This year, research cooperation within the BMZ-funded Managing Global Governance (MGG) programme for young professionals from rising powers will be further expanded: An MGG research project on social and environmental standards for the world economy gathered almost 30 alumni from all 12 previous MGG courses as well as DIE and BMZ staff members. The first project workshop from 5 to 7 May 2015 at DIE in Bonn was built upon research proposals submitted by MGG alumni in order to apply for this project. The various proposals, some of them written collaboratively across MGG classes and even countries, were merged into a comprehensive research agenda with different geographic (e.g. China, Brazil, Africa, Asia-Pacific) and sectoral (e.g. resources, infrastructure, labour) foci. What all research outlines had in common was their link to social and environmental standards, which contribute to sustainable development across the globe but at the same time are subject of intense controversy in international relations, for instance between rising powers and high-income countries.

The Managing Global Governance (MGG) Research workshop on social and environmental standards and regulation from 5 to 7 May at the German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) was a full success with around 30 participants – among them alumni from almost all 12 previous MGG courses - and two and a half days of lively discussion.

Representatives of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the Federal Foreign Office also took part in the meeting. The focus was on research proposals submitted by alumni from MGG partner countries and by DIE staff members to apply for this project individually or as a team. The different contributions as well as peer-feedback within the group underlined how many facets the topic of “standards” has, how relevant it is for rising powers, and how blurred the lines e.g. between private sustainability standards and public regulation can sometimes be.

A second workshop in early 2016 will be the next step towards an international book publication amongst others and also promote dialogue with actors from the private sector, civil society and politics. Thomas Fues, Head of Training Department at DIE, directs the project together with two more academic co-directors: Archna Negi, participant of the second MGG class (2007) and professor at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in Delhi; and Jorge A. Pérez Pineda, participant of the eighth MGG class (2010) and professor at the Instituto Mora in Mexico City.