Introduction to Global Governance

Many of the most pressing challenges we are experiencing today are global. Consider climate change, supply chains, or cybersecurity for example – these challenges, like many others, don’t stop or start at the borders of any particular country.

Dealing with global challenges such as these is often complicated and involves a great number of different actors and approaches – we use the concept of global governance to describe the collective activities taking place to manage these challenges.

While the concept of global governance can be difficult to grasp due to the plurality of actors and processes involved, this MOOC will help you gain a full understanding of this phenomenon as well as see how it works in practice.

Throughout the MOOC, you will uncover the key actors engaged in global governance from national governments and regional organizations like the European Union to private actors such as businesses and citizens.

Along the way, you will also learn how approaches to global governance have shifted in recent years as traditional, international law models have given way to a variety of bottom-up and informal processes.

Then you will see how these concepts and ideas apply in real governance contexts such as the governance of global pandemics, sustainable trade, outer space, and human rights.

Finally, you will also learn how global governance is analyzed and theorized, exploring the distinction between “hard” and “soft” law or the concepts of regime architecture and complexity.

Whether you are interested in understanding or solving global problems as a policymaker, a business entrepreneur, or a citizen – this MOOC will provide the necessary foundation for understanding, analyzing and identifying how global governance shapes the world.

Funded by the Horizon 2020 Framework Programme of the European Union. Grant agreement number 822654.

What you'll learn

• Learn what ‘global governance’ means, and how it tackles global challenges and pursues a global agenda, such as the Sustainable Development Goals
• Discover the key actors engaged in global governance, including formal and informal intergovernmental international organizations, regional organizations, businesses, citizens and multistakeholder initiatives
• Become acquainted with various tools and approaches of global governance, including hard and soft law, regulatory standards, and voluntary commitments
• Understand how global governance is evolving as international organizations face new challenges and informal international lawmaking becomes commonplace
• Gain insight into how global governance works in practice with a specific focus on global health crises such as Covid-19, sustainable development, space governance and other governance challenges
• Learn how to analyze and assess global governance through key theoretical concepts such as regime complexity