The Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna (Scuola) is a public University located in Pisa, Italy and with a special focus on social and applied sciences. The Scuola has a staff of about 130 administrative personnel and 180 professors and researchers. The annual budget of the Scuola is about 50 million Euro of which about 12 million are related to research activities. The scientific and research activities of the Scuola in the field of social sciences are focused on management of innovation, human rights, management of complex emergencies, development of civil society, governance. The Scuola is presently involved in about 30 different research projects and is an active partner in about 40 scientific international networks. Furthermore the Scuola has gained a significant experience in leading and implementing successfully international research projects many of which were financially supported by the EU.

The Scuola established in 1995 a post-graduate programme: the International Training Programme for Conflict Management (ITPCM) whose mission is to contribute to the peaceful management of conflicts through multi-actors and multi-layers strategies to facilitate social change.

The International Section of the Dipartimento di Studi sullo Stato of the University of Florence has been an active part, and often a promoter, of a number of multinational research projects in the past twenty-five years. The section is also a participant in several EU Programmes, such as Socrates and Tempus. In 2001 it formally established an inter-university centre which includes a number of Departments from the Universities of Florence, Padua, Pavia, Perugia, Roma Tre, and Urbino. The Machiavelli Centre for Cold War Studies (Centro interuniversitario “Machiavelli” per lo studio dei conflitti strutturali della guerra fredda) is the core of a large network of national and international academic contacts. It is fully linked to a Ph.D. programme in the History of International Relations coordinated by Prof. Massimiliano Guderzo. Recent conferences promoted by the Centre include “From Helsinki to Gorbachev, 1975-1985: The Globalization of the Bipolar Confrontation”, 27-29 April 2006; “Caucasus and Central Asia: The «Near Abroad»”, 6-7 December 2006; “Ripensare l'Europa a cinquanta anni dalla firma dei Trattati di Roma”, 27-28 April 2007.

ISIS (Bulgaria) is listed among the 300 leading think-tanks world-wide in the 1999, 2002 and 2005 editions of the NIRA’s World Directory of Think Tanks, Tokyo, Japan; among the 500 leading strategic studies centres by the IISS, London in 1998.  ISIS is not linked to any political party, movement, organisation, religious or ideological denomination and is part of the ISN, member of the Consortium of the Defence Academies and Security Studies Institutes of the PfP countries, member of the Europe's World Journal Advisory Board In 2006 ISIS had 10 voluntary associates: 4 Senior Researchers/4 PhD holders, three PhD writers, 3 M.As.. The Wisconsin University awarded the website of ISIS in October 1999 with the Scout Banner of Most Recommended Website in the Social Sciences. ISIS is member of the non-governmental Coalition for Reform of the Security Sector in Bulgaria and of the Bulgarian University Network for Security Studies. After 1994 ISIS became the meeting point and generator of conceptual thinking for civilian and military experts on security. ISIS was a leading institution in carrying out the following international projects (in the PfP Consortium of defence academies and security studies institutes and other formats):

1) Civil-Military Relations in South East Europe: A Survey of the National Perspectives and of the Adaptation Process to the Partnership for Peace Standards (1999-2000)
2) The Evolution of Civil-Military Relations in South East Europe: Continuing Democratic Reform and Adapting to the Needs of Fighting Terrorism (2002-2005)
3) Civil-Military Relations and Democratic Control of the Security Sector: A Handbook for Military Officers, Servicemen and Servicewomen of the Security and Intelligence Agencies, and for Civilian Politicians and Security Experts (2004-2005)
4) Post-Conflict Rehabilitation: Lessons from South East Europe and Strategic Consequences for the Euro-Atlantic Community (2004-2006).

 

ISIS Europe is an independent research organisation that works to increase transparency, stimulate parliamentary engagement and broaden participation in EU and NATO policy-making. Through its publications and events, ISIS Europe facilitates parliamentary and inter-institutional dialogue and provides policy input to strengthen common approaches to conflict prevention, crisis management, peace building, arms control and disarmament.

ISIS Europe aims to support the development of a more comprehensive and integrated approach to the planning and deployment of civilian and military instruments in active crisis situations and for post-conflict reconstruction. Civil-military relations within the EU are examined as well as the institutional relationships between the EU and NATO, the OSCE and UN. ISIS Europe has a Responding to Conflict Programme, through which it has organized numerous roundtable discussions in the European Parliament and conferences in Brussels, and published many related articles in its regular publication European Security Review. ISIS Europe is a founding member of the European Peacebuilding Liaison Office (EPLO), a network of 17 NGOs active in conflict prevention and peacebuilding and ISIS Europe’s conflict prevention work is often conducted within this collective framework.

Egmont - the Royal Institute for International Relations, is an independent think-thank based in Brussels, focusing on  European Affairs,  Security and Global governance and Central Africa. The institute aims at providing operational, policy relevant research and analysis in these domains. The main object of the Central Africa Programme is to conduct research on political, economic, social and security issues and developments relating to this region. This research also relates to the major trends on the African continent (African Union, Regional Integration, conflict analysis and post-conflict reconstruction) and it analyses the role and position of the EU in Sub-Sahara Africa.

The Univerza v Ljubljani (University of Ljubljana - UL) is an institution with a very rich tradition. It was established in 1919 upon the tradition of semi-university institutions from 17th century. It remained the only Slovenian university until 1975. The university has its seat in Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia.

The Centre of International Relations (CIR) (Center za prouÄ�evanje mednarodnih odnosov – CMO) was established in 1981 as an independent institution, with no political or state affiliation. It forms an integral part of the research Institute of Social Sciences at the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana. In addition to conducting research as its most important activity, the CIR, headed by Professor Marjan SvetliÄ�iÄ�, also carries out teaching and other assignments that fall within its fields of interest. CIR research is interdisciplinary. Its members include experts in International Relations, International Economic Relations, International Law, International Organisations, Theories of International Relations, Political Science, History, European Integration, International Business, and International Security. The CIR research projects and other activities are mainly financed by grants from the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology of the Republic of Slovenia, Slovenian Research Agency and from various international institutions and programmes. Recent CIR research projects have been funded by PHARE ACE, TEMPUS PHARE, and EU TSER. Since 2005, the CIR has been a partner in two networks of excellence (the sixth EU framework programmes), the GARNET (a Network of Excellence on Global Governance, Regionalisation and Regulation: The Role of the EU) and the EU-CONSENT (a Network of excellence on Constructing a Europe Network: Wider Europe, Deeper Integration?). Within both networks, the CIR has co-ordinated one research area (a jointly executed research project on the EU and Eastern Europe within the GARNET, and a working group on the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union within the EU-CONSENT; both research activities have been co-ordinated by Asst. Prof. Petra Roter, Ph.D.). Together with Palgrave, the CIR publishes the Journal of International Relations and Development, the official journal of the Central and East European International Studies Association (CEEISA).

 

The ETC has been set up as a non-profit association and started its work in October 1999. Its main aim is to conduct research and training programs in the fields of human rights, democracy and the rule of law in close co-operation with the University of Graz. Special emphasis is put on training programs for civil servants, the police, army, as well as for members of international organizations and NGOs in Austria and abroad. Simultaneously, research is conducted with a particular research focus on South Eastern Europe. These concepts provide also a basis for the dialogue of civilizations.

The implementation of the objectives of the United Nations Decade on Human Rights Education (1995 - 2004) in Austria requires an essential widening of the offers in the field of human rights education and training, both in formal education and in the basic training of the police or judges, but also in the training of teachers and collaborators of public administration or non-governmental organisations. The overriding objective is a contribution to the development of a "Culture of Human Rights" at the global, European and local level, i.e. by the support of the development of human rights cities.

 

The Centre for the Study of Global Governance at the London School of Economics is a leading international institution dedicated to research, analysis and dissemination about global governance. Based at the London School of Economics, the Centre aims to increase understanding and knowledge of global issues, to encourage interaction between academics, policy makers, journalists and activists, and to propose solutions. The Centre for the Study of Global Governance has been developing systematically the expertise on the Balkans since the commencement of its South East Europe Faculty Development Programme in 2002, focused on building teaching and research capacity in the Western Balkans in the field of politics, economics, history and law, in relation to the region’s EU accession process.

Accordingly, the Centre staff has been involved in various academic initiatives in the region, such as a three-year project on ‘Developing Curricula in European Studies and Transition and Reconstruction’ in Bosnia- Herzegovina under the Tempus scheme. This has resulted in the introduction of two Masters programmes in Sarajevo and Banja Luka and a number of undergraduate courses. Following the successful completion of a pilot European Regional Masters Programme in Democracy and Human Rights in South East Europe in 2000, the European Commission has approved a new three- year cycle of the project; the LSE co-ordinates ‘Economic, Social and Cultural Rights’ cluster of the masters programme based in Sarajevo, Bosnia- Herzegovina.

 

With nearly 25,000 students and 5,000 staff the University of Amsterdam (UvA) is one of the four ‘classical’ comprehensive universities in the Netherlands. The UvA offers undergraduate and graduate degree programmes in over sixty disciplines. Over eighty degree programmes – most of them at graduate level – are fully offered in English. The UvA is a large university, but a small scale has been preserved in how it is organised. The Department of Political Science (with more than 40 staff members and streams in international political economy, public policy, international relations, political theory & behaviour, and European policy) operates in the context of the UvA’s 'Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences' (FMG). The FMG has a prominent standing within the social sciences in Europe and is the largest social science faculty in the Netherlands. More than 7,500 students follow courses within the Faculty. The academic staff work for the educational institutes, the six faculty departments, as well as (inter-)faculty research institutes. Almost 1,100 employees make a direct or indirect contribution.

The Centre is based in the Department of Peace Studies at the University of Bradford. It is an acknowledged centre of excellence in a broad range of international peace and security areas. In particular, CICS has developed cutting-edge research and policy-programme expertise in the inter-relationships between violent conflict, human security, social development, governance and environmental sustainability. It is able to draw upon its own resources and an international network of over two hundred subject-matter experts. CICS researchers are internationally recognised for their expertise and contributions to regional and international negotiations and to the development and implementation of international co-operation and technical assistance programmes. CICS conducts academic and policy-programme research, training and programme evaluation on a range of conflict and co-operation issues, including international affairs, international assistance and co-operation programmes, trans-national policy and governance issues, particularly in the areas of:

• violent conflict, security and development;
• security sector reform;
• democratic governance;
• conflict prevention and reduction;
• post-conflict peace-building, Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR), reconstruction and recovery;
• democratisation and democratic institution building, particularly in fragile and post-conflict countries;
• trans-national trafficking and organized crime; and
• non-proliferation, weapons reduction, arms control and confidence building measures.