The second edition of the WeLaR Open Virtual Expert Café, held on 26 April, gathered 10 participants from academia, research institutes and social partners. The event, organised by ZSI, revolved around topics such as migration; AI and robotics; and women’s empowerment. Presentations of research results, ongoing work, and projects were followed by lively discussions.
WeLaR researcher Maryna Tverdostup (wiiw) presented the project’s paper on the impact of atypical employment on migration. The paper found that an increase in part-time work and self-employment in the sending country is associated with higher emigration rates, while a relative rise in short fixed-term employment decreases migration. She argued that policies aimed at increasing labour market flexibility must consider these relationships.
Ursula Holtgrewe (ZSI) discussed an e-book from Project UNTANGLED exploring how globalisation, technology, and demographic changes impact firms and industries. Based on their results, UNTANGLED researchers developed recommendations for policies that will help Europeans reap the benefits of the three megatrends: digitalisation, climate change and demographic shifts and cushion their negative impact.
Elemér Szentpétery of EgyüttHató, a Hungarian non-profit organisation, presented the new project ‘Break the Glass Ceiling’, which seeks to enhance the quality of youth services, particularly European Solidarity Corps volunteering projects, by focusing on empowering young women. The organisation aims to achieve this through research, method development, and dissemination. The initiative is supported by the Erasmus+ programme and mainly targets youth from underprivileged groups.
In the final presentation, Jesse de Pagter (ZSI) examined the relationship between ethics, trust, and emerging technologies, particularly robotics and artificial intelligence (AI). He highlighted the importance of maintaining a critical component in ethics and the need for interdisciplinary implementation of ethical perspectives on technological development.
The collected slides with further links to the respective projects and outputs are available here.
The date of the next Café will be announced soon.
Presentations are available here.
