UVic's Centre for Global Studies is bringing together some of the best brains in the country to help solve the problems of global governance as it relates to sustainable development, human security, and national security.
"This interdisciplinary research centre is motivated in part by the recognition that in the university community you have a lot of people working on big public policy issues, but the results of their work don't necessarily get seen by those in the policy process," says Dr. Gordon Smith, director of the centre. "People involved in that process don't have time to read academic journals or books. When they do have time to read, it has to be material that is short and action-oriented.
"In addition, a new global agenda is emerging due to a growing interdependence among countries," says Smith. "The result is a series of major problems that have to be tackled and to which the university can bring real value."
Climate change is one of these problems. "We all saw the process leading up to the Kyoto Conference late last year, in which Canadian policy was pretty unconvincingly put forward," Smith says. "In fact there really wasn't a policy; there was a policy vacuum. And these are areas where UVic expertise can cut across traditional academic boundaries. The centre can bring together resources that can really have an impact on public policy."
According to Smith, such topics require more than one type of expertise. "You need climatologists, alternate energy people, political scientists, economists. You need multidisciplinary teams to tackle these sorts of issues."
It is this multidisciplinary approach that the centre brings to its research. Currently, the centre for global studies is working with UVic's centre for studies in religion and society and the university's institute for dispute resolution on a project on religion and conflict. "From our research, we plan to produce policy briefs that are highly focused and action-oriented," says Smith.
The environment isn't the only problem the centre will tackle. Right now, the centre is studying international organized crime, with a conference planned for the spring of next year.
Prior to coming to UVic, Smith was deputy minister of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade in Ottawa and Prime Minister Jean Chretien's personal representative at the last three G7 and G8 summits. Previously, he had had been permanent representative and ambassador to the Canadian delegation to NATO in Brussels, secretary to the cabinet for federal-provincial relations, and ambassador to the European Union in Brussels.