Research update: Signature plan Global Law and Governance in academic year 2021-2022
Between the Summer of 2021 and October of 2022, many things have happened in the Global Law and Governance (GLG) signature plan. The number of research projects and researchers has significantly increased, just as a variety of research activities.
New research & researchers
An important contextual development was the growth of its home department, Public Law and Governance. New phd-researchers, assistant professors, associate professors and professors joined the department and program. In addition and contributing to this development, various grants were awarded: an ERC starting grant for Translitigate, an ERC consolidator grant for CaPANES, an Horizon Europe grant for BOLSTER, an Urban Europe grant for CONTRA and a NWO Veni grant for Anthropocene Legalities. Our new colleagues and the grants really strengthen GLG and offer great opportunities for the years to come.
Regular meetings & multidisciplinary team work
During the academic year, various standing groups organized regular meetings. Constitutionalizing in the Anthropocene hosted close to 20 digital “Friday fika’s” and Public Governance seminars took place almost twice a month, inviting speakers from a range disciplines. Discussions on current developments in international law, from this season onwards called “Trending”, and Jurisprudence and Legal Philosophy Seminars, took place monthly, and a EU case law monitor started up.
On various occasions, groups connected in so-called joint sessions. In the meantime, GLG researchers were doing team work on human rights and globalization, urban constitutionalism, hybrid democracy (NWA project REDRESS), nature conservation, gas emissions from agriculture, and the “global legal professional”. These meetings offer our researchers opportunities to discuss the results of ongoing work and engage in dialogues on law and governance with each other and guests. It also allows them to generate ideas for future work, and to further develop their networks and create new ones.
Project kick-offs, public lecture & conference
In September 2022 the new academic year started energetically. Both BOLSTER and CONTRA held their first physical kick-off meetings, with close to 50 (35 and 15) project members from all over Europe coming to Tilburg. Other noteworthy events taking place in September were an online meeting devoted to the book “Rethinking Comparison”, edited by Simmons and Rush Smith and a public lecture (co-organized with the Global Law Bachelor) by Paul Schiff Berman, “An Introduction to Global Legal Pluralism: from Local to Global; from Descriptive to Normative”. In October (13-14) our public administration researchers hosted the Netherlands Institute of Governance yearly conference, with a special session devoted to the Rethinking the Rule of Law in Public Governance.
The content of Global Law and Governance continues to be further developed with the help of many colleagues in it. If you want to know more about it and/or join in sessions we organize, contact Merlijn van Hulst m.j.vanhulst@tilburguniversity.edu.