The EU Security Initiative brings together academic researchers and policy practitioners into constructive dialogue: each side contributes perspectives the other perhaps does not possess.
The EUSI is organised around four key pillars that are mutually reinforcing and adaptable to evolving strategic priorities:
- The Florence Security Forum. An annual, multi-day forum hosted at the EUI, convening mid-level policymakers, researchers, and experts from EU institutions and Member States. The Forum produces concise EUSI outputs that critically examine key challenges and opportunities for the EU’s security agenda. Outputs feed into the Policy Dialogues and disseminated both through EUSI channels and through a range of selected high-level policy events.
- The EUSI Policy Dialogues. Biannual dialogues co-organised with the country holding the EU Council Presidency, held alongside formal EU meetings. These high-impact events bring together top-level decision-makers with EUSI-affiliated experts and scholars to both engage with Florence Security Forum outcomes and deliver an ad-hoc platform for scholarly engagement with current strategic priorities of the presidency. Early-stage researchers from the EUI will participate as embedded observers, translating practitioner insights into future academic work.
- EUSI Security Fellowships. Short-term EUI residencies for EU and national practitioners working on defence and security, offering a reflective space to engage with cutting-edge research while enriching the EUI’s intellectual community. These fellowships aim to foster long-term relationships between institutions, build alumni networks, promote knowledge exchange, and lead to interdisciplinary projects.
- EUI Security Research Network. A cross-institute platform to map, coordinate, and communicate both existing and new EUI research on a broad palette of security issues. It ensures that EUSI activities reflect and amplify internal scholarship and provides a central anchor point for EUI external academic partners.