Asimina Koukou is writing a Phd thesis on “The governance of communicative spaces in Europe in times of crisis”. Her research concentrates on the role of social movements in the transformation of society through the use of social media. At the core of her work is the notion of public sphere – which is explored under a systems theoretical perspective – and its revitalization for the formation and design of a sustainable democracy and society. She is supervised by Professor Katharine Sarikakis (University of Vienna) and Professor Wolfgang Hofkirchner (Technical University of Vienna). Asimina Koukou is the recipient of the “Ludwig von Bertalanffy Phd Scholarship”, awarded by the Bertalanffy Center for the Study of Systems Science (BCSSS).

By now, Asimina has actively conducted several stages of her research in the coverage of crisis in the European elite media, mostly focusing on the Greek and the British press. A paper is already under review process with the title “A ‘Banal’ European Public sphere? Framing the crisis by the European elite press” that was submitted in the International Journal of Press/Politics. In the meantime, Asimina is working on a paper that is entitled “The role of social movements in the governance of ICT Commons” and some preliminary results were presented in the ISIS Summit “The Information Society at the Crossroads: Response and Responsibility of the Sciences of Information” in Vienna, June 2015. In August 2015, Asimina was selected in an international competition and will participate in the summer school “Systems Thinking and Practice in PhD Research: Cybersystemic Possibilities for Governing the Anthropocene” in Germany, organised by International Society for the Systems Sciences.

Asimina assists in the publication of the online journal “Systema: connecting matter, life, culture and technology” and the book series “systems” (collegepublications). Finally she also contributes to the search of European funding for the further development of research projects at the BCSSS.