Geopolitical Challenges and Urban Diplomacy – online conference

Geopolitical Challenges and Urban Diplomacy
Online conference
Date: 20 March 2026 (Friday)

Program of the conference

Join link

8.30 CET
Welcome address: Joanna Ciesielska-Klikowska (University of Lodz)

8.30-9.45 CET
Panel 1: Municipalism Without Borders | How Cities and Local Institutions Act Globally (moderator: Joanna Ciesielska-Klikowska, University of Lodz)

1. Agnieszka Szpak (Nicolaus Copernicus University), Internationalization of the
   Progressive Municipalism – Barcelona International Relations Strategies
2. Zsuzsanna Zsibók (ELTE CERS Institute for Regional Studies), National
   Patterns of Town Twinning in Europe: Geographical Orientation and Municipal
   Activity
3. Kim Noach Blumenthal (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev), How cities’
   engagement in environmental urban diplomacy reshapes, and is in turn shaped
   by, city-state relations: A typology drawn from three C40 member cities
4. Juan Pablo Pinto Bernal (Universidad del Quindío), Beyond the State:
   regional universities as actors of territorial diplomacy in fragmented geopolitical
   contexts. The case of the University of Quindío (Colombia)

10.00-11.30 CET
Panel 2: Cities at War | Urban Diplomacy and Solidarity in Response to Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine (moderator: Agnieszka Szpak (Nicolaus Copernicus University)

1. Jacopo Viti (Université Libre de Bruxelles), Urban autonomy in geopolitical crisis:
   How cities generate distinct strategies in the Russia-Ukrainian Conflict
2. Balázs Brucker (ELTE CERS Institute for Regional Studies), When Local Meets
   Global: Budapest’s City Diplomacy in Support of Ukraine
3. Fedor Zolotarev (University of Pecs), Fractures in Eurasia: Geopolitics of City
   Diplomacy Networks of Ukraine and Russia after 2022 and implications for China
   and EU
4. Réka Horeczki, Nóra Baranyai (ELTE CERS Institute for Regional Studies), A
   friend in need? Solidarity between Hungary and Ukraine as reflected in twinning
   relations during wartime
5. Joanna Modrzyńska (Nicolaus Copernicus University), The concept of ‘building
   back better’ and the process of reconstructing Ukrainian cities

11.45-13.30 CET
Panel 3: Urban Gateways in Asia and the Middle East | Cities Navigating Global Politics (moderator: Natalia Matiaszczyk, University of Lodz)

1. Seven Eredogan, Emrah Atar (Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University), Sustaining EU
   Accession through Local Action: The Role of Turkish Cities in the Covenant of
   Mayors
2. Andrea Éltető, Miklós Sebők (ELTE CERS Institute of World Economics), Illiberal
   Gateway Cities: The Case of Chinese EV Investments in Hungarian Municipalities
3. Ario Bimo Utomo (Universitas Pembangunan Nasional Veteran Jawa Timur),
   Education as Paradiplomacy: The Surabaya-Busan Sister City Partnership and
   Capacity-Building (2015-2025)
4. Cheng-Hao Pao, Anna Rudakowska, Malas Takisdahuan (Tamkang
   University), Recalibrating Austronesian Narratives through Paradiplomacy: A Case
   Study of Hualien County’s Trans-Oceanic Outreach and Engagement
5. Dominik Lebioda (University of Lodz), Building Bridges Across Borders: The Role
   of the Armenian Diaspora in France in City Partnerships with Armenia
6. Ron Amittai (Hebrew University of Jerusalem), Urban Diplomacy in the Middle
   East – the Local CBC Eilat-Aqaba and Jenin-Gilboa Regional Council

13.45-15.15 CET
Panel 4: Urban and Subnational Strategies in European Geopolitics (moderator: Balázs Brucker, ELTE CERS Institute for Regional Studies)

1. Andrej Chochoski (University of Pécs), Subnational Politics in North Macedonia: a
   way out of the EU deadlock?
2. Jordan Jorgji (Fan S. Noli University, Korçë), Urban Diplomacy beyond the
   Nation-State: Korçë as a Geopolitical Actor in Albania
3. Yuxiang Lin (University of Birmingham), Informal and Everyday Subnational
   International Engagement in Bulgaria
4. Krisztina Kurdi (ELTE BTK – Central European Studies), „To the Sea
   Hungarians!” – The Geopolitical Role of Trieste regarding of the 3SI and the
   Hungarian Port Access Project
5. Nóra Baranyai, Petra Kinga Kézai (ELTE CERS Institute for Regional Studies),
   Minority Heritage and Paradiplomacy: Bulgarian–Hungarian Twinning Relations
   15.15 CET Closing remarks: Balázs Brucker (ELTE CERS Institute for Regional Studies)

15.15 CET – Closing remarks: Balázs Brucker (ELTE CERS Institute for Regional Studies)