With the events of the years 1989/90 Central Europe symbolically returned as a region to the map of Europe. Former communist states began a deep, long and hard process of political, economical and social transformation. Although many similarities can be observed, each country has gone its own way of change. The communist past “united” Central European countries with the common fate.

A systemic change, despite many initial problems, resulted in a dynamic development of Central European countries and a successful transition from communism to democracy and from planned economy to capitalism. As a result of changes in this field other processes as reestablishment of local governments, building of civil society, or finding a new role for the church and religion can be observed. Another result of the transformation was a wide modernisation, use of the latest technologies, including computerisation and digitalisation. With these processes Central European countries and societies entered the global world and opened themselves for outside cultures and influences. Some general world-wide processes can observed more clearly or in a unique form, specific only for the region.

The post-communist countries have become independent actors on the international scene with clearly defined goals of joining western integration structures of NATO and EU. Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Poland turned out to be leaders in this process – countries that formed the Visegrad Triangle, which was changed into Visegrad Group after the Velvet Divorce – the division of Czechoslovakia. This ended in 2004 but the Visegrad Group was not dissolved. It got a new role and new tasks but did not lose the leading position among former post-communist states. Nowadays it has a great opportunity to become the leader of new member states in the European Union, which are now also subjects in dialog about its future. Involving issues like direction of the integration, resolving crises (especially financial), migration policy, enlargement and relation with non EU countries.

An interesting issue to be resolved is the status of reunited Germany, which was only “partially” a communist country and then followed its own way of transformation. The “Berliner Republic” became an advocate of Central Europe in the new, post-communist reality and nowadays it is its most important partner from the group of the “old Europe”.

There should be no doubt casted on the quality of the breakthroughs, nevertheless the changes connected to it, in their whole range, will still not be fully comprehended for a long time. The conference topic is so broad on purpose, in order to make an interdisciplinary overview on the situation, status and challenges for Central Europe at the end of the first decade of the 21st century possible. Studies will include elementary fields of politics, society and international relations. The separate fields of individual and social dynamics should not only be depicted and explained but also their mutual conditions and communication should be taken into consideration. The international dimension of the event should lead the participants not only to an explanation of the political, social, economical and cultural phenomena, but also to communication and confrontation of different national perspectives on them.

The main aim of the conference is to deal with actual issues and their specific formation in Central Europe. The main focus will be set on social perspectives, coping with the transformation process and relations between the state and society. The most important question to be answered is what mechanisms are developed to overcome crises and threats and how they influence the democratic process? Is a strong democracy well established or do totalitarian power mechanisms develop again? Another important objective of the conference is the consideration of the reaction of Central European countries to the existence of national state in conditions of globalization and internationalisation. What influence do migrations and cultural exchange have on national and transnational formation of societies?

The conference will also focus on the perception of general problems on European and worldwide scale and the influence of the totalitarian past and development deficits on them. Do those countries develop their own specific civil society models which have relevance for the whole Europe and give the impulses for the European civilisation process? Moreover the aim of the conference is to work out trends and to make clear whether the reconstruction of traditional constellation of the east-west dualism in the sense of significant cultural differences or regional development pace appears possible and can become one of the possibilities in the process of European unification.

The year 2012 is a good moment to research on the recent developments in the region and to have a look on its role in the European Union. Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland will have had the opportunity to hold the EU Presidency in last years.

The aims of the conference shall be fulfilled by covering the complexity of social and transnational phenomena and discovering as well as identifying patterns of ongoing developments.