Rouba Al-Fattal Eeckelaert

Contribution to University activities:

• Published academic articles and two books on “EU Foreign Policy in the Palestinian Territories” and “Transatlantic Democracy Promotion: Electoral Assistance in the Palestrina Territories”. Currently writing my third book on “EU’s Electoral Assistance in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya after the Arab Uprising”.
• Taught classes in Belgium at Leuven University on EU Foreign Policy in the Middle East and North Africa, and at Mechelen University on Cultural Diplomacy in the Middle East.
• Lectured on the EU foreign Policy in the Middle East, NATO’s Relations with the Gulf Region, Human Rights in the Arab World, Women and the Arab Spring, and the role of the Media in the Democratization Process.
• Organized conferences and chaired several debates on timely topics that attracted high-level speakers and audience.
• Launched and directed the Euro-Arab Forum, which is a Brussels-based NGO promoting a better understanding between Europe and the Arab world. I organized training workshops for university students on ‘Mediation and Conflict Resolution’ and ‘Social Media for Democratic Change’ in the Middle East.
• Managed several cross-national research projects. For example, at McGill University, I was in charge of coordinating media communication and data analysis (using SPSS) of several Arab news agencies. At Leuven University – Higher Institute for Labor Studies (HIVA), I was in charge of coordinating a team of twenty researchers, conducting national surveys in French/English/Dutch/Arabic for a regional study conducted over six European countries, examining the effects of values on the labor market.
• Prepared grants applications for the EU and managed the funds allocated for research and travel at the Institute for International and European Studies at Leuven University.
• Drafted policy papers and sector reports for different academic institutes, think-tanks and stakeholders. These include the Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs (PASSIA) in Jerusalem, and the Strategic Research and Communication Centre (SRCC) in London.
• Contributed regular op-eds on Canada-Middle East relations for the Metropolitan, which is a bilingual newspaper based in Quebec.
• Edited the Central European Journal for International and Security Studies (CEJISS), which I co-founded with the coordinator of the Department of International Relations and European Studies at the Metropolitan University of Prague.
• As the Chief Communication Officer of CEJISS, I communicated the journal internationally, established a well-received book review section, created a prominent database for publishers, attracted international reviewers, and collected a plethora of books for our book review section.
• As an Information Consultant for the European Commission (European Neighborhood Info Centre), I created a comprehensive database for researchers on agreements between the EU and each country of the Middle East and North Africa region.

Personal Website:
http://rouba.canadaarabforum.org/home 

Contact Information:
Rouba.alfattal@carleton.ca or Rouba.alfattal@gmail.com