By Josh Tendai, Alumni Officer at UNU-MERIT Last Friday (12 April), we held the ‘Careers Beyond Borders’ hybrid career event at UNU-MERIT in collaboration with the United Nations Student Association (UNSA) Maastricht. Aimed at students aspiring to make a difference in the world, this event illuminated the pathways to fulfilling careers within international organizations. The event drew strong interest, with over 50 students attending in person – including participants from our MSc in Public Pol...
A colleague, friend and trusted advisor to many of us across the institute, Prof. Gabriela Dutrénit has worked with UNU-MERIT for decades, as a lecturer on our DEIP innovation workshops, and as a member of our International Advisory Board. In this brief portrait, Howard Hudson interviews Prof. Dutrénit to find out more about the woman behind the titles. … Born in 1957 in Uruguay, Gabriela has been an activist, community coordinator and human rights defender for almost half a century. A leader of...
In this first installment of our ‘Rethinking Research’ series, we speak with Dr. Nanditha Mathew, who leads our new research team entitled, ‘Conflicting and Complementary Policies for Development’. Head of Communications Howard Hudson put the questions to Nanditha in the context of our new foundational programme, Comprehensive Innovation for Sustainable Development. The CI4SD programme, launched in July 2021, explores crossovers with other disciplines, while connecting wi...
On 26 March 2020, an utterly divided EU emerged from the European Council dedicated to European measures aimed at managing the severest crisis since 1929, one far worse than the 2012-2017 crisis. The coronavirus pandemic and the transpiring economic and social crises present Europe with an extraordinary opportunity: to decide to move towards a deeper unity, or to decline irrevocably. The prevailing road will naturally depend on the decisions of the governments in the European Council and other ...
The United Nations University (UNU) is pleased to announce the appointment of Professor Bartel Van de Walle as the next Director of the United Nations University Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (UNU-MERIT). Prof. Van de Walle will take up his position on 1 September 2020. Prof. Van de Walle will take over from current Director Prof. Bart Verspagen, who will complete his second term on 31 August 2020. Under his directorship over the last eight years,...
Today nearly half of all migrants are women – women migrating not just as partners and dependents but also as independent agents in search of work and opportunities. Yet, once they arrive, they are often marginalised and prevented from enjoying their rights....
Alumnus and affiliated researcher Dr. Carlos Cadena Gaitán is one of seven emerging leaders worldwide shortlisted for the ‘Inspired Leadership Award 2016’. The award will be presented at ‘The Performance Theatre’ – featuring 150 global CEOs and change-makers from across business, policy and civil society – in London, UK on 17-18 June 2016. Dr. Carlos Cadena Gaitán is the co-founder of La Ciudad Verde, a Colombian activist think tank that promotes sustainable cities through citizen participation ...
This paper describes the relationship between political leaders' migration experience and the evolution of democracy during their leadership. We build up an original database on the personal background of 932 politicians who were at the head of the executive power in a developing country over the 1960 - 2004 period. These data reveal the existence of a positive correlation between the fact that leaders studied abroad and the change in the score of democracy in their country during their tenure, ...