Sharing expertise in Conflict, Governance and Development
Who we are
GIC Network is an international research network led by the Department of Conflict and Development Studies at Ghent University. It brings together all relevant disciplinary knowledge at Ghent University in a thematic interdisciplinary approach. Through cooperation with 28 academic partners from 16 countries a diversified regional andinternational expertise is integrated in the network. Bundling our strengths together creates valuable opportunities in research and education.
What we do
The Governance in Conflict Network starts from the nexus between conflict and development. This linkage is now recognized as one of the most crucial contemporary global challenges: for the first time promoting just, peaceful and inclusive societies has been integrated as one of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG16).
Understanding everyday governance and development in fragile and conflict-affected situations remains a challenge for both policy makers and development practitioners. Increasingly we start to understand that governance and development in such places is regulated by continuous changing coalitions of state, private and societal actors on the local, national, regional and international level. Too often current policy frameworks are unable to capture and adjust to the everyday realities of governance, which are often neglected or badly understood. Therefore, the Governance in Conflict Network wants to bridge the existing knowledge and policy gap on governance, conflict and development.
The network’s aim is to push the debate one step further by bringing together academic excellence that reflects on critical and alternative understandings of governance and development in conflict situations. The network will do this by combining an empirical field perspective with a thematic multi-disciplinary approach that will bring together research on several governance fields (health, justice, security, poverty reduction, economic development, ...).
