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Civic Lab: Civic Engagement, Public Policy and Social Change

Teaching Projects

  • In the project seminar, students acquire practical skills in qualitative research while also exploring issues related to civil society and civic engagement. The focus is on the independent development and implementation of small-scale research projects, in which students formulate their own research questions and apply appropriate methods. Particular emphasis is placed on linking academic learning with social practice: through dialogue with civil society actors, students gain insights into real-world contexts and can situate their research within a concrete framework. The results are presented and discussed collectively during a final workshop, thereby fostering a dialogue-oriented transfer of knowledge.


  • The “Social Movement Studies” seminar combines an introduction to key theories and concepts related to social movements with an integrated, practice-oriented research workshop. In the first part of the seminar, students explore both classical and contemporary approaches in social movement studies. Building on the relevance of social movements for social change, various theoretical perspectives and a wide range of empirical examples are discussed. This provides a broad overview of the forms, dynamics, and expressions of collective action in different contexts. The second, closely integrated part of the seminar is structured as a research workshop. Here, students develop their own research projects with a focus on (digital) activism. They formulate independent research questions, select appropriate methodological approaches, and work with different types of data from online and offline contexts. This process is supported by structured work phases and feedback formats that foster the development of independent research profiles.


Publications

Research Interests

Thesis Supervision

Civic Lab supervises theses on the Bachelor's and Master's level. Its affiliation with the Doctoral Center for Social and Health Sciences for the Design of Transformation Processes (PZSGT) offers the opportunity to pursue doctoral studies directly at the Civic Lab. Theses are centered on the research topics of the laboratory. An accompanying research colloquium, mostly conducted online, furhter supports the research process.

Past supervised Bachelor's theses:

  • "Arts in EU-Supported Peacebuilding: A Document Analysis of PEACE IV and PEACEPLUS in Northern Ireland and the Border Counties" (2026)
  • "The Framing of Localization in UNICEF's Development Agenda: A Qualitative Discourse Analysis Through a Decolonial Lens" (2026)
  • "Hegemony, Independence and Power - The role of the intellectual in Egypt under Nasser" (2026)
  • "Strategien deutscher Zivilgesellschaftsorganisationen gegen den Anti-NGO-Diskurs" (2026)

Conferences and Workshops

July 2026
Workshop "EUrope in Transition: Democracy, Governance, and Civic Innovation", DRC Summer School "EU36: Imagining Europe's Future", OTH Regensburg

April 2026
Workshop "Rethinking Civil Society in Theory and Practice", Nacht.Schafft.Wissen 2026, OTH Regensburg.

März 2026
Member of the academic advisory board of the "Social Capital 2026 Conference" by the International Social Capital Association (ISCA): head, organisation and chair of the topics "Governance, Civic Engagement, and Institutional Trust“ as well as "Mobility, Migration, and Transnational Solidarity".

January 2026
Organisation of the outreach workshop "Qualitative Forschung in der Praxis: Zivilgesellschaft und bürgerschaftliches Engagement in Regensburg", OTH Regensburg.

November 2025
Organisation of the online workshop "At the Edge of Civic Space: Student Research Perspectives on Civil Society in Frankfurt (Oder)" as part of the ERUA online Biennale “Arts and Edges”, University of the Aegean (Greece).

See der OTH Regensburg bei Dämmerung
Foto: OTH Regensburg / Hilde Wagner
Raum der Bibliothek
Foto: OTH Regensburg / Gülay Sahil

Lectures and Conference Contributions

September 2026
Seminar "EU-Civil Society Cooperation in Central Asia: Revisiting Questions of Local Agency and Ownership", University of Central Asia, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
Seminar "Civil Society Support at the Crossroads: Lessons from EU Engagement in Kyrgyzstan", Nazarbayev University, Astana, Kazakhstan.

March 2026
Online lecture "Reconfiguring Social Capital and Civic Engagement Among Russian Migrants in Germany Since 2022", ISCA Conference, Dubai (United Arab Emirates).

February 2026
Lecture "Regional Integration Beyond the EU: Reflections from Central Asia for European Integration Studies", Scoping Workshop “Europe in flux – implications for the sociology of European integration” (funded by VolkswagenStiftung), Hannover.