RSU Lead Researcher Ieva Puzo represents Latvia on EDGES Management Committee

Ieva Puzo, Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Lead Researcher at Rīga Stradiņš University (RSU), has become one of Latvia’s representatives on the Management Committee of the international democracy research network EDGES (Edges of Democracy, Geography & Environment).

The network was established as part of the European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) programme, bringing together researchers to explore the interplay between democracy, geography and the environment. 36 countries are represented on its Management Committee.

‘The EDGES network particularly focuses on Europe's peripheral and border regions. At a time when democratic institutions in many parts of the world are facing significant challenges, research into how people shape and sustain democracy in their everyday lives is becoming particularly important.

Many of the issues addressed by the EDGES network also align with the research areas of the LALIFE project, funded by the Latvian Council of Science, which we are carrying out at RSU together with our colleagues,’

says Ieva Puzo.

The thematic link between the RSU research project ‘Care for Democracy: Life-Making Practices in Geopolitical Uncertainty’ (LALIFE) and the EDGES research areas opens up opportunities for further exchange of knowledge and experience, as well as collaboration with European researchers. 

Participation on the EDGES Management Committee strengthens the RSU representation in the European Research Area and provides Latvian researchers with an opportunity to engage in international collaboration from the network’s early stages. This opens up new perspectives for establishing research partnerships and representing Latvia’s scientific expertise at an international level.

The EDGES Management Committee is the network’s main decision-making body. Its members set out the network’s strategic direction, coordinate international cooperation and plan future activities. Over the next four years, the network plans to organise international working groups, summer schools, researcher mobilities and knowledge-sharing events, with a particular focus on the professional advancement of early-career researchers.

More information about EDGES

The project Caring for Democracy: Life-Making Practices in Geopolitical Uncertainties (LALIFE), No. lzp-2025/1-0625, is funded by the Latvian Council of Science under the Fundamental and Applied Research Programme. The project runs from 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2028 and is led by Ieva Puzo, lead researcher at the RSU Faculty of Social Sciences.