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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• To listen to a podcast of an interview with Dr. Hartmut Schmeck, please 

The interview was conducted by 

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’s Christian Democrats and Sweden’s Social Democrats. The presentation and discussion focused on these topics.

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Ambassador Eikeland discusses Norway’s integration with the European Union, focusing on the working of the European Economic Agreement (EEA) and on other aspects of Norway’s 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, ÐÓ°ÉÔ­´´ University
• Neil Nevitte, University of Toronto
• George Ross, Université de Montréal
• Steffen Schneider, Universität Bremen

Moderator: Achim Hurrelmann, ÐÓ°ÉÔ­´´ 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.

To view Steffen Schneider’s presentation in PDF format please .

Do you want to learn something about peoples’ 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’s research interests include political participation, social movements, elections and democratization.

• To view Dr. Stockemer’s presentation in PDF format please.