EKA researchers attended the “Third Places…” conference in France

On 22–23 January 2026, representatives of the Scientific Institution of EKA University of Applied Sciences — dr.oec., assoc. prof. Jevgenija Dehtjare and PHD candidate Anna Strazda — participated in the International conference – Third Places: Spaces for Citizen and Organizational Innovations, organised by Université Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (Université Paris-Saclay) in Guyancourt (Guyancourt Cedex).

The conference focused on third places — hybrid spaces between home and work that foster new forms of social interaction, collaboration, and civic participation — and explored how these spaces contribute to citizen expression, shared governance, and organizational innovations through multidisciplinary perspectives.

The organisation of the conference was supported by EUMMAS (European Marketing and Management Association).

EKA presentations

During the conference programme, EKA researchers delivered two presentations addressing the role of universities and digital environments as “third places” for academic staff:
• “Digital Third Places for Academic Staff: Spaces of Support and Collaboration” (presented in the session Digital Third Places and Innovations, 22 January 2026).
• “Universities as Emerging Third Places: Academic Staff Perceptions of Informal Learning Spaces and Stakeholder Engagement” (presented in the session Third Places and Democracy, 23 January 2026).

Participation in this conference contributed to EKA’s ongoing international research cooperation and knowledge exchange on innovation ecosystems, civic engagement, and new collaborative spaces in education and society.