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European Joint Doctorate (EJD) ADAPTED

Eradicating Poverty: Pathways towards Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals

ADAPTED is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network project funded by the European Union under the Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme.

It aims at delivering high-level training with intersectoral relevance in

• validating pathways towards poverty eradication,
• analysing interactions between poverty reduction and other policy areas
• and optimising the impact of poverty reduction policies

to high achieving early stage researchers (ESRs) to bridge the existing knowledge gap in understanding poverty dynamics and by equipping the ESRs with a unique skills portfolio that is equally attractive for research institutions, development organisations and internationally active firms.

With a funding volume of 3.9 m. Euro, ADAPTED has a duration of four years from January 2021 to December 2024. Within ADAPTED 15 Early Stage Researchers (ESRs) are working at the IEE and its partner institutions. Detailed information about the project is available via the ADAPTED website.

MERCUR Project

Political Authority in Transnational Governance Arrangements: Regulation through Public and Private Labour, Social and Environmental Standards in the Asian Textile and Apparel Industry

The textile and apparel industry is a prime example of a globalised value chain. As state-based regulation – either in the form of national law or public international law – is unable to effectively safeguard fundamental labour standards and internationally recognised rights at work or prevent damage to the environment along such a globalised production chain, a plethora of transnational standards has emerged, ranging from private regulation by purely business-driven initiatives to regulation by multi-stakeholder initiatives. Some of these initiatives are also discussed in the context of corporate social responsibility (CSR). The different types of transnational private and multi-stakeholder regulation do not stand in isolation. They interact in magnifold ways with classic state-based regulation on different policy levels (national, regional, global) and from different jurisdictions.

In an interdisciplinary research project entitled "Political Authority in Transnational Governance Arrangements" researchers from the Institute of Development Research and Development Policy (IEE) and the Institute for Development and Peace (INEF) seek to analyse patterns of interaction of public and private regulation of labour, social and environmental standards in the textile and apparel industry in Bangladesh and Cambodia. The project aims to give a current empirical account of these governance arrangements. Therefore, insights are sought from interviews with various stakeholders in Bangladesh, Cambodia and Europe, such as government representatives, other public authorities, national and international organizations, representatives of enterprises and business associations, trade unions, workers, civil society organisations and academic experts. The project is financed by the German Mercator Research Center Ruhr (MERCUR) for the period of two years.

The project combines a legal and a political science perspective. Researchers from the Institute for Development and Peace (INEF) of the University Duisburg-Essen bring in a political science perspective, while legal expertise is contributed by IEE director Markus Kaltenborn, IEE research fellow Johannes Norpoth and Nina Geerkens from the Faculty of Law at the Ruhr-University Bochum. The project marks the first research cooperation between IEE and INEF under the roof of the UA Ruhr Graduate Center for Development Studies.

Related to its activities in the interdisciplinary research project, the IEE has joined the German Partnership for Sustainable Textiles in January 2016.

Urban Food Plus

GlobE-Urban Food Plus - African-German partnership to enhance resource use efficiency in urban and peri-urban agriculture for improved food security in West African cities

African food security not only depends on productivity increases in marginal rural areas, but also on a more efficient use of niche environments such as urban and peri-urban zones. The transdisciplinary Urban Food Plus (UFP) network of German, African and international scientists, private sector representatives, and stakeholders aims at developing site-specific, farmer-tailored innovations for improved agricultural production, food safety, and value chains in four West African cities. Initially, research will be conducted in the cities of Tamale (Ghana) and Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso). An extension of UFP to Bamako (Mali) and Bamenda (Cameroun) is planned.

Within UFP, the IEE is implementing sub-project (SP) 7 (Economics). This sub-project aims at assessing the economic impacts of innovations for improving soil fertility and irrigation in urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA), as proposed and test-implemented within the collaborative, transdisciplinary research framework of Urban Food Plus. More specifically, the sub-project will look at the welfare implications of introducing biochar as a soil amendment and safer irrigation options from the perspective of urban producers and consumers.

Research

Research Areas

Research at the IEE is concentrating on three core areas reflected in Research Clusters which have been formed as platforms for continuing exchange on research ideas among IEE members with similar fields of interest:

The Clusters aim at fostering exchanges between IEE members with a view to improve intra-departmental communication and cooperation as well as to promote research output in terms of, most importantly, workshops, publications and attendance of conferences.

Research Characteristics: Interdisciplinarity – Internationality – Practical Relevance

Bringing together researchers from the fields of economics, political science, sociology, geography, and law, one of the main characteristics of the IEE is its interdisciplinary angle to research which has created a vibrant culture of debate and intellectual exchange. Exposure to different perspectives and disciplines is increasing the practical relevance of research on questions related to international development cooperation.

The research activities of the IEE are broadly oriented towards the entire developing world. International outreach is supported through the PhD in International Development Studies which brings together young researchers from all over the world.

Specific regional expertise and international cooperation links have been established through major cooperation projects:

• South African – German Centre for Development Research: Apart from the cooperation with the University of the Western Cape in South Africa diverse links into the Sub-Saharan Africa region have been established.
• EUSA_ID - Capacity Building in Higher Education for an improved cooperation between the EU and South Africa in the field of Development Studies: via the Erasmus Mundus Action 2 project formal cooperation links to further South African universities as well as to European universities have been established.
• Urban Food Plus: Via the research project which is financed by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research the IEE gains specific expertise in Ghana and Burkina Faso.
• MERCUR-Project: The interdisciplinary project on "Political Authority in Transnational Governance Arrangements" analyses the interaction of public and private regulation of labour, social and environmental standards in the textile and apparel industry in Bangladesh and Cambodia. It is the first research cooperation between the IEE and the Institute of Development and Peace (INEF) at the University Duisburg-Essen under the roof of the UA Ruhr Graduate Center for Development Studies.

Finally, research at the IEE is driven by its emphasis on practical relevance and networking. Theory guided research is regularly complemented by empirical work conducted in periods of fieldwork. Networking activities with partners in academia and development practice ensure that exchange and mutual learning continue and deepen over time.