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Research Centre Utrecht

About the Research Centre

The Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development is a world-leading research centre for sustainability research and teaching, based at the Faculty of Geosciences at Utrecht University, The Netherlands. The Institute hosts numerous fellows, senior fellows and lead faculty members of the Earth System Governance Project. At the Copernicus Institute, most research on earth system governance is carried out by the Environmental Governance group. However, given the interdisciplinary character of most research at the Institute, the Environmental Governance team maintains close links to all other groups and individuals in the Institute. Read more about the Research Centre Utrecht.

Recent publications

The Politics and Governance of Decarbonization: The Interplay between State and Non-State Actors in Sweden

This book examines how, and under what conditions, states – in collaboration with non-state actors – can govern a societal…

Sustaining Development in Small Islands: Climate Change, Geopolitical Security, and the Permissive Liberal Order

The viability of small island developing states (SIDS) is threatened by three distinct processes – a backlash against globalisation; rising…

Institutionalising Multispecies Justice

Multispecies Justice (MSJ) is a theory and practice seeking to correct the defects making dominant theories of justice incapable of…

Collaborative Ethnography of Global Environmental Governance: Concepts, Methods and Practices

Environmental mega conferences have become the format of choice in environmental governance. Conferences of the Parties (COPs) under the climate…