Mission
The EUI’s School of Transnational Governance sets out to study, debate and teach matters pertaining to governance beyond the State. The School has developed a distinct set of tools and skills to operate in an international context, where policy-making increasingly transcends national borders, and encompasses governments, media actors, the corporate world and non-governmental organizations.
In this way, the School aims to contribute to improving the quality of the interplay between the worlds of academia and of policy making, and to cater a diverse audience of national and international civil servants from the EU and third countries, as well as business executives, media professionals, civil society agents and young global leaders.
Funding
The School is funded by the Erasmus Plus Program of the EU. It has received increasing levels of support, from € 1.7m in 2017 up to €5.6m in 2020. EU support is set to grow up to € 9.8m by the year 2024, when the School reaches its cruising speed. By this time, this amount is expected to be matched by outside contributions in the forms of tuition fees or project funding. At the time of this writing, outside support has been received from i.a. the European Investment Bank, the Gulbenkian foundation, the GiZ (German Development Agency) and the European Commission. The Italian government has furthermore given the availability of Palazzo Buontalenti in the centre of Florence, which will serve as the headquarters of the School starting from the spring of 2021.
Programs
Masters program
The School offers a 2-year entry-level master programme in transnational governance, as well as dual degrees in association with leading European learning institutions. The program launched in September 2020, with a first cohort of 35 Master students from 19 countries from Europe and all other world regions. At full speed, this program is expected to attract up to 200 students distributed among the various offerings.
Executive education
This program focuses on the formation of policy-makers and executives from the private sector and civil society. The themes covered largely mirror the thematic clusters of the School as a whole. The modular basis of this activity will allow adaptation of these activity so as to become stand-alone components or credits of the master programs.
Policy Leaders Fellowships
These fellowships lasting 5 or 10 months are addressed to policy makers, civic leaders, civil servants, journalists from all over the world. The program reaches out to practitioners, who wish to immerse themselves in the academic world of ideas to develop policy-relevant proposals in their area of expertise. The third cohort of 35 policy leaders fellows has joined the EUI in the academic year 2020/2021.
Policy Dialogues
Scholars and policy makers at the highest level from the corporate, political and social sectors will have here the opportunity to exchange views on key policy issues.
Partnerships
The STG has initiatives or consolidated several frameworks for partnerships and collaboration with renowned higher education institutions, international organisations, civil society actors, foundations and think tanks in Europe and across the world. STG’s partnerships in academia aim at establishing student mobility programmes like with Fudan University in China, Universities of West Indies in the Caribbean, Cape Town University in South Africa and Universidad de los Andes in Colombia. Especially in Europe, academic cooperation has now advanced to curriculum development, like the Joint Master Programme in European and Transnational Affairs in partnership with the College of Europe in Belgium; some other partnerships intend to establish dual degrees, such as with Hertie School in Germany and the Graduate Institute Geneva in Switzerland.
In December 2019, the STG launched the European and Transnational Governance Network (ETGN) together with Bocconi University in Milan, Central European University in Budapest/Vienna, College of Europe in Bruges and in Natolin, Ecole Nationale d’Admnistrationin Strasbourg, Hertie School in Berlin, Sciences Po in Paris, to provide mid-career and senior professionals from public and private policy-making with a unique training opportunity.
Thematic clusters and special projects
The School’s activities are organized around a number of thematic clusters, from which some externally funded initiatives have emerged. Thematic clusters so far developed include: Peace and Security; Trade and Finance; Sustainability: Climate and Migration Governance; Digital Politics, Economy, and Societies; Comparative Regional Governance; Gender Governance; Transnational Politics & Democracy.
In April 2020, the STG won a tender (ca. €2.4 m over 3 years) by the European Commission for the creation of a European Digital Media Observatory. The School will lead a consortium that will work over 30 months on the creation of a platform to bring together fact-checkers and academic researchers with expertise in the field of online disinformation, and open to collaboration with media organisations and media literacy practitioners.
In May 2020, the European Investment Bank and EUI established the “EIB Chair on Climate Change” that will serve as vector for the transmission of best climate policy practices across the world. The collaboration with the EIB represents an important milestone as it represents the first externally funded Chair for the STG (securing ca. € 1,7M euros over 5 years).
Forthcoming areas and projects include include, ia.: a dedicated Africa policy leaders fellowship program, funded by the European Commission’s directorate general for development; a new cluster on transnational health governance; training on Artificial Intelligence regulation and governance.