The article explores the evolving role of academic activism during wartime through an in-depth case study launched within the framework of Jean Monnet “E-comUnity” project in Ukraine. Conducted amid the disruptions of Russia’s full-scale invasion, the project shows how academic initiatives can function as civic infrastructure – supporting democratic resilience, local governance, and digital engagement under extreme conditions. Drawing on participatory methods, stakeholder workshops, and a socio-informatics study of Telegram use among Ukrainian military personnel, volunteers in Ukraine, and the Ukrainian diaspora in Germany, the paper examines how researchers navigate data collection, ethics, and positionality when traditional fieldwork is complicated or no longer viable. The purpose. Informed by this fieldwork, the article formulates the following research questions: (1) How do academic researchers engaged in collaborative governance projects in wartime Ukraine experience and address the challenges of data generation and analysis? (2) What implications do these challenges have for academic activism and knowledge production under crisis conditions?It argues that academic labor in crisis settings entails both epistemic and civic commitments: producing knowledge while simultaneously co-creating solutions with affected communities. The findings reveal the potential of collaborative governance models, activists-centered digital spaces, and reflexive methodologies to foster civic empowerment. The outcomes contribute to emerging debates on academic activism by framing scholarship as an infrastructural and collaborative practice essential to democratic resilience in times of war.
Navumau et al. (2025) studied this question.