Projects Overview
New Economic Governance
WE-Africa: action research network for a well-being economy in Africa
WE-Africa is an alliance of likeminded scholars and practitioners who share a common concern about the current socio-economic conditions in which we live and are willing to work together to promote a transition to a wellbeing-based economy for Africa. It is an action-research network, which aims to consolidate evidence for change while focusing on building […]
Read MoreGlobal Wellbeing Lab 2.0
The Global Wellbeing Lab 2.0 is a joint learning and action platform hosted by the Boston-based Presencing Institute, Germany’s GIZ Global Leadership Academy, and the Gross National Happiness Centre, Bhutan. The three institutions previously convened the first Global Wellbeing and GNH Lab (Lab 1.0), which began in January 2013 and continued until early 2015. GovInn […]
Read MoreBeyond GDP in Africa
There is a clear need to go beyond GDP in Africa, with a view to identifying new indicators that take into account the interplay between human, social and ecological well-being. This project builds on international networks of GDP reformers to build capacity in Africa for a post-GDP transition. It includes workshops, high-level talks and public […]
Read MoreGovernance of the Commons
South Africa Land Observatory
A platform for supporting evidence-based and participatory decision making on land in South Africa South Africa agrarian sector is affected by a context of far-reaching and fundamental change, related to the country’s land and agrarian transformations, in a context of overall deregulation of its economy. Moreover, the country is characterised by the lack of publicly available precise data and […]
Read MoreAFGROLAND
Global Agro-Food-Energy System Changes, Land Use Patterns, Production Models, Natural Resource Management, Food Security through Production and Employment, National/Global Governance (AFGROLAND) Changes to the global agro-food-energy system (e.g. changing consumption patterns in the North, Europe’s Climate and biofuel policies, etc.) over the past few years have led to a renewed interest in agriculture and a rush to acquire […]
Read MoreInclusive Business Models
It is against the background of failing land reform projects on one hand, and the liberalization and modernization of markets resulting in the rise of supermarkets and vertically integrated value-chains in developing countries, that several innovative “Inclusive Business Models (IBM)” have been developed and implemented as solutions not only for revitalising failing land reform projects, […]
Read MoreLand Matrix initiative
The Land Matrix Initiative (LMI) is a global and independent initiative monitoring competition over land use in the Global South. Its goal is to facilitate an open development community of citizens, researchers, policy-makers and technology specialists to promote transparency and accountability in decisions over land and investment. Through collecting data on large-scale land transactions, the […]
Read MoreTransboundary Governance
EU-Africa Relations in a Changing Global Order (ERGO)
European Union - Africa Relations in a Changing Global Order (ERGO) is a research activity carried out as a Jean Monnet Project with the support of the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union.
Read MoreDeterminants and drivers of migration in Africa (MIGRAFRICA)
The objective of the research project MIGRAFRICA (Determinants and drivers of migration in Africa) is to develop a regional overview of the main determinants and drivers of migration in SSA focusing on the structural causes of rural out-migration. It presents the main finding analytically and graphically in a working paper, an in-depth case study and an Atlas focused on the main migratory trends and drivers from, across and to SSA. The publications will be in both English and French.
Read MoreEconomic and Sociocultural Encounters in Borders: Experiences from Southern Africa, Perspectives from Europe, Asia and South America
This project is situated within debates on borders, borderlands, sub- and regional integration. It examines local, grassroots and non-state actors and their cross-border economic and sociocultural encounters and contestations. And the role they play in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region and its integration project. The project also deliberately includes perspectives on borders, borderlands and integration in other world regions including Europe, Asia and South America. The aim is to not only enhance the understanding of Southern African borders, but also contribute to the attempts and formulations by scholars, policymakers, practitioners and ordinary people to make sense of the lines that seem to so easily separate and box people into mutually exclusive categories.
Read MoreAfrican Borders, Human Mobility, Continental Integration and Development
This project interrogates mobility issues affecting ordinary people and economically active human resources within and across the borders of Africa’s disparate states. It also explores the dynamics of cooperation and the governance of trans-boundary natural resources. This is in a quest to examine the relationship between the spatial mobility of borders and development, as well as the migration regimes within which states that share contiguous borders in given geographic territories are embedded.
Read MoreAfrica-EU Relations, Migration, Development and Integration (AEMDI)
The Africa-EU relations, migration, development and integration (AEMDI) project aims to bring into conversation leading academics, policymakers, political observers and practitioners from civil society to explore and examine intra-Africa migration on one hand and EU-Africa relationships vis-à-vis migration on the other hand. Efforts to integrate Africa, through the RECs, should, then, be informed by lessons and parallels drawn from across Africa, and chiefly, the integration experience of the EU—particularly the Schengen Area—in moving from free movement of labour (only) to EU citizenship, as enshrined in Article 20 (1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. The main outcome of AEMDI is the promotion of the Jean Monnet Programme and adoption of best practices from the EU's successes in regional integration, in Africa. AEMDI aims increased networking and expertise between/of academics, policymakers, professionals and relevant stakeholders in Africa and the EU. AEMDI responds to the need to promote development and well-being in Africa through, among other things, learned experiences from observed successes in EU integration.
Read MoreAfrican Voices from the Ground
This research project focuses on collecting information from citizens and civil society organizations, in addition to government officials and professionals working on migration issues in migrant communities. It aims to gather data from these "voices on the ground" through systemic research methods in four countries representing four regions of Africa: Senegal (West Africa), South Africa (Southern Africa), Mali (Sahel) and Ethiopia (Horn of Africa). It includes voices of civil society into the dialog on migration; establish a continuous migration platform, offering understanding of migration issues; establish a network among groups working on migration at regional level and beyond, at global level; discuss and develop long-term approaches on migration; develop policy recommendations for African decision makers; and develop specific recommendations for the EU-Africa partnership. focused on collecting information from citizens and civil society organizations, in addition to government officials and professionals working on migration issues in those communities.
Read MoreBuilding Regions from Below
This research investigates the activities of informal cross-border traders and migrants in the COMESA-EAC-SADC Tripartite Free Trade Area, with a specific focus on the SADC region. It seeks to understand the contribution of these actors to the broader integration of the said regions. Special attention is given to persons living in the proximate communities, towns, etc. of the contiguous border areas of the countries that form the tripartite FTA.
Read MoreThe futures of Governance and the Governance of the Future
The primary objective of this research project is to i) take stock of what the futures of governance could look like, ii) explore to what extent the use of anticipation and the development of futures literacy in governance can be by itself a governance innovation, and iii) explore and discuss implications for present and future governance of the future. It is also an applied research project whose second objective is to connect this knowledge generation process with empirical work, in dialogic way, with a particular, but not exclusive, focus on Africa. For this purpose, it is designed to be a process of collective investigation involving i) people with a taste for future-oriented postures and interested in the issue of governance and ii) people facing governance issues who are interested in using the future. A fuller description of the project can be seen in this draft concept note for building and engaging an extended peer community into this collaborative research project. It seeks to involve people who have future-oriented competences and an interest in governance innovation, or people who are working in the field of governance and have an interest in future-oriented approaches. It is a conceptual and action research with a special focus on Africa, on territorial development and on the SDGs.If you want to know more or/and you are interested in joining and contributing, please contact robin.bourgeois@cirad.fr.
Read MoreBuilding regions from below: Informal cross-border trade and regional integration in the COMESA-EAC-SADC Tripartite (AFRTJ)
The 15 member-state Southern African Development Community (SADC) started out in April 1980 as the Southern African Development Co-ordinating Conference (SADCC) and changed into SADC in August 1992. SADC aims at integrated regional development through formal regional institutions and seeks an economic union through the successive stages of regional integration as espoused by economic theory. […]
Read MoreThe External Dimension of European Union Environmental Policy (EEEP): Pursuing environmental norms, rules and policies beyond borders
View image | gettyimages.com The EU is widely reported to be a global environmental leader and is party to the major international environmental agreements. However, apart from multi-lateral environmental negotiations, the EU’s seeks to extend it environmental policy beyond its borders through a surprisingly large array of instruments, including: bilateral agreements, strategic and economic partnerships, […]
Read MoreSecurity Governance
Resilient Peace
This network will engage with the challenges of building peace in West African states in the context of the withdrawal of Western actors and the promotion of resilience approaches in peacebuilding. The United Nations, regional and national development agencies have invested unprecedented amounts of funds in post-conflict peacebuilding in recent decades, most notably in Africa. Addressing the challenges of building a sustainable peace in West African states has been a focus of attention, including through the UN Peacebuilding Commission, with four of the six countries on its agenda being in West Africa (Guinea, Guinea- Bissau, Liberia and Sierra Leone). In recent years, we have also observed a new shift in international peacebuilding practices towards fostering resilience and capacity-building at the local level. This shift towards resilience can lead to increasing levels of pressure being faced by civil society actors. While some empirical studies have demonstrated that civil society actors have adapted to this new approach by transforming their activities in various ways, we still lack knowledge of how this resilience approach is adopted, adapted and/or resisted at the local level, particularly in the context of West Africa, and how it contributes to the broader goal of achieving sustainable peace. The overall goal of this network will be to organise a series of workshops focusing on the concept of resilience in peacebuilding in West Africa. The network will bring together WUN academics, including early career researchers and PhD students, NGO practitioners and policy-makers. This newly-formed network will actively seek out opportunities to undertake and apply further research in this area, especially through interactions with policy-makers and NGO practitioners and the development of future research grants.
Read MoreBorders, War, Peace and Regional Integration Schemes in Africa
The project investigates how the porosity of African borders might exacerbate war and conflict and the way in which this impacts on regional integration on one hand, and the extent to which regional and continental integration could contribute towards cooperation, peace and well-being in Africa on the other hand. The project goes beyond the analysis, description and/or outlining of the causes of conflict in Africa. It engages in a serious consideration of initiatives and innovations that can be put in place or are already being employed on the ground, within the current regional and continental integration debates and practice.
Read MoreJustice on the margins
Project Summary: This comparative research project examines justice outside of the formal state systems, on the borders between countries and during transitions in Africa. In the past few decades, increasing amounts of attention and resources have been given to national reconciliation and transitional justice, as is evident in the increased inclusion of these in mediation […]
Read MoreCompleted
ZOPACAS at 30: Its formation, potential and limitations
This research project seeks to stimulate the broadening of the scientific-academic debate over the current and potential configuration of the Zone of Peace and Cooperation of the South Atlantic (ZOPACAS), both within the context of Brazilian interests and in the framework of increasing international focus over South Atlantic dynamics. With over 30 years of existence, […]
Read MoreLEDDA: Local Economic Direct Democracy Association
Urban communities worldwide want economies that are stronger, greener, fairer, more resilient, and more diverse. Jobs must be created, climate change addressed, infrastructure repaired, schools upgraded, and more. The LEDDA economic direct democracy framework offers a bold yet practical solution. The framework synthesizes multiple approaches currently in use in cities and regions around the world […]
Read More2014 – SUSTAIN: The Sustainability of Regional Governance
#484355021 / gettyimages.com Contemporary challenges, from the global economic crisis to climate change, have revealed the strengths and weaknesses of regional integration throughout the world. The Euro-crisis, for instance, has exerted a strain on the EU’s model of top-down governance, while reinforcing the pace (and changing the form) of integration in Europe. Similarly, climate change […]
Read More2013-2015 – ATLANTIC FUTURE: Towards an Atlantic area? Mapping trends, perspectives and interregional dynamics amongst Europe, Africa and the Americas
The Atlantic can be considered the cradle of modern globalisation, a space where links between peoples, nations and economies started first to transcend their regional contexts on a large scale. As globalisation enters a new phase characterised by the rise of developing economies, and as global challenges such as the economic crisis, food security, climate […]
Read More2013-2014 – The EU, Regional Conflicts and the Promotion of Regional Cooperation: A Successful Strategy for a Global Challenge? (REGIOCONF)
Regional conflicts are a core global challenge in that they threaten international peace and affect global actors either because of economic and strategic interests or because of challenges to normative claims. The European Union (EU) has been seen as a normative power able to help transform such conflicts. A prominent strategy in this has been […]
Read More2013 – Building Regions from Below: Regional Integration and Civil Society from Europe to the Rest of the World (RICS)
2013 – Building Regions from Below: Regional Integration and Civil Society from Europe to the Rest of the World (RICS) Regionalism has been traditionally analyzed through a top-down lens, generally emphasizing the role of governmental elites, political parties and – to a lesser extent – business associations and epistemic communities. By contrast, civil society has received […]
Read More2012-2013 – Regional international migration and its impact on the South African labour market: data, policies and livelihoods
2012-2013 – Regional international migration and its impact on the South African labour market: data, policies and livelihoods While both Europe and South Africa have had long experience of the impact of migrant labour on their respective economies and societies for some time, the inclusion of migration as a specific area of interest in the European […]
Read More2009-2012 – Mercury: Multilateralism and the EU in the Contemporary Global Order
Multilateralism is defined in many ways, but common to all are the importance of rules, institutionalised cooperation and inclusiveness. Demand for multilateralism increases as new international challenges arise. Globalisation connects the world in ways both positive and negative. Trade, capital, ideas, people, technology, information, diseases and crime all flow more freely. Patterns of interaction between […]
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