The initial training paves the way for a period of intense collaboration.

Since concepts are the essential tools of social research and stories the way human beings communicate most effectively, we need to ask very basic questions: what are some of the core concepts, the best and most gripping books and the compelling stories to help make sense of developments in a given society?

• What are some of the techniques of communicating analysis effectively to reach a broader audience?
• How can policy analysis achieve real social impact in a country on the European periphery?
• How can interdisciplinary teams work effectively?
• How to progress from rich empirical research and concrete case studies to useful policy recommendations?

How to combine the descriptive and the prescriptive in a manner that avoids being seen as partisan?

Issues covered range from the concrete - research and interview techniques; reading between the lines of reports of international financial institutions; (re)drafting subchapters as a team effort – to the bigger conceptual picture: how to apply core concepts from the social sciences, without appearing too academic for a wider readership, in building up a consistent analytical framework?