In the framework of his MSCA research project “The role of national parliaments in the Arab transformation processes”, IES researcher Dr Jan Claudius Völkel spent two weeks for research in Egypt recently. Besides meetings and discussions with high-level observers of, and experts on, the Egyptian parliament, the main purpose of his stay, he also gave two lectures on different topics at prestigious Political Science departments.

Curious to learn more about sustainability from an interdisciplinary perspective? The Sustainability Bootcamp combines lectures from both academic and operational experts from different disciplines, and will bring you in 4 days (from 9 - 12 April 2018) at the state-of-the-art in sustainability. Getting inspired for innovation and meeting peers in an open atmosphere at our green campus in Brussels is the ultimate goal of this bootcamp. The combination of academic lectures pointing out the latest knowledge in the field together with professionals sharing their experiences is a unique and enriching concept.

On 2 March 2018, Mathias Holvoet defended his PhD thesis entitled “A policy to commit atrocity, understanding the “policy element” for the purpose of defining crimes against humanity”. His promotors were Prof. dr. P. De Hert and Prof. dr. S. Smis.

As a PhD researcher at the IES, Mathias was affiliated with the Faculty of Law and Criminology.  He was a member of the IES’ Migration, Diversity and Justice Cluster. Within the field of International Criminal Law, his work focused on the law of crimes against humanity, the relationship of International Criminal Law with neighbouring fields such as International Human Rights Law, International Humanitarian Law and International Refugee Law and the continuing relevance of hybrid or internationalized criminal mechanisms within International Criminal Justice.

The IES Doctoral researcher Matilda Axelson has been involved in the development of a recently launched report by IISD (International Institute for Sustainable Development) and the i24C (the Industrial Innovation for Competitiveness initiative), titled “Low-carbon innovation for sustainable infrastructure – The role of public procurement”.

Public procurement is a powerful tool which can be used to generate demand for innovative, low-carbon solutions that go in line with governmental goals, such as employment, sustainable development and a low-carbon transition for infrastructure. The public purse has a particularly strong impact on European goods, services and infrastructure, and can, if wisely managed, act as an enabler for driving markets towards more sustainable production patterns.

The German Bertelsmann Stiftung has today released its updated Transformation Index (BTI 2018). Every second year, the BTI measures political and economic progress in 129 transformation countries around the world and belongs to the most detailed comparative country analyses.

IES researcher Jan Claudius Völkel serves as the BTI’s Regional Coordinator Middle East & North Africa, and is hence responsible for the detailed assessment of 19 MENA countries, which stretch from Morocco in the West to Iran in the East, and from Turkey in the North to Sudan in the South. For this, he has organised and supervised the conduct of independent analyses by two renowned experts per country. The findings are worrying: overall, democracy has reached its lowest level ever in the MENA region, only Tunisia has stabilised its achievements since the 2011 revolution.

On Tuesday February 27 policy think tank Public Policy Exchange arranged a full day conference in downtown Brussels on “Fostering the Transition towards a Circular economy in Europe: Turning Waste into a Resource”.  The conference was quite suitably arranged at the very moment that the COREPER reached an agreement on the “classic hard core” of the Circular Economy package: four pieces of waste legislation. 

IES Professor Sebastian Oberthür gave a keynote presentation on “Polycentric Climate Governance: Challenges and Opportunities for the EU” at the Final Conclusions Meeting of the COST Action INOGOV, a pan-European network of research excellence dedicated to understanding policy and governance innovation for climate change, on 15 March 2018 in the Norway House in Brussels. 

The draft programme of the #EUIA18 conference is now published and available here. From May 16-18th, academics and policy-makers will discuss the international role of the EU. Around 290 academic papers will be discussed in the course of these three days. #EUIA18 will also feature a range of policy-link panels gathering senior policy-makers and EU politicians to discuss issues such as EU-UN relations, the future of European defence policy or the EU’s standing in the world. 

On 23 January the PARENT project team met with a diverse set of stakeholders, all active in their own way to help transform energy-related attitudes in Brussels. Project participants, social workers, representatives from citizen associations, local governments and Bruxelles Environnement sat around the table to map energy reduction and sustainability initiatives and categorize them by actor and focus. We also assessed how these measures are communicated and offered to citizens.

In March, Klaudia Majcher, a PhD researcher in the Economic Governance Cluster, was invited by the Law Faculty of the University of Zagreb to teach few sessions of the seminar ‘European Public Law and Global Mobility’ to a group of international students. The seminar is part of the Jean Monnet Chair called ‘Global Effects of EU Law’. The sessions discussed a range of contemporary legal issues such as Brexit, competition law enforcement in the technology sector, and protection of personal data in the age of digital globalization.

Vrije Universiteit Brussel and University of Warwick to establish a double master’s in Politics, International Studies and European Integration

On Wednesday 28 March, Caroline Pauwels, rector of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), and Stuart Croft, vice-chancellor of the University of Warwick in the UK, signed a collaboration agreement in the University of Warwick’s base in London’s Shard building. This is a remarkable move, as the consequences of Brexit for cooperation between European and British institutions are still not clear. The two universities are aiming to strengthen their ties – beginning with a joint master's programme in Politics, International Studies and European Integration.
 

On 26 September, IES Executive Director Anthony Antoine delivered a keynote speech on "the salient role of the universities in implementing the UN 2030 Agenda and the particular importance of societal impact of multidisciplinary research in developing sustainable and global solutions" at the Helsinki Challenge Global Impact Camp in Brussels. The Global Impact Camp in Brussels was a two-day intensive co-creation session focusing on societal impact of research, funding and collaboration with international experts and EU decision-makers. 

IES researcher Jan Claudius Völkel has published a new analysis of “Geostrategic, political and socio-economic interests and stragies of regional actors in North Africa and the Sahel” for the Bundeszentrale für Politische Bildung (BpB, Federal Agency for Civic Education, in German language).

Sebastian Oberthür has been appointed by the Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO) to serve as a member of the expert panel G&M4: Social, Political and Communication Sciences for an initial term of one year (2018). The expert panel in particular is mandated to assess applications for PhD and postdoctoral fellowships submitted to the FWO. The FWO describes these expert panels as its beating heart. By submitting scientific advice to the Senate and the Board of Trustees, they play a crucial role in the development of research in Flanders. Professor Oberthür’s appointment is an acknowledgement of his expertise in International Relations and European Studies, and of the IES’ reputation as a trusted advisor to Flemish public authorities.

The shared threat emanating from Pyongyang creates a centripetal force that binds Washington, Tokyo, and Seoul because the three partners need mutual assistance. On the other hand, however, the high stakes involved in the North Korea policy of these states also intensify discord over the means to address the threat, thereby producing a centrifugal force. Policies that hurt each other’s fundamental security interests have to be pursued only with careful consultation with the partners, for both the policies’ effectiveness and for the maintenance of the partnerships. For effective cooperation, the U.S., Japanese, and ROK governments must all embrace the centripetal force of the North Korean threat while being mindful of the centrifugal force.

IES Academic Director, Luk Van Langenhove, is moderating a debate organized by the University of Warwick on “Refugee resettlement, Access to Work and Populism. From migration to integration in Europe” on 1 February at the Brussels Warwick Office. The event brings together researchers and policy-makers to discuss research conducted in three European countries (Austria, Sweden and the UK). For more information, please visit this website.

In the framework of the Master of Arts in Transatlantic Affairs (MATA), jointly offered by the College of Europe and The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy (Tufts University), and in cooperation with the EU-funded Horizon 2020 project EL-CSID (European Leadership in Cultural, Science and Innovation Diplomacy), the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium, is organising a workshop on "Soft Power in Transatlantic Relations" on 13 and 14 April 2018. Luk Van Langenhove, IES Academic Director and EL-CSID Scientific Coordinator, will draw concluding remarks. More information is available on conference website.

On Friday 29 September the IES celebrated its 15th anniversary. Our institute started off as an initiative by our former President Prof. Dr. Em. Bart De Schutter with a handful of people involved. Today, we are an established player in the area of European studies, involved in dozens of prestigious research projects and with 121 people directly associated.