Joining Forces: MEDem signs Memoranda of Understanding with Key European SSH Research Infrastructures
Advancing Democracy Research in Europe requires more than high-quality data—it also depends on strong, strategic collaboration within the SSH landscape. Recognizing this, MEDem has signed Memoranda of Understanding with leading European infrastructures: ESS-ERIC, SHARE-ERIC, CESSDA-ERIC, CLARIN-ERIC, and GGP. These partnerships mark a significant step toward an even more integrated research environment, helping to realize the full potential of both existing and future data collections.
ADVANCING DATA INTEROPERABILITY
MEDem cooperates closely with CESSDA-ERIC, as many of MEDem’s datasets, metadata, and documentation are already cataloged and stored on CESSDA’s national service providers. More specifically, the collaboration focuses on developing APIs to ensure seamless interoperability between different data catalogs and services. The agreement also enables MEDem to use metadata and relevant information from the European Question Bank (EQB), which is managed by CESSDA.
IMPROVING SURVEY METHODOLOGY AND DATA LINKAGE
MEDem’s partnerships with ESS-ERIC, SHARE-ERIC, and GGP emphasize the exchange of best practices in survey methodology, data harmonization and linkage, and other resource-intensive tasks and processes. These collaborations aim to increase compatibility between survey datasets across infrastructures. Moreover, MEDem will further explore opportunities for collaborative projects that combine insights from both democracy research as well as broader public opinion trends.
INTEGRATING COMPUTATIONAL LINGUISTICS
In cooperation with CLARIN-ERIC, MEDem will promote the use of ParlaMint—a rich collection of parliamentary corpora—within the democracy research community. This collaboration seeks to enhance synergies between computational linguistics and democracy research by improving the visibility, accessibility, and interoperability of ParlaMint with MEDem’s data holdings, including survey, institutional, and country-level data.
UPHOLDING DATA PROTECTION AND ETHICAL STANDARDS
MEDem will further collaborate with all infrastructures on best practices for the responsible handling of sensitive data, ensuring compliance with legal and ethical standards across research domains. This includes the exchange of expertise on data protection regulations and governance structures, reinforcing the integrity of the shared data.
TOWARD A UNIFIED RESEARCH ECOSYSTEM
These collaborations strengthen MEDem’s role as a catalyst for impactful, interdisciplinary democracy research. By harmonizing and linking diverse datasets across infrastructures, MEDem helps make high-quality data more findable, accessible, and reusable—empowering researchers, policymakers, and others to better understand the complex dynamics shaping democracy in Europe and beyond.
The Memoranda of Understanding between MEDem and ESS-ERIC, SHARE-ERIC, CESSDA-ERIC, CLARIN-ERIC, and GGP are a clear sign of supporting this shared mission!
The European infrastructure for unlocking the true potential of data-driven democracy research