Team Leader: Eline Severs is an Associate Professor in Political Science at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB). Her research interests fall within the field of democratic theory. She is especially interested in democratic representation, the relationship between civil society and democratic governance, the emotions and theatricality of politics, how citizens conceive of democracy, and what it means to include historically disadvantaged groups. She is the chair of the ECPR Standing Group on Political Representation, a member of the editorial board of Politics of the Low Countries, and a board member of the Belgian organization for political science (VPW).
Dimokritos Kavadias is professor in the Political Science Department of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB). He has hold teaching positions in political science, sociology, comparative politics and different methodology courses at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel and the Universiteit Antwerpen. Since February 2015 he is the director of BRIO – the Centre for Information, Documentation and Research on Brussels. BRIO’s main objective is to increase knowledge about Brussels and its surrounding municipalities through scientific, interdisciplinary and policy supporting research by initiating, developing and distributing scientific research, as well as promoting research cooperation and information exchange. Dimokritos Kavadias has refocused BRIO on working on social integration in Brussels, on educational integration and on urban governance in Brussels. Moreover, he has gained further project management experience with large-scale research projects in collaborative settings.
Elly Mansoury has been affiliated as a researcher with the Department of Political Science (Vrije Universiteit Brussel) since 2017. Her research within the project “Democratic Empowerment of Brussels Education Students and Teachers” (DEBEST) focused on social cohesion and socio-political attitudes among young adolescents in the Brussels-Capital Region. She has also co-authored the book “Zinnekes zijn DEBEST” (2021) that encapsulates the findings of this research project.
Kevin Meyvaert is a predoctoral researcher in Political Science at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB). He holds a master’s degree in political science from the VUB and an advanced master in European politics and policies from KU Leuven. Kevin’s research interests primarily revolve around political participation and representative democracy. His ongoing PhD research delves into the realm of the political engagement of first-time voters and young adults, with a particular focus on Brussels. Furthermore, he’s also interested in the role of young members of parliament and political parties in bridging the disconnect between youth and formal politics.
Hannah Oorts is a predoctoral researcher, connected to both the department of political science of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) and the department of Politics and International Studies at the University of Warwick; as part of an EUTOPIA joint-PhD. She holds a master’s degree in political science from the VUB, as well an advanced master’s degree in cultural anthropology from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. Her research centres around the concepts of political representation, performance and claim-making. In her PhD, she aims to understand how political representation is done and how the representative relation is enacted. Building upon the constructivist claim-making framework and theatre studies, she explores the dimensions of representation as a theatrical performance.