About

The Transformation of Global Governance Project was a horizontal initiative, run between 2018 and 2021 at at the European University Institute, a joint endeavour of the School of Transnational Governance and the Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa Chair in European Economic and Monetary Integration at the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies.

Aim

The Transformation of Global Governance Project had the objective to:

  • analyse how governance has been and is currently conducted in a series of sectors
  • critically assess the nature and effectiveness of emerging arrangements
  • map out future avenues of global governance.

The project drew conclusions regarding what Europe’s role could be in this respect.

Background

Global governance was regarded by the architects of the post-war order as a key factor of prosperity and peace. Since then, the scope, intensity and channels of global interdependence have been fundamentally transformed by tectonic forces resulting in new patterns in the flows of trade, capital, migration and data, as well as rising concerns over global public goods such as the preservation of climate and biodiversity. These forces threaten the reliance on a system of universal, public, treaty-based, institution-supported and legally enforceable rules which have traditionally formed the basis of global governance.

While this calls for an overhaul of governance arrangements, global governance has not gained strength accordingly. Demand for global governance, however, has not diminished: citizens are increasingly concerned about global public goods. New governance formats are emerging, seldom underpinned by a clear legal order or supported by a powerful, unitary institution. A priority for research and public policy is to understand how these arrangements work and to analyse whether or under what conditions they can form the basis of a potential global governance model.

Activities

The project’s main activities were involving the organization of a series of sector- and topic-specific seminars and the synthesis of their output. Each event was designed to foster interaction between high-level academics, policymakers and practitioners from business and civil society. In addition to the main actors, these seminars involved numerous external partners such as relevant EUI departments, institutes or bodies, as well as think tanks, research centres and schools of governance worldwide.

The project was conducted jointly by: