From 7 to 11 July 2025, Maastricht University hosted an intensive one-week PhD summer school under the ENSURED project, titled ‘Global Governance Transformation for a World in Transition’. This event brought together an international cohort of early-career researchers to engage critically with the profound challenges facing multilateralism and global governance today.
Tackling Today’s Global Governance Dilemmas
The summer school offered PhD students and early-career researchers a chance to explore the shifting landscape of EU global governance across multiple issue areas – climate change, migration, global health, trade, and security. Through expert-led lectures, interactive tutorials, and interdisciplinary group work, participants faced important questions on multilateralism: To what extent is the rules-based order in crisis? How have recent changes to the multilateral order impacted each issue area? How can international organisations respond?
The programme was led by a distinguished team of lecturers and scholars from across Europe, each contributing deep domain expertise:
- Hylke Dijkstra (ENSURED Coordinator, Maastricht University) and Clara Weinhardt (ENSURED Coordinator, Maastricht University) opened the course with a foundational lecture on the crisis of the rules-based international order. Clara also gave an additional input on issues of trade and inequality within the multilateral order.
- Franziska Petri (KU Leuven) unpacked the political dynamics of global climate governance and EU diplomacy.
- Lilian Tsourdi (Maastricht University) addressed key human rights and migration governance challenges.
- Mirko Heinzel (Maastricht University) offered insights into global health governance, particularly post-pandemic institutional responses.
- Yf Reykers (Maastricht University) led a session on international security cooperation in an era of fragmentation and crisis response.
- Ceren Ergenc (Centre for European Policy Studies) explored the EU’s external governance strategies in a shifting global context.
Each day was structured around thematic lectures followed by group discussions and tutorials, allowing participants to focus on each thematic area before zooming out to draw connections between topics.
A Policy-Focused Approach
In addition to lectures, participants completed a capstone assignment in the form of a policy brief, translating academic knowledge into actionable recommendations on global governance challenges. This assignment helped bridge theory and practice by encouraging participants to craft succinct, evidence-based advice tailored for policymakers.
The summer school embodied the ENSURED project’s mission to generate actionable knowledge and promote robust, democratic, and effective multilateralism. Participants left equipped not only with new insights and scholarly connections but also with a clearer understanding of how their own research can contribute to addressing complex transnational challenges.
To learn more about the future of multilateralism, make sure to read the ENSURED reports.
Photo: Ludovica Pagliara
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