Activities

To promote exchange with and about the region, we organize international conferences, symposia, workshops as well as lectures. An important goal is to impart knowledge about the society, history and culture of the Southeast European partner countries. Likewise, the events provide a forum for the discussion of current political, economic, legal and social developments in Southeast Europe as well as a platform for the exchange of experiences in order to develop solutions to problems and recommendations for practical action.

In accordance with the current developments in the region as a whole, we focus our work especially on the European integration of the region, the development and strengthening of democracy and the rule of law, the protection of minorities, conflicts and their resolution, economic and social development and the protection of the environment and natural resources in the region. You can find concrete examples of this in our current events as well as in the event archive. With our search form you can also browse our entire work by countries and topics.

In our annual report, which is published regularly at the end of the year, the Southeast Europe Association documents the activities of the past year and gives an outlook on the coming year. 

You can download the current annual report as a pdf-file: Download SOG Newsletter (link) (German only)

Since 2013, the SOG has also been intensively involved in the reappraisal of its own history as well as German research on Southeast Europe in the post-war period and during the Second World War. More about the history of the SOG.

Our print and online publications offer a comprehensive range of in-depth analysis on the countries of Southeast Europe.

Since its inception in the early 1960s, our journal Südosteuropa Mitteilungen has established itself as the leading interdisciplinary journal for the study of the region in the German-speaking countries.
Experts from academia, politics, business and the media analyze important developments in Southeast Europe and in international politics towards the region. The articles illuminate the causes and backgrounds of current developments and report on relevant events. Contributions are published in German and English. The journal is available to members free of charge.

Our online publication Southeast Europe in Focus provides a forum for background reports and analyses that complement the regular print publications with particularly topical articles. All issues are available as free downloads on the website. 

The publication series Südosteuropa-Studien and Südosteuropa-Jahrbücher serve the in-depth and interdisciplinary presentation of important topics from research on Southeast Europe.

The promotion of young academics is of central importance to the SOG. We would like to support young researchers in their projects and facilitate exchange and networking among the younger generation. Our central offers to young academics in the field of Southeast Europe research in Germany and in Southeast Europe are:

• The annual International Academic Week (conference)
• special conferences for young academics
• the Dr. Fritz Exner Young Academics Colloquium
• travel grants from the Fritz and Helga Exner Foundation for research trips to/ from the region
• the dissertation prize of the Fritz and Helga Exner Foundation
• our master prize for excellent master theses on Southeast Europe
• as well as the newly founded junior group within the membership.

For its members, the Southeast Europe Association organizes high-quality field trips to the Southeast European partner countries every two years. The trips offer a special insight into the destinations - combined with encounters with people from civil society, culture, academia, business and politics.