PLEDGE Consortium Meets in Budapest for Midterm Review and Strategic Exchange

From April 23 to 25, the PLEDGE project partners convened in Budapest for a dynamic three-day General Assembly hosted by the HUN-REN Centre for Social Sciences. The gathering provided a valuable opportunity to reflect on progress, strengthen collaboration, and shape the next phase of the project.

Scientific panels chaired by PLEDGE research leaders showcased the project’s cutting-edge work on grievance politics and emotionally intelligent governance. The event also featured the 2nd Workshop on Democratic Design, focusing on emotionally responsive policy tools, and Impact Strategy Discussions aimed at enhancing meaningful engagement and policy relevance.

A special Sibling Projects Roundtable brought together partners from MORES, PROTEMO, CIDAPE, and ENCODE to foster joint communication strategies and amplify collective impact.

The Periodic Review Meeting provided space to evaluate and reflect on the project’s achievements to date—many thanks to the review panel for their thoughtful feedback and guidance.

The meeting concluded with a Meet & Greet with Local Stakeholders, where consortium members connected informally with regional policymakers, CSOs, and NGOs, furthering PLEDGE’s mission to bridge research and practice in support of democratic resilience.