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UNU-CPR Global Governance Innovation Initiative Inaugural Workshop

UNU-CPR launched a three-year Global Governance Innovation initiative in London, exploring innovative institutional designs and adaptations to address global challenges.

In January 2025, UNU-CPR launched its three-year Global Governance Innovation initiative, building on discussions catalyzed by the 2024 United Nations Summit of the Future. The initiative investigated how international institutions and other cooperative mechanisms are designed or adapted to tackle pressing global challenges.

The inception workshop, held at The British Academy in London on 16�17 January 2025, brought together experts to examine governance gaps in areas highlighted by the Summit of the Future�including pandemic prevention, artificial intelligence, and the international financial architecture. Participants discussed common institutional deficiencies, such as lack of effective representation, exclusionary practices, limited multistakeholder engagement, and inadequate accountability and transparency. In some cases, no institution existed with a clear governance mandate, as in the cases of artificial intelligence, critical energy transition minerals, and cross-border data flows.

A central theme of the workshop was the use of governance templates�procedures or institutional models considered innovative or effective in other sectors. Examples included IPCC-style governance, which has inspired proposals for analogous bodies in artificial intelligence, the Amazon, and chemical pollution. Other models discussed included the Financial Stability Board, the UN Security Council, and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.

The workshop explored:

  • Major global governance gaps and proposed reforms or new institutions.
  • The history and practice of institutional mimicry.
  • A taxonomy to classify governance innovations and practices.
  • Case studies of innovative governance templates that could inform ongoing reforms.
  • Beneficiary communities that could leverage the initiative�s consolidated data and analyses.
  • Effective communication and data visualization techniques to support uptake and policy impact.

The event marked the launch of UNU-CPR�s Global Governance Innovation initiative and its open-source platform, designed to consolidate, analyze, and disseminate examples of governance innovation to support experts and policymakers worldwide.