The project “Advancing Trans-Regional Border Studies” (2022-2025) was created to position Tallinn University (TLU) amongst leading institutional and intellectual platforms for scholarly exchange on border studies. Supported by the EU’s key research and innovation funding programme, the project established the Eur-Asian Border Lab at Tallinn University in collaboration with the project partners, the University of Eastern Finland (UEF) and the University of Amsterdam (UvA). The objective of the Eur-Asian Border Lab has been to catalyse trans-regional conversations and synergies between the Euro-American and Asian border scholars, and addresses the contrast between bordering as an increasingly complicated conceptual process and the more straightforward policy-oriented approaches to borders.
The Dissemination Event marks the conclusion of the project even as the Eur-Asian Border Lab itself continues running. The event brings together scholars, partners, and invited guests to reflect on the project’s activities over the past three years, showcase cutting-edge research on borders and bordering practices, and open conversations about where the field is heading. Through keynote discussions and panels, the event highlights both the Lab’s contributions and the emerging voices shaping the future of border studies.
Programme – October 9, 2025
10:00 Introduction / Welcome / Room A-002
10:15 – 11:45 Panel 1: Testing Concepts Across Regions & Disciplines / Chair & Comments Eiki Berg, University of Tartu
Panel 1 advances bordering related conceptualizations with transregional appeal and cross-cutting applicability, also exploring their pertinence to policy and wider societal understanding of the most recent geopolitical developments.
- Tauri Tuvikene / Tallinn University / “Concepts and conceptualisation from regional perspectives”
- Daniele Monticelli / Tallinn University / “Where do we wish to belong? Border(ing) in contemporary dystopian imagery”
- Raili Nugin / Tallinn University / “Landscapes echoing war”
- John Buchanan / Tallinn University / “Bordering opium: State regulation and illicit flows”
11:50 – 12:20 Sitback & Float Session: Discussing Floating in the Borderfoam with Eur-Asian Border Lab Essay Contest Winner THINH TRAN, National Sun Yat-sen University / Q & A (hybrid) / Moderator John Buchanan, Tallinn University
12:20 – 13:30 Lunch / Researchers’ Forum (A-104)
Panels 2 & 3 introduce new research that unpacks the complexities of bordering in the air and geomorphologically diverse terrains, adding volume, literally, to the understanding of bordering practices. The panels advance the volumetric turn in border studies, engaging with verticality and depth, affect and affinities as states, corporations and communities increasingly exercise control not only across territories but also air, seas, complex terrain, data and virtual spaces. The second panel introduces new research by Lab members, while the third panel showcases research projects by early career researchers in response to a Call for Papers for new research on volumetric bordering.
13:30 – 15:00 Panel 2: Research on Volumetric Bordering / Chair & Comments Willem van Schendel, University of Amsterdam / Room A-002
- Tina Harris & Jussi Laine / University of Amsterdam & University of Eastern Finland / “Digital rebordering and the vertical politics of airspace”
- Tarmo Pikner / Tallinn University / “Maritime bordering, energy matter and anticipated futures”
- Karin Dean / Tallinn University / “Volumetric approach to unpacking terrain’s agency in bordering”
15:00 – 15:30 Coffee Break / Researchers’ Forum (A-104)
15:30 – 17:30 Panel 3: Research on Volumetric Bordering by Early Career Researchers / Chair and Comments UvA Team / Room A-002
- Elisa Sisto / Department of International Development, University of Oxford / “Between leisure and lethality: Volumetric surveillance and solidarity at the French-Italian border”
- Aditya Kiran Kakati / Faculty of Religion, Culture and Society, University of Groningen / “A road in the sky?: Bordering, technological hubris and volumetric sovereignty in the Himalayas”
- Andreas Stoiber / Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, University of Amsterdam / “Space-eye and ‘doing’ satellite surveillance ‘for the good’”
- Claire Galloni d’Istria / Department of Geography and Environment, University of Geneva / “When the mountain acts back: Rethinking human-non-human continuities through vertical bordering in the Alps”
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Project no 101077207 „Advancing Trans-Regional Border Studies“ is funded by the European Union.