Chief Assist. Prof. Dr. Desislava Kalcheva participated in a working group on "Recentralization in countries experiencing an 'illiberal turn'". The working group was organized within the European Urban Research Association (EURA).

The European Urban Research Association (EURA) was launched at an international conference held in Brussels, Belgium, in September 1997. The inspiration for this association originated in discussions proposing the creation of a new association for urban researchers at an international seminar on “Shaping the Urban Future” held in Bristol, England, in July 1994.

The meeting of the working group took place on April 18-19, 2024, at the Central European University in Budapest, Hungary. Representatives from the University of Warsaw, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Central European University, Technische Universität Darmstadt, and University College Dublin participated.

The experts discussed issues related to recentralization in the context of the "illiberal turn", reactions of local governments to changes aimed at limiting fiscal decentralization, including reducing the financial autonomy of local and regional authorities and increasing the dependence of subnational authorities on state transfers. The members of the organization agreed to prepare thematic studies dedicated to recentralization in the context of the illiberal turn. The object of analysis will also include a study of the Local Autonomy Index and the changes observed in the selected countries.