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GBS International Conference

International conference of the Global Barometer Survey on "Popular Evaluation of Well-Being in the Arab World, East Asia, South East Asia, Eastern Europe, Africa and Latin America" took place at the United Arab Emirates University in Al-Ain, UAE on February, 4-6, 2018. The event was organized by the Global Barometer Survey Group with the support of the Department of Sociology of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at UAEU and the World Values Survey Association.  

Event featured presentations on regional levels of happiness and wellbeing based on survey data from Asian Barometer, Afrobarometer, Arab Barometer, Eurasia Barometer, Latinobarómetro, and the World Values Survey Association.


Conference program included presentations and researcher papers: 

  • "Popular Evaluation of Economic Well-Being in East Asia" by Dr.Yun-han Chu, Chair of the Global Barometer (GBS) Survey Group, Director of Asian Barometer, Professor of Political Science at National Taiwan University Distinguished Research Fellow, Institute of Political Science, Academia Sinica in Taipei (Taiwan).
  • "Social Capital and Institutional Trust in Eastern Europe and post-Soviet Eurasia" by Dr.Christian Haerpfer, Visiting Professor of Sociology at UAEU, President of the World Values Survey (WVS), Director of Eurasia Barometer, Research Professor at University of Vienna (Austria), Visiting Professor of Sociology at University of Almeria (Spain) and University of Kharkov (Ukraine), Research Director of the International Political Science Association (IPSA) in Montreal (Canada).
  • "Popular Evaluation of Wellbeing. Latinobarometro 1995-2017" by Marta Lagos, Chair of the Global Barometer (GBS) Survey Group, Director of Public Opinion Studies Corporation Latin America-Latinobarómtero (Chile).
  • "Public Support for the State: A Global Map" by Dr. Robert Mattes, Professor of Political Studies, University of Strathclyde, co-founder and Senior Adviser of Afrobarometer (UK/USA).
  • "Changing Views of Well-Being in Arab Societies" by Dr. Michael Robbins, Director of Arab Barometer, Princeton University (USA). 
  • "Wellbeing and the State in South Asia: Emerging issues" by Dr. Sandeep Shastri, Director of South Asia Barometer, Professor of Political Science, Director of Centre for Research in Social Sciences and Education and Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Jain University in Bengaluru (India).
  • "Happiness and Well-being in Eurasia and Beyond: Cross-regional and Over-time Perspective" by Kseniya Kizilova, Vice-Director of Eurasia Barometer, Vice-Director of the Institute for Comparative Survey Research, Head of the WVSA International Secretariat, University of Vienna, research Fellow at the University of Kharkov (Austria/Ukraine). 
  • "Public Opinion Research in Russia: Experience of New Democracies Barometer and Eurasia Barometer" by Dr. Alexander Gasparishvili, Director of Eurasia Barometer Russia Team, Vice-Dean at the Faculty of Global Studies, Moscow State University in Moscow (Russia) and Dr. Nikolay Narbut, Co-Director of Eurasia Barometer Russia Team, Head of the Department of Sociology, Vice-Dean at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, People’s Friendship University of Russia in Moscow (Russia).

International Workshop “Eurasia Barometer: Development and Perspectives”

The Eurasia Barometer: Development and Perspectives workshop was hosted by the Vienna office of the Dialogue of Civilizations Research Institute (DOC) on 11-15 December 2017.

The event was an opportunity to discuss challenges and opportunities in the study of public opinion and the organisation of public opinion surveys in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. 

The workshop was organised by the Eurasia Barometer Research Network and the Institute for Comparative Social Research’s Eurasia Barometer in Vienna, directed by Professor Dr Christian W Haerpfer who is also the President of the World Values Survey Association and the Scientific Advisor of the DOC Research Institute. 


The workshop gave an opportunity to its participants to discuss the most recent challenges and opportunities in studying public opinion and organizing public opinion surveys in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

An opening address was made by Dr. Walter Schwimmer, co-founder of the DOC, who stressed the importance of dialogue and cooperation, seen in the work of both the DOC and the Eurasia Barometer. Participants then presented analysis and forecasts based on previous rounds of the Eurasia Barometer survey conducted between 1992 and 2012.


The workshop initiated preparatory activities for the 3-rd wave of the large-scale Eurasia Barometer survey in all the post-Soviet states, including the Eastern Partnership countries, and the post-Soviet countries which have become EU member states. The 3rd Eurasia Barometer will take place in 2018 and will be devoted to the analysis of most recent trends of social, political and economic development in the post-communist states in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.


Dr. Schwimmer introduced participants to the DOC and Prof. Haerpfer spoke about the work of the World Values Survey Association and the Eurasia Barometer Institute. Prof. David Rotman, leader of the EAB-Belarus team at the Belarusian State University, also delivered a presentation. Participants from Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Ukraine, who were unable to attend the meeting in person were able to join the discussion via Skype.

Professor David Rotman has also delivered an open lecture devoted to the trends of social and political development of the Belorussian society in 1990-2017. The lecture was presented to the members of the Austrian-Belarusian Friendship Society on December 16th.

The workshop was supported by the Mobility Action under the EU financed project "Mobility Scheme for Targeted Peole-to-People Contacts" (MOST), ENPI/2014/354-855. Administered by Goethe Institute, Minsk.
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