The Summer School entitled "EU Enlargement in the Western Balkans and the New Institutional Culture – Interdisciplinary approaches", which will be held in July 2023  at the premises of the University of the Aegean in Mytilene, aims both at emphasizing  the importance of the New Institutional Culture in EU enlargement procedures  and at developing a holistic, innovative and inclusive approach towards these procedures. It is considered that this novel approach will contribute to the further embedment of EU values and principles both at the E.U candidate and at the member states.

The 2023 Summer School programme seeks innovative scientific tools and methodologies able to promote adaptive and systemic approaches to better support and enhance the field of European studies. It involves the study of the development of EU as a whole through different disciplinary viewpoints with a particular focus on the processes of EU integration and enlargement. Its proposed structure promotes a better understanding of the architecture of EU governance, EU aims and objectives. Furthermore it presents novel means for creating links with countries in the process of accession in the fields of the European Commission's priorities for 2019-2024 ( of environment, economy, protection of citizens and their freedoms) as well as European Commission’s 2030 Digital Decade Policy Programme for a human-centered, sustainable and more prosperous EU’s digital future.

The Summer School will provide different teaching methods, mainly consisting of activities (seminars, workshops, round table discussions, etc.). Its main objectives are to provide both an in-depth analysis of the importance of the utilization of the new institutional culture as a tool in the process of EU enlargement in the sensitive area of the Western Balkans and the EU's enlargement process in general, as well to indicate the importance of contribution of a number of disciplines towards this direction.  The main objective  is to provide a comprehensive analysis of both the EU's role in the process of enlarging the EU in the sensitive Balkan region and the new means that may be used towards this direction.