UNU-CRIS

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The United Nations University Institute on Comparative Regional Integration Studies (UNU-CRIS) is a Research and Training Institute^[1] of the United Nations University (UNU). Based in Bruges, Belgium since 2001, UNU-CRIS fosters a better understanding of the processes of regional integration and cooperation and their implications in a changing world order. UNU-CRIS specialises in the comparative study of regional integration, monitoring and assessing regional integration worldwide and in the study of interactions between regional organisations and global institutions.

Its aim is to generate policy-relevant knowledge about new forms of regional and global governance and co-operation, and to contribute to research that addresses challenges to global and regional governance.

UNU–CRIS’ core funding is provided by the Flemish Government of the Kingdom of Belgium. With the support of the province of West Flanders, it is located at the Episcopal Seminary,^[2] the former Abbey of the Dunes of Bruges. As of 2016, UNU-CRIS is governed by a Memorandum of Understanding between the United Nations University, Ghent University, the Vrije Universiteit Brussel and the Flemish Government.

UNU–CRIS is bound to the guidelines of UNU, set out by the UNU Council. It is led by its Director who is responsible for the research and management of the institute and the implementation of the guidelines provided by the Scientific Advisory Committee.^[3] The Scientific Advisory Committee consists of internationally renowned scientists and convenes on a yearly basis to evaluate past performance and consults on future developments and strategies. Research is undertaken by resident academics in Bruges and a number of non-resident Associate Researchers located at institutions around the globe. Additionally, the Institute hosts visiting researchers and trainees at a regular basis.

UNU-CRIS focuses on new patterns of regional and global cooperation and governance. Through its research activities it will connect scholarly knowledge with policy-making, aiming to contribute to the creation and maintenance of peace and stability.

The Institute will generate policy-relevant knowledge about new forms of governance and cooperation on the regional and global level, about patterns of collective action and decision-making, benefiting from the experience of European integration and the role of the EU as a regional actor in the global community.

UNU-CRIS focuses on issues of immediate concern to the United Nations, such as the 2030 Development Agenda and the challenges arising from new and evolving peace, security, economic and environmental developments regionally and globally. On these issues, the Institute will develop solutions based on research on new patterns of collective action and regional governance.

The Institute endeavors to pair academic excellence with policy-relevant research in these domains.

In addition, the mission of UNU-CRIS is to contribute towards achieving the universal goals of the UN and UNU through comparative and interdisciplinary research and training for better understanding of the processes and impact of intra- and inter-regional integration.

The work of UNU-CRIS focuses upon:

• Visioning how multi-level governance is being shaped
• Monitoring the implementation and impact of regional integration
• Deepening the critical understanding of regional integration as a process of social transformation and of the relations between micro- and macro-regionalisms
• Strengthening the governance capacities at local, national, regional and global levels for dealing with regional integration
• Assessing the actual and potential role of regions in the UN system.

The research activities and projects of UNU-CRIS are organised in three research programmes:

Over the past decades, regional organisations have gained an essential role in the global governance structure. By now, these organisations cover almost every part of the globe and their number continues to increase every year. The proliferation of regional organisations provokes their overlap, adding a further level of complexity when it comes to governance. It is also a dynamic and volatile process: regional configurations expand and retract, as they constantly redefine the delineations of inclusion and exclusion. Even established regional organisations remain vulnerable to nationalist sentiments calling for disintegration.

Moreover, regional governance is becoming increasingly complex due to the number of actors involved. Beyond the autonomous nation-state, various actors at the supra- and sub-national levels shape a multitude of domains, from value chains to humanitarian action. In many cases, the administrations of regional organisations have attained a notable level of agency. They conduct their own external relations with non-members, international institutions of the United Nations system, and with other regional organisations, including non-state actors such as transnational corporate groups and civil society organisations. Substate regions and cities are following suit and have gained stature on the international stage.

The Regions and Cities Governance Lab is about understanding the institutional dynamics surrounding regional organisations. In addition to internal developments, Re-LAB studies interregionalism within a multi-level governance ecosystem, exploring how regions and cities engage in an international system that is under stress and in need of reform. Re-LAB considers transnational governance as a laboratory of continuous institutional adaptation and thereby provides a transversal linkage for all other research programmes and clusters at UNU-CRIS.

Our globalised world is a complex network of relations that is constantly being re-shaped by state, sub-state, regional and global actors. The Regional Integration Knowledge System (RIKS) cluster aims to shed light on this intricate system of international relations and, especially, its regional dimensions.

UNU-CRIS has developed the RIKS platform to carry out two objectives. First, it provides researchers, policymakers, and journalists with reliable information on regionalisation patterns in the global system and on the evolution of regional organizations. The latter includes information on their membership, the legal content of the treaties on which they are based, as well as the actual level of economic integration they engender. It also includes the collection of data on de facto regional patterns of migration, trade, investment, etc. A dedicated platform has been built for that purpose.  

Second, it conducts work on quantitative methods and their application to regionalism studies. This includes estimation methods for coping with missing data (for example, migration data), the application of social network analysis to flow data, as well as the construction of indicator systems to monitor regional integration processes and sustainable development in a multi-level governance context.

The scale, visibility and impact of international migration has increased sharply in recent decades. This is felt globally, regionally and locally and poses complex social and political challenges, as it impacts the lives of migrants, the countries of origin, countries of 'transit' or temporary residence, countries where people settle or resettle permanently, as well as the communities to which they return. There is a strong call for better management of migration processes, in all its forms, and for more international and regional cooperation in the framework of migration management, such as the Global Compact.

However, given the great diversity and complexity of the phenomenon, the often-irreconcilable interests of the different stakeholders involved and the high sensitivity and politicisation of the issue, progress in this area remains limited, with several policies even proving counterproductive.

UNU-CRIS carries out interdisciplinary and in-depth research into the nature, causes and consequences of migration and migration governance, with special attention to the most vulnerable categories of migrants and to the role of regions in migration governance.

This cluster also has a broader interest in the regional dimensions of social policies. It explores the potential of internationalizing social policies and the (potential) contribution of regional organizations to formulating and implementing social policies.

The scale, visibility and impact of international migration has increased sharply in recent decades. This is felt globally, regionally and locally and poses complex social and political challenges, as it impacts the lives of migrants, the countries of origin, countries of 'transit' or temporary residence, countries where people settle or resettle permanently, as well as the communities to which they return. There is a strong call for better management of migration processes, in all its forms, and for more international and regional cooperation in the framework of migration management, such as the Global Compact.

However, given the great diversity and complexity of the phenomenon, the often-irreconcilable interests of the different stakeholders involved and the high sensitivity and politicisation of the issue, progress in this area remains limited, with several policies even proving counterproductive.

UNU-CRIS carries out interdisciplinary and in-depth research into the nature, causes and consequences of migration and migration governance, with special attention to the most vulnerable categories of migrants and to the role of regions in migration governance.

This cluster also has a broader interest in the regional dimensions of social policies. It explores the potential of internationalizing social policies and the (potential) contribution of regional organizations to formulating and implementing social policies.

New sources of multipolarity are emerging in the world: once the haven of states, new actors are emerging that are rapidly ‘taking control’ of the core functions of our digitalised public lives. This growth of new actors comes to the fore at a moment when key supporters of the global order are rethinking their approach to the multilateral system and are even making efforts to reassert national sovereignty.

However, the monopoly of the state in global governance is being fundamentally questioned, if not challenged, by the digital transformation. The rapid pace of technological diffusion and innovation upends existing forms of governance and necessitates the development of novel approaches. We see growth of regional poles, where regional powers respond to pressures of globalisation by resorting to traditional mechanisms of power and diplomacy in the digital sphere. We also see the emergence of ‘policy poles’, with different combinations of private and public actors vying for attention in specific policy fields in the global marketplace of ideas.

Digital technologies contribute to this set of profound challenges to the authority and legitimacy of the multilateral world order. Does technology break down barriers to participate in decision-making? Can governance of global technologies be entrusted to private actors alone or is there a way to ‘cascade’ global governance through regions and localities? Such questions address the difficulties in leveraging new technologies to enable effective participation in sub- and transnational institutions and the growing need for continued stakeholder engagement in global, regional and local governance.

UNU-CRIS conducts cutting-edge academic and policy-relevant research on the ongoing digital transformation of society. It critically examines the evolution of multistakeholder and democratic processes that relate not only to the governance of technology, but also how these processes use technologies in other policy spheres. It focuses, thereby, on the (potential) role of regional organizations in digital governance.

Globalisation, demographic and technological expansion, and the resulting transactions between the economic, social, and ecological aspects, directly and indirectly influence the prospects of achieving sustainable development. The interconnected problems confronting states and communities today include the multifaceted impacts of climate change, water and food insecurity, managing trade-offs toward ecological balance and socioeconomic commitments while achieving development targets and ensuring the health and well-being of populations.

The health of our planet and its inhabitants are being pressed to its limits. The ticking clock of climate change grows louder by the day, and the nature and scope of the change required to avert a catastrophic situation are daunting and, perhaps more than any other challenge, require collective, cross-border, and decisive action. Moreover, the multifaceted impacts of climate and water crises require priority action in order to meet the targets of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). While there remains a sharp disconnect between science and action, the steps taken to address these issues are often critiqued as not enough to address the escalating rise in global temperatures and or to mitigate the diverse impacts of climate extreme scenarios such as floods, storms, forest fires. The task at hand is threefold: meet the requirements of the present without compromising or hindering future generations; develop innovative and transformative pathways for the future that rights the climate wrongs underpinning global society today; and to ensure the resilience of communities and states to water risks and conflicts, including focused attention on psychosocial wellbeing. In general, how we govern our environment and natural resources, and how we organise efforts to achieve sustainable development, will be key to overcoming these challenges.

While our planet suffers, so do we, as recent reports point out that more than a billion people are currently affected by adverse mental health issues, with the wide-ranging impacts of climate change and disasters increasingly acknowledged as related to such conditions. Challenges of nature and the mind are equally met by challenges of biology, as the Covid-19 pandemic has demonstrated. In an interconnected and globalised world, where the droplets from a sneeze on one side of the earth can quickly be felt on the other, disease and pathogens do not know, and certainly do not respect, borders of any kind. The fight to bring the Covid-19 pandemic under control has clearly illustrated the regional and global dimensions of human health. While the need for synchronisation, coordination, and collaboration between the local, sub-national, national, supranational (regional), and global levels of health governance and policymaking across all sectors is pertinent, in addition, the policymakers, public agencies, and resource managers across all sectors, and particularly in transboundary regions, must recognise the need to improve the spectrum of economic growth within the mandate of ecological and social well-being and concentrate on the efforts to enhance the human-nature relationship.

An in-depth investigation of interactions in the nature, climate, and health nexus remains crucial to understanding the social, cultural, political, and financial implications of these crises. Communities, states, and regions writhe on fulfilling the food, energy, water, and human security mandates.

The Nature, Climate, and Health Cluster aims to examine how shared solutions to sustainability challenges should be best managed to balance environmental obligations and socioeconomic commitments, which governance structures, at which level, are needed to implement these best practices, and what is, or could be, the role of regional organizations in environmental governance. Noting that the challenges we face are cross-border and regional or even global, the activities and projects in this cluster will address aspects such as deforestation in the Amazon to the damming of the Nile, the energy transition in the Middle East to the melting ice of the Arctic. In other words, this cluster has a particular interest in the governance challenges of natural resources, in particular shared water systems that are located across borders. In addition, we will investigate the roles that regions can play in maintaining and ensuring global health, including: regulating trans-border human mobility and goods flows, understanding the water, climate change and health nexus, managing sanitary situations in border cities, securing cross-border flows of medicines, health appliances, and services, coordinating the cross-border sharing of health infrastructures in crises, pooling financial resources for investments in priority research in health, exchanging best practices, harmonising policy-interventions, and addressing health situations of migrants and refugees. The health component will also take note of the evolving “One Health” framework that calls for an inclusive and integrated approach to environmental and human health, including psychological, mental, and physical health.

UNU-CRIS capacity-building activities are aimed at enhancing human resources and strengthening institution-building for regional integration (especially in developing countries). This implies human capacity-building, mainly through teaching for higher university programmes that involve students from developing or transition countries, and institutional capacity-building through training of public officials. The aim is to raise awareness of the potential beneficial effects of regional integration with a view to incorporating regional integration in national development strategies of developing countries, but also to warn against the related challenges, such as those linked to policy implementation. All capacity-building oriented activities of UNU-CRIS are based upon the principles and guidelines of the UNU system as embodied in the UN Charter.

The art of diplomacy has evolved. In an age where a few sentences from a world leader on social media can give a green light to foreign military action or move markets, there is no denying that the classic notions of diplomacy no longer reflect reality.

What has taken its place is a modern, multi-level and multi-faceted approach that encompasses all the tools of the international and interconnected global sphere. Effective diplomacy now relies on the ability of a government to engage on numerous fronts and in numerous departments.

This programme, organised by UNU-CRIS, the Vienna School of International Studies and the Foreign Services Institute of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration of Ghana, in collaboration with the Department of Foreign Affairs of Flanders, Ghent University and the Brussels School of Governance (BSoG/VUB), trains its participants on how to enact effective diplomacy in today’s turbulent world. It gives participants direct access to the practitioners, academics and policymakers at the forefront of their fields and operating at the highest levels, with modules covering the different facets of modern diplomacy and how they are being employed the world over to shape ideas, discussion and the world we live in.

The Doctoral School is a bilingual (ES/EN) training program for doctoral students and other promising young researchers, organised by the United Nations University Institute on Comparative Regional Integration Studies (UNU-CRIS) and the Andean Center for International Studies of the Universidad Andina Simón Bolívar, Sede Ecuador (UASB-E) with the support of various international academic institutions and governmental organizations in the region.

The Doctoral School will deliver a series of lectures by leading academics on methods, theories, and new trends in Latin American, European and Comparative Regionalism, and afford the next generation of researchers the opportunity to discuss and develop their research projects in personalised tutorial sessions.

Taking place in Quito, Ecuador, the Doctoral School will benefit doctoral students and other early-career researchers from across the social science spectrum, in various stages of their research projects, seeking answers to questions within the framework of Latin American, European or Comparative Regionalism.

The Doctoral School seeks to establish a network of researchers dealing with regionalism, based at universities across Latin America and beyond.

The Doctoral School on Asian and Comparative Regionalism aims to bridge a variety of social science perspectives on regionalism, including legal studies, economics, and political science/international relations (IR). This multi- and interdisciplinary approach is crucial for developing comprehensive academic expertise and enhancing the understanding of the complex dynamics in Asian and comparative regionalisms.

Our goal is to create an enriching environment for doctoral students worldwide, offering them the opportunity to engage with eminent scholars and peers from various fields. Through plenary and panel sessions, participants will be encouraged to exchange ideas, foster dialogue, and expand their academic and professional networks. We look forward to welcoming participants eager to expand their horizons in this dynamic and inclusive academic setting.

The Doctoral School on Asian and Comparative Regionalism is a collaborative endeavour, jointly organized by Airlangga University (Indonesia), the International School of Economics at Maqsut Narikbayev University (Kazakhstan), and the International Forum on the Future of Constitutionalism (North America).

It takes place at Airlangga University in Surabaya, Indonesia.

The United Nations University Institute on Comparative Regional Integration Studies (UNU-CRIS) offers professors, researchers and professionals with a relevant background the opportunity to spend a research period in Bruges. Visiting Fellows may conduct their own research on a topic related to the academic research programmes of the Institute, or contribute to the training and capacity-building initiatives linked to the broad area of global governance and/or regional integration.

The UNU-CRIS Research Internship Programme provides an opportunity to experience first-hand the operations at a research institute within the UN system. The programme places a strong emphasis on training and guidance to ensure a successful and beneficial internship. The programme also encourages interns to advance their own studies related to global and regional governance by contributing to the institute’s policy-relevant research projects.

• United Nations University Institute on Comparative Regional Integration Studies (UNU-CRIS)
• United Nations University (UNU)
• United Nations University Vice-rectorate in Europe (UNU-ViE)
• United Nations University Office in Paris (UNU-OP)
• United Nations University Office in New York (UNU-ONY)
• College of Europe