On behalf of Democracy Reporting International (DRI), nexus is conducting the evaluation of the ‘re:constitution’ programme. re:constitution connects academia and practice to strengthen evidence-based discourse on the rule of law and democracies in Europe. To this end, the programme combines cross-border and interdisciplinary exchange and capacity building for academics and practitioners with research-based support for media reporting and European legislation.
The programme consists of three modules: Fellowships (15 fellowships per year, including part-time models), an Alumni Network (since 2024, with regular meetings and project collaborations) and Outreach & Analysis (e.g. publications, media work, policy papers, Judiciary Hub). It is jointly implemented by the Forum Transregionale Studien (FTS) and Democracy Reporting (DRI) and funded by Stiftung Mercator with €2.92 million. The first funding phase ran from 2019 to 2022 and the programme is now in its second funding phase (2023-2025), which is being evaluated. The external evaluation serves to further develop the programme from 2026 and is aimed at the Mercator Foundation and the implementation partners DRI and FTS.
A mixed-method approach is used for the evaluation, which includes a document analysis, online survey, focus groups, partially standardised interviews and several workshops. The evaluation will be carried out in close coordination with the organisations implementing the programme, among other things to validate the results. In addition to the final evaluation report, nexus will also develop a MEL toolkit and test it together with the re:constitution team.
More information: https://www.reconstitution.eu/en/home
Duration: 05/2025 – 09/2025
Client: Democracy Reporting International (DRI)
Team: Claudia Bosch (Project management), Ansgar Düben (Reseach Associate), Amy Winkler und Joseph Henchion (Project assistent)
Photo: re:constitution – Exchange and Analysis on Democracy and the Rule of Law in Europe