EUCN Summer School 2026: 'Cyber Diplomacy – From Norms to Actions, Governing Cyberspace in a Fractured World'

• Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies
• Communications Service

Organised in cooperation between EU CyberNet, EU Cyber Direct - EUISS, EEAS, EUI, and Cyber 4.0, this year's summer school brings together more than 30 experts from over 20 countries, including Africa, Asia, the LAC, and Europe, to explore how nations are learning to cooperate and compete over the rules of cyberspace.

As global cyber threats grow more complex, so does the diplomatic capacity required to manage them: the programme traces how international cooperation on cyber issues has evolved, where the European Union stands in shaping this space, and what tools exist to turn political agreements into real-world protection.

Participants will look at how states negotiate shared rules of behaviour online, how international law applies in a domain with few physical borders, and the different diplomatic channels, from formal state-to-state talks to informal expert dialogues, used to build trust and cooperation. Special attention will go to the EU's positioning in this domain, including its foreign policy posture and the tools it has implemented to support partner countries in building their own capacities.

Through sessions featuring diplomats, legal experts, technical specialists, and civil society voices, alongside hands-on case studies and a live negotiation simulation on the final day, the three-day event will provide firsthand insight into how technical realities and political constraints collide, and how they can be reconciled.