Topic: for society

The aim of the centre is to provide information about how the European Union works, as well as to engage people in discussions about the future of Europe.

Join us for an in-depth public #SkytteTalks discussion on Ukraine, geopolitical turbulence, and Estonia’s foreign and security policy choices in a rapidly transforming world on 5 March 2026 at 14:15 in Lossi 36, room 214.

On Friday, 20 February, the ceremony and concert dedicated to the 108th anniversary of the Republic of Estonia took place in the university’s assembly hall.

Join us for the next #SkytteTalks session on 25 February at 16:15–17:45 in Lossi 36–307. The talk explores the impact of Donald Trump’s return to the political center stage on NATO and the transatlantic alliance. It examines Europe’s political and strategic reactions to shifting U.S. commitments, burden-sharing debates, and renewed uncertainty. The discussion focuses on how these dynamics are reshaping European security and the future of collective defense.

Technology itself is neutral and should be understood as a tool rather than a threat.

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Estonia has been a leader in providing refuge to the Ukrainian people. At the start of the war, Estonia accepted the most Ukrainians per capita of any country in the world, and it remains among the top three, behind Czechia and Poland. There are now approximately 60,000 Ukrainians in Estonia, representing about 4.4% of the population. Three-quarters of these Ukrainians have arrived since 2022. These individuals must negotiate how to maintain their cultural identity while integrating and building new lives abroad.

A new analysis from the CEESEN-BENDER project examines the relationship between energy renovations in multi-apartment buildings and housing conditions and energy poverty across five Central and Eastern European pilot areas. Energy renovations are often discussed in technical or economic terms, but their everyday impact on residents - and their implications for housing policy - are just as important.

A new MOOC co-developed by Skytte institute’s staff members and their partners is now available to learners worldwide on the FutureLearn platform. The course, titled “Growing Apart: What is polarisation and what can we do about it?”, explores the dynamics of political and social polarisation and offers practical tools for understanding and addressing it. The management of the FutureLearn course is led by partners from the University of Groningen, who, together with the University of Tartu, are part of the European University Alliance consortium, ENLIGHT.

On 27 October from 13–18, the University of Tartu development conference “A university for us, Estonia and the world” took place in the university assembly hall and online. Keynote speakers were Toomas Hendrik Ilves, Kersti Kaljulaid and Kristina Kallas.