How does neighbourhood renewal affect residents’ sense of home? What role do public spaces and other places outside the home play in migrants’ working lives? Researchers from TalTech’s Department of Business Administration explored these questions at the European Sociological Association conference in Warsaw in August.
Associate Professor Liis Ojamäe, Professor Emerita Katrin Paadam and Early Stage Researcher Khadeeja Farrukh presented their work in a session of the Urban Sociology Research Network devoted to place identity, home and neighbourhood belonging.
Ojamäe and Paadam’s presentation examined home identity in a modernist urban district and opportunities for residents to participate in neighbourhood renewal. Farrukh and Ojamäe explored the relationship between identity and place, focusing on migrants’ workspaces outside the home in Tallinn. Both presentations prompted questions and discussion with fellow researchers.
Paadam also chaired an urban sociology session in which researchers from Poland, Romania and Spain discussed climate governance, resilience and environmental transitions.
Conference theme was “Strengthening Democracies: Social Action, Solidarity, and Sustainable Futures.” More info: ESA 2026
The diversity of perspectives in the social sciences was a recurring theme for the TalTech participants.
- For Farrukh, the meeting of different research approaches was an inspiration to combine established sociological theories with new methods to better understand developments such as digitalisation and artificial intelligence.
- Ojamäe highlighted the importance of researchers being aware of the choices they make, both in their academic work and when taking part in discussions about society.
- For Paadam, the conference reaffirmed the value of bringing together knowledge from different disciplines to understand social change.