine semantic change and its links to cultural and technological developments. I will present examples illustrating how semantic change can be analyzed across temporal, cultural and textual dimensions.

"Methods "seminars

The Methods Seminar is a series of seminars organized at the University of Namur with the aim of fostering interdisciplinary collaboration and knowledge exchange. All seminars take place in a hybrid format.

This seminar series focuses on advanced methodological approaches, particularly in the fields of natural language processing (NLP), artificial intelligence (AI), video and image analysis, and multimodal analysis.

To stay informed about details of upcoming seminars, please subscribe to our mailing list below.

All events