Showcase your ideas at the United Nations:
Remodeling Global Cooperation
Call for Ideas
The United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) and the Graduate Institute’s
Programme for the Study of International Governance invite students enrolled at the Graduate Institute
to submit their ideas for radical yet realistic new models of global cooperation that will better meet
today’s challenges. Together with selected students, we will prepare a joint UNRISD-Graduate Institute
entry in the “New Shape” competition organized by the Global Challenges Foundation.
A changing world
The world is experiencing unprecedented change and volatility in many dimensions. The global
economic model is struggling, with rising wealth inequality and high youth unemployment a decade
after the financial crisis. This is fueling populist politics and a backlash against migration and trade. At
the same time, a shift in the world’s economic and political gravity is bolstering development and
poverty reduction in the global south. New digital technologies are fundamentally changing how
people and institutions relate to each other, work, and access essential services. Yet conflict and
instability continue to displace millions, while rising sea-levels and temperatures induced by climate
change are augmenting extreme weather events and threatening agriculture, habitats, and
ecosystems.
Shortcomings of the current system
The forces behind these dynamics cross national borders and bind people together in complex ways.
Yet international cooperation, essential to shape this future, proceeds at a glacial pace. While spaces
provided by the UN, regional bodies and the G20 can aid discussion and agreement, as seen with the
2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, common objectives are no guarantee of action. And in
many areas a lack of agreement prevents any action at all. Why can’t countries agree on pathways for
global action that bring mutual benefits and avoid mutual disaster? What can be done to reinvigorate
international cooperation, to broker common goals, and incentivize action? How can we harness the
skills, expertise and resources of different types of actors to enhance this process?
The New Shape challenge
The Global Challenges Foundation has launched a competition—A New Shape: Remodeling Global
Cooperation—to stimulate fresh thinking on how we can collectively address today’s challenges.
UNRISD and the Graduate Institute’s Programme for the Study of International Governance will select a
small group of students to work together on a creative proposal for remodeling global cooperation, in
response to the New Shape competition.
Submit your ideas
You can apply to be a part of this team by submitting your one-page idea for remodeling global
governance, along with a short statement explaining why you want to participate—by 9am (CET) on
Monday 12 June to [email protected]. Only students enrolled in an academic course at the Graduate
Institute are eligible to apply to be part of the joint UNRISD-Graduate Institute team submitting a
proposal, and you must be physically present in Geneva to attend fortnightly meetings from mid-June
to the end of September.
How it works
Your ideas will be evaluated by researchers from UNRISD and the Programme for the Study of
International Governance, and six to eight students will be selected and invited to the first team
meeting to be held on Friday 23 June. The team will meet for about two hours every two weeks from
mid-June to the end of September, when the proposal will be submitted. These meetings will include
brainstorm sessions with researchers from UNRISD and the Programme for the Study of International
Governance, to tease out, develop and polish our ideas for re-shaping global governance. The team will
jointly prepare a proposal in line with the criteria specified by the Global Challenges Foundation.
Benefits for the selected students
 Students will have the opportunity to showcase their ideas within the United Nations
 Students will get the chance to work with researchers from UNRISD and the Programme for the
Study of International Governance to jointly develop and submit the New Shape competition
proposal
 Students will receive a certificate of collaboration from UNRISD and the Graduate Institute
 Whether the proposal is evaluated favourably by the Foundation or not, the ideas generated by the
group will be given profile by UNRISD and the Graduate Institute on their websites and in their enews
 Opportunities will be sought to connect the students to relevant conferences and discussions on
global governance