Expert Preparatory Roundtable: Behavioural Sciences

There is a growing body of research that applies insights from the behavioural sciences to the challenges of the global commons and governance of global public goods. This research recognizes that behaviours play an important role in shaping cooperation and governance arrangements for global public goods and, consequently, they warrant greater consideration.

The 4 April expert roundtables, organized by United Nations University Centre for Policy Research (UNU-CPR) with the University of Hamburg and United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER) and supported by the UN Foundation, was guided by the following interrelated question areas:

• What can we learn from recent efforts to improve the global public good governance frameworks?
• What makes each model unique in terms of intergovernmental mechanisms, norms, operational tools, participation, enforcement, and review processes?
• How can the field of behavioural sciences help to address governance gaps and guide efforts to design more robust protections for global public goods?
• What specific recommendations can be offered to HLAB to advance this objective?

This event was co-chaired by Dr David Passarelli (UNU-CPR) and Professor Patricia Justino (UNU-WIDER) and moderated by Professors Anne van Aaken and Eva van der Zee (University of Hamburg).