IGSD News

IGSD and the Sustainability Spotlight Steering Group hosted meetings of international partners from Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan and India. Ms Nargiz Ismayilova from, Head of Partnerships from Ada University, Dr Akram Umarov, Vice-Rector of UWED and Director of the Institute of Advanced International Studies, and Dr Seema Mundoli from the Climate Change Centre and Sustainability at Azim Premji University, presented their research to the Steering Group, and discussed research projects and suitable funding opportunities with IGSD. In the afternoon they also interacted with EUTOPIA partners at lunch, and met to discuss MOUs with Prof. Michael Scott, PVC International.

HoPE NEXUS EUTOPIA CC has been informally launched today with a meeting of all key partners from the University of Warwick (IGSD, SCFS), NOVA University Lisbon (Julia Sexas), University of Ljubljana (Bostjan Kenda), Monash University (Filia Garvaldis), Stellenbosch University (Guy Midgley), and CY Cergy Paris Universite (Dominique Sciamma). Participants focused on defining HoPE key activities, which will include a Sustainability Training School, thought leadership podcasts, a manual of new ideas and interdisciplinary methodologies on researching sustainability, and a Sustainability Forum among others. We look forward to working with everyone and expanding our membership to the newcomers!

This forum critically reflects on the democracy support agenda and its future in light of the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, the decline of Western political and normative dominance, and overall global democratic backsliding. It finds that these wars appear systemic in the sense that they sharpen already existing crises in world order. They have evidenced a structural weakness in the international liberal order (ILO) and also intensified practices of competitive norms promotion at the global level, with Russian norms promotion in particular scoring some successes in South America, North Africa, and Southeast Asia. Taken together, these phenomena have allowed autocratic tendencies to gain strength globally, from the Mediterranean to Southeast Asia to Europe and the Americas. At the same time, democracy is also becoming more locally and regionally driven and diverse and might thus possibly become more resilient. In this new world in the making, Western democracy supporters will need to respect the unique historical and cultural contexts that have shaped democracies around the world and become more humble, inclusive, and dialogic with non-Western democratic middle powers such as South Africa and Brazil.

Professor Korosteleva was interviewed by the Monocle Daily to talk about complex geopolitics of the world, and the challenges it poses to sustainability and international order.

Just to name a few: we are very happy they've enjoyed the STA and found it beneficial to their learning and professional experience! We are very grateful to IGSD, Sustainability Spotlight, COP29 and IDD of ADA University for supporting this important initiative.

Diana Rincon Vabuena: https://www.linkedin.com/in/diana-rincon-valbuena-125971b6/

Igor Santos melo: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7313235052165787649/

Genevieve Sekumbo: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7317883160715747328/

Victor Rezende Moreire: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7315316959561048067/

Abbas Babyev: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7314949648865976320/