Iva Ramus Cvetkovic

I present here my report on the summary of my research stay at the Institute of Criminology at the University of Cologne in the second half of the year 2023, which was very nice, interesting, and academically fruitful.

During my stay in Germany, I was able to conduct a thorough research for my project as drafted in my scholarship application – namely, the research on a topic of possible responses to social harm* caused by space technology.

Besides regular informal meetings with Prof. Neubacher, director of the Institute, who was my Mentor during my stay, I was also able to interact with other colleagues. In the middle of my stay, I got the opportunity to present my research project to the researchers at the institute. I am currently not in contact with them, but I will definitely let them know about the results of my project in the future, as they generously dedicated their time and effort to ask me several questions regarding my research, methodology as well as my overall PhD preparations, and gave me some critical feedback and recommendations.

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The Cologne Cathedral by night

After that, I was able to draft a new, improved, structure for my PhD dissertation, based on the new perspective the presentation and the discussion afterwards gave me. I limited a bit the scope of the topic and adjusted it even more to the criminological field. I decided to put my main focus to the emerging field of Astro-Green Criminology, as I find it extremely important to examine social harm, including environmental harm, in a broader manner. The main reason for this is that current examination of harms through merely legal lenses falls short in providing various perspectives that would be able to define harm more broadly and thus find better responses to it than the one created by the existing legal framework. This is why I want to contribute to expanding criminological research in the area of harm caused by space technology.

Besides working on my dissertation, I was able to put my research into two academic works, which I wrote during my stay. The first one was an article titled »Two sides of the same coin? Examining the interrelation between the proposed new human right and the law governing outer space«, published in the Journal of Digital War, and the second one was a piece titled »Space Technology and Environmental Harm: The role of Astro-Green Criminology in achieving greater sustainability of space activities«, which will be published in 2024 as a book chapter in "New Space: European Perspectives" edited by Balázs Bartóki-Gönczy and Gábor Sulyok.

In both pieces I was able to further develop my research idea, as well as to put the progress I have made in my research on the paper. I will build on these two works also in the future, while continuing my PhD journey.

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View of the old city of Luxembourg

After that, I plan to further pursue my interest to critically examine some of the under-researched areas, such as the inter-relation of criminology and outer space, as well as the topic of neutralization techniques in the contexts of causing harm or conducting crimes. Methodologically, I plan to combine law, criminology, and legal theory.

Furthermore, I was able to finish a book that I was co-authoring with my colleague Katja Grünfeld and Prof. Matthew Gillet on the topic of responsibility of Non-State Actors for space pollution. The topic is highly connected to my research project, as it addressed several possible ways of establishing responsibility for environmental damage of private actors, which is a part of my research project (legal responses to harm conducted by space technology). The book will be published (hopefully) in 2024 by Brill publishing company and it will be available for open access. I included DAAD-Stiftung in my acknowledgments, as my research exchange in Cologne contributed significantly to concluding my work.

Given the amount of work these publications demanded, it was challenging to navigate between them as well as working on my dissertation. Managing this challenge was possible due to the substantive amount of research I have conducted already prior to coming to Köln, as well as due to the fact that the topics of these publications were closely linked to my PhD dissertation, and so I was able to use the materials I have studied for both purposes. However, I still needed to stay disciplined and remember to stay on track with my PhD research, and I have spent minimum two hours per day focusing only on my project.

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The golden colors of the Moselle valley during the train ride to Luxembourg

One of my favourite moments of my scholarship stay was a trip to Luxembourg, to which I was invited by my Stipendien-Patin (scholarship sponsor). The two-day excursion was extremely exciting and informative – my Stipendien-Patin took me to a hearing of a very interesting case, she introduced me to many of her former coworkers at the Court of Justice of the European Union, and we held many fruitful debates about my project, as well as the broader topic of criminology and (space) law.

She pointed out the possibility to include the private law perspective in my research, which I did afterwards when writing the text of the book regarding responsibility of NSAs for space pollution. I will keep the whole trip – from the beginning to an end – in a very nice memory, including the beautiful train ride through the Mosel valley covered in autumn colours as well as the experience of a day in busy Luxembourg city, where I was able to briefly experience the multicultural atmosphere and beautiful architecture in pastel colours that fits so well with its natural surroundings.

Another very nice experience was the opportunity to visit DLR (German Aerospace Center) and ESA (European Space Agency) facilities in Bonn.

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The fascination of space travel: Visit to ESA and DLR in Bonn

Lastly, besides working on the topic of space law, I was also included in some of the other activities at the Institute of Criminology of Cologne. I was able to attend, for example, a seminar titled »Krieg und Kriminologie«, held by students of Prof. Neubacher. The seminar tackled several extremely relevant topics, including legal and criminological perspectives of some of the documented and legally recognized genocides in the last 100 years, as well as the role of academics and lawyers in analysing in preventing such atrocities. This seminar inspired me to look deeper into these topics and seek for ways I can include them in my future research.

One of the criminological aspects that I found particularly relevant was the topic of the so-called “neutralization techniques” – psychological mechanisms that allow perpetrators of crimes to (at least temporarily) morally neutralize certain values within themselves in order to be able to carry out such crimes.

There I got the idea of including the examination of possible neutralization techniques with regard to the harm caused by space technology into my PhD research, as understanding the neutralization techniques can significantly contribute to planning improvements of legal framework in a way that is mindful of this aspect.

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Carnival spirit on the streets of Cologne

In the future, I want to expand my research in that manner. I am still looking for the future career path that feels right for me. This seminar, taken together with the current crises all over the world, invoked in me my old interest for examining the topics of violence, crime, and the nature of evil, which I already tackled during my studies, especially during my ERASMUS+ stay at the University of Heidelberg, where my studies were focused on legal and moral philosophy, including a seminar on the theories of evil and violence developed by Hannah Arendt.

In the last two years of my PhD research, I have mostly put these topics aside, in order to be able to focus on harms caused by space technology but decided that I will add these topics back to my research palette, perhaps as a separate, parallel research track, additional to my space law interest.

My long-term wish is to be able to contribute with my research and activities to global peace and justice. After all, harmful effects of space technology cannot be examined in isolation, but rather as part of a plurality of global problems, enhanced by the fast-paced technological development, emerging and expanding conflicts around the world, increased number and growing power of non-governmental entities, erosion of dialogue on a global level and well-known shortcomings in interpretation and enforcement of international law.

Living in Cologne had a big impact on my personal development. What I loved the most about living there was that I was able to experience such a vivid mixture of different cultures – all in one city! I enjoyed seeing so many different nationalities and cultures living together, so many shops, organizations, and restaurants of different ethnicities and such a variety of languages, cultures and religions.

I liked reading the local newspaper and thus working on my German language skills, for which I noticed a major improvement after my stay in Germany and taking long train rides and trips to neighbouring cities and villages with Deutschland ticket. Sometimes I went alone, sometimes with my Slovenian friend that also studies at the Cologne University, or together with her friends or colleagues that she introduced me to, and sometimes I went with my German friends – both the ones that I knew before as well as the ones I made spontaneously during my stay, for example when going on a party. The possibilities of one-day trips at weekends were much bigger than in Slovenia, I had a feeling that they are basically endless, as the public transports reaches so many places in a (usually) very reasonable time.

One of my favourite activities was to go with my friend a bit outside of Cologne to the stables where she had her horse, as I was able to enjoy the nature, and with her guidance slowly face my fear of horses. I also really liked the atmosphere there, even though it was difficult to communicate with the locals who spoke the regional dialect. During my stay I also had the opportunity to experience culture and traditions of the NRW, including a glimpse of the beginning of the carnival season. This is something that I know from home, but definitely not on such a massive scale. I tried also Mettbröchen, but I decided I prefer classic Berliner doughnuts.

Furthermore, and perhaps most importantly, I was able to deepen my knowledge and understanding of overall political climate in Germany as well as certain particular political questions. I noticed similarities as well as differences between Slovenian and German perceptions of certain topics, especially on the topic of the horrors we are seeing in Gaza in the past months.

I noticed that in Germany, there is much less knowledge on the topic amongst young people, especially on the historical and the legal aspects of the conflict, and also less possibilities for a discussion and critical discourse, which I hope will change in the future.

I would like to return to Germany and engage further into academic discussions and projects, but that will only be possible if academic freedom and freedom of expression are preserved. In any case, all the insights and understanding gained in Cologne are extremely valuable to me, as we live in a very inter-connected world, and therefore must not only pay attention to our closest environment, but instead strive to understand and explore other regions and countries, their culture and opinions, as much as possible.

Overall, I am very grateful that I was able to conduct my stay in Cologne, as it enriched my life in many different ways – professionally and personally. I was able to create a nice routine in (at first) foreign city, found my way around the University campus, discover my favourite flavour in Mensa coffee machine (vanilla-chocolate) that I drank during the study breaks on the Uni Wiese, go to lunch together with some colleagues, and walk by the Rhein River.

However, I also faced some difficult moments, especially during the month of August – the time of the severe floods in Slovenia, close to my home. But nevertheless, I will keep this experience in a nice memory and make sure to stay connected to the people I have met there.