Here’s what happened at the first Critical Policy Conference A guest post by Vincent Tadday, Global Studies student at Maastricht University     To effect real change in policy and create social impact by way of re-imagination processes and dialogue, a new student-led initiative has emerged: the Critical Policy Lab. On Saturday 3 June 2023 in Maastricht, the first edition of the Lab’s Critical Policy Conference welcomed around 70 participants from UNU-MERIT and Maastricht University co...

A new paper co-authored by Prof. Luc Soete brings business and science perspectives to the most pressing global issues of our time. Set against the macro backdrops of climate change and the coronavirus pandemic, the authors investigate ‘technological sovereignty’ and ‘knowledge safety’ in Africa and Europe — particularly vis-à-vis China, the USA and the World Health Organization. They also analyse the sanctity of intellectual property rights, amid the ongoing tensio...

This year’s International Education Day, 24 January, occurs in the wake of a global pandemic that closed schools and universities worldwide, affecting 1.6 billion students in almost 200 countries — including some 120 Master’s students at UNU-MERIT in the Netherlands. Against this difficult backdrop, we raised our game to another level by hosting an online conference with real-life policymakers. The overall aim was to make our Master’s programme more engaging, more real an...

Is it possible for politics and science to influence one another yet remain separate? To what extent should scientists be made accountable for the research that informs policy? What is the appropriate apparatus to mediate these issues? And what is the role of the media in shaping the public’s understanding and expectations of the links between science and policymaking? These were a few of the questions tackled in a Chatham House webinar on 11 September 2020, featuring Sir David King, former Chie...

Like so many other researchers sitting at home, watching the news about COVID-19, I have been impressed at how virologists, epidemiologists and other medical experts have caught the ears of national policymakers, business leaders and the general public. Suddenly, scientific facts and evidence bask in the trust of public opinion and fake news is once again ‘fake’ in the real sense of the word: unreliable, not to be trusted by anyone. Something climate experts have been dreaming of for decades, no...

In recent decades women’s political representation has significantly increased in Africa. From 2000 to 2018, the proportion of women parliamentarians almost doubled, and women’s representation in cabinet increased fivefold to 22% between 1980 and 2015. Unfortunately, the numbers do not necessarily imply influence....

How many times have you rolled your eyes when someone said a country is progressive because half the parliament is made up of women? How much can this really tell us about gender equality and women’s participation in any particular country? Why does it even matter? As such a hot topic, I was excited to hear all about Catie Lott’s PhD dissertation, ‘Diamonds are a Woman’s Best Friend: Broadening Measures of Women’s Access to Formal Political Decision-Making’. Her doctorate looked at female policy...

In May 2019, the Intergovernmental science-policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) released a summary report for policymakers, “suggesting that around 1 million species already face extinction, many within decades, unless action is taken to reduce the intensity of drivers of biodiversity loss”. Highlighting the importance of biodiversity not only for our quality of life but for human existence per se, the report calls for transformative changes, i.e. “a fundamental, system...

After over 15 years at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), a UN specialised agency on information and communication technologies (ICTs), I felt it was the right time for me to design and execute a research project combining my professional experience, academic interests and certain gaps that I have witnessed in the field of ICTs and policymaking....

I had been searching for a programme that allowed me to combine my specific research interests with a rather busy work schedule. The blended format with in-person classes and distance learning modules worked very well for me, by providing a good balance between flexibility of schedule and the opportunity to meet in person the tutors and faculty staff during the first couple of weeks of the programme. This allowed me to develop a good working relationship with the tutors, while also meeting other...