Short-Term Scientific Mission Reports

Short-Term Scientific Mission Reports

COST Action IS0802 on the Transformation of Global Environmental Governance funds several Short-Term Scientific Missions (STSMs) every budget year. STSMs are exchange visits aimed at strengthening existing networks by allowing young researchers to visit a research institution in another country involved in this Action. Successful applicants receive a fixed grant of up to EUR 2500 for subsistence and travel, and the STSM duration can be from one week (5 working days) to a maximum of 3 months.

Topic

As the title of the Action suggests, the research networks involved in this Action focus on the transformation of global environmental governance. Governance for sustainability is one of the great current challenges for political decision-makers, in Europe and beyond. The vital question for European societies is to design effective, stable and legitimate governance systems at local, national and international levels that can ensure a co-evolution of nature and human societies under the overarching goal of sustainable development. The Action focuses on the following dimensions of the transformation of global environmental governance: as (i) increasing trans-nationalisation, that is, the growing relevance of public and private actors beyond national governments; (ii) increasing supra- and trans-governmentalisation, that is, growing relevance of transnational and supranational institutions; and (iii) increasing fragmentation, that is, increasing segmentation of the policy process through additional layers of decision-making and parallel regulatory systems.

The call for STSM applications for the next budget year is now closed. Reports of STSMs from the current and past years can be found below, and an extract from the Management Committee meeting presentation on STSMs in the past budget period can be found here.