As politicians continue to target a higher share of power generation from renewable sources, this is leading to only partially predictable fluctuations in power supply. Dr. Schmeck outlines the essential challenges of intelligent energy management and highlights the potential of extending and exploiting the flexibility of various components. An essential aspect of this scenario is the integration of electric vehicles into the power grid. Hartmut Schmeck is Professor of Applied Informatics at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). He also coordinates the participation of 11 cross-disciplinary chairs at KIT on concepts for smart grid and electric mobility.

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Steffen Schneider is a Visiting Scholar at the Centre for European Studies. He is an Assistant Professor at the Research Centre on Transformations of the State, University of Bremen and a Lecturer in the Political Management program at the University of Applied Sciences, Bremen.

Dominant party regimes frequently occur in authoritarian and transitional systems but are not typical in established democracies. However, they occur quite frequently in (Continental) Europe. Two contemporary examples that were explored are Italy鈥檚 Christian Democrats and Sweden鈥檚 Social Democrats. The presentation and discussion focused on these topics.

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Ambassador Eikeland discusses Norway鈥檚 integration with the European Union, focusing on the working of the European Economic Agreement (EEA) and on other aspects of Norway鈥檚 cooperation with the EU. H.E. Else Berit Eikeland was Deputy Director-General of the Personnel Section of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and, before that, Senior Adviser for Trade and Business Development in the Regional Department of the MFA. She holds a Masters of Management from the BI Norwegian School of Management in Oslo, and a Masters of Administration and Organization from the University of Bergen.

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• Laura Macdonald, 杏吧原创 University
• Neil Nevitte, University of Toronto
• George Ross, Universit茅 de Montr茅al
• Steffen Schneider, Universit盲t Bremen

Moderator: Achim Hurrelmann, 杏吧原创 University

How have European and North American integration affected citizen identities and patterns of political contestation? Are the two integration projects legitimate in the eyes of the citizens? How different are they in their political implications? This presentation addressed these questions.

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Do you want to learn something about peoples鈥� motivations for engagement in social movement organizations? Do you wonder when activists show higher or lower levels of engagement? Are you interested in the constituents of organizational success? Based on a comparative study of Attac in Germany and France, Stockemer will try to answer these questions.

Daniel Stockemer is an Assistant Professor in the School of Political Studies at the University of Ottawa. Daniel鈥檚 research interests include political participation, social movements, elections and democratization.

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Kim Howson, an MA student at the Institute of European, Russian and Eurasian Studies, participated in the EU Study Tour this past summer and completed an internship at Payoke, a Belgian NGO involved in combating human trafficking.

This presentation assessed Canadian policies related to human trafficking in comparison to efforts in the European Union, and offered suggestions as to how Canada鈥檚 system can be improved.

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Robert Gould is an Adjunct Research Professor in the Institute of European, Russian and Eurasian Studies, as well as in the School of Linguistics and Language Studies.

Recent events in France have drawn attention to attitudes towards minorities in Europe, and to the discrepancy between the position of the EU and that of some political actors in EU member states. This presentation looked at visual and verbal rhetoric used on the political Right to delegitimize certain聽minorities.

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Dr. Tatjana Muravska is Jean Monnet Chair, Professor of Regional and European Integration Studies, and Director of the European and Transition Studies Centre at the University of Latvia. Her recent research and publications deal with social and economic issues in the New Member States, including structural reforms and the implementation of EU structural funds.

This talk addressed how regional cooperation and other development strategies can be implemented in the European Union to respond to the challenges posed by the financial and economic crisis.

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Canada and the European Union are in negotiations for a comprehensive economic and trade agreement, and many are wondering what will be the real impacts for Canadian business.

The speakers offer an insider鈥檚 view of the present and future of Canada-EU economic and trade relations.

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Dr. Hobe discusses the evolving nature of powers of the EU in the area of foreign affairs, since the inception of the EEC in 1957. The Treaty of Lisbon has brought further substantive legal and administrative changes. The EU continues to seek to play a clearer and more forceful role in international affairs.

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