As a research institute, UNU-MERIT has some of the brightest minds investigating the topic of entrepreneurship. In this brief Q&A, PhD fellows Maria Tomai and Tamara Kool describe how entrepreneurs can drive positive change, particularly in the fields of migration and sustainability. Maria looks at the Circular Economy in cities of the Global South, before Tamara speaks about policies that are helping refugees rejoin the labour market. … How does your research relate to entrepreneurshi...
I am one of the latest people in a long line of around 130 years of continuous migration in my family – a privilege to which I owe many of my accomplishments. My mother is Iranian and my father is German. Although I was born in Germany, I was still a baby when my parents decided to migrate to Paraguay, where I grew up until the age of 11. After that, we moved to England, followed by another move to Zimbabwe, where we stayed for four years. Finally, we moved back to England, where I finished my h...
‘Digital technology is shaping history. But there is also the sense that it is running away with us. Where will it take us? Will our dignity and rights be enhanced or diminished? Will our societies become more equal or less equal? Will we become more, or less, secure and safe? The answers to these questions depend on our ability to work together across disciplines and actors, across nations and political divides.’ – António Guterres Published in June 2020, the UN Secretary-General’s ...
By June 2020, teaching online has become second nature for most of us at Maastricht University – or so you would think. We’ve done it for three months now. Teachers have been trained on how to deal with the various platforms, while students have been explained why we had to move online and why they have to make a commitment from their end to make things work. Still, even though I’m used to hosting blended learning teaching programmes, well trained in offering online classes, and my student...
The 2020 edition of the European Innovation Scoreboard shows that the EU’s innovation performance continues to increase at a steady pace and that the EU has kept its innovation lead over the USA. The report was written by Hugo Hollanders, with contributions from UNU-MERIT researchers Nordine Es-Sadki, Iris Merkelbach and Aishe Khalilova. This year’s edition is the first since the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union, resulting in a small negative effect on the innovation scor...
A post by Brendan Joy, a student on our MSc. in Public Policy and Human Development, who just won a place on a social enterprise programme in Ireland. NB, the next deadline for applications to our UN-backed double-degree Master’s programme is 15 July 2020. … Bees and other pollinators like butterflies are declining globally, their numbers now in freefall. Climate change, habitat loss, industrialised agriculture, and the use of harmful chemicals form a deadly cocktail that threatens their s...
Overwhelmed by the constant negative reports from government authorities and medical experts, one day I started to look for positive news to cheer myself up. Luckily, I soon realised that many new initiatives support a new way of collaborative business across sectors. As UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said: “We are in this together – and we will get through this, together”. Civil society and the private sector have rapidly come up with many innovative ideas and have been supporting people...
I flew into Pretoria, South Africa, in March 2020 – just when COVID-19 was becoming a fully-fledged international crisis. Working under the umbrella of the CatChain project, I aimed to access and use the confidential firm-level dataset managed by the National Treasury of South Africa (NT). This is a relatively new dataset and, in partnership with our sister institute UNU-WIDER, the NT has welcomed researchers from all around the world to do research using these South African data. My PhD project...
When students meet policymakers in Geneva “After visiting so many UN institutions and international agencies, it was refreshing to be welcomed in a small office and engage in an open and inspiring discussion about children’s rights.” — MSc student Zoë Rouwhorst Enter keywords...
Our institute has received the sad news of the passing away of Wolfgang Scholz in early June 2020. Wolfgang was a key member of the ILO team that collaborated with the Economics Department at Maastricht University to start a mid-career Master’s programme in Social Protection for social security professionals in Maastricht in 2001. This Master’s programme grew in scope and outreach to become what is now known as the Maastricht Graduate School of Governance. A rich source of information on the sta...