Leuven, Flemish Region, Belgium
I am the Deputy Director Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies (KU Leuven), an interdisciplinary research centre at KU Leuven. It was set up to support and carry out high-quality international, innovative and interdisciplinary research on global governance. I have managed over 60 funded research and consultancy projects including multi-team and international FP7, Horizon 2020 and Jean Monnet projects and acted as a consultant to several national and international organizations including the European Parliament, the European Commission, International Labour Organization, International Trade Centre, United Nations Industrial Development Organization, United Nations Forum on Sustainability Standards, UNCTAD, OECD, IDEA, Worldbank, the Belgian, Dutch and German Governments and several private actors. My academic publications (300+) have appeared in 70+ leading international peer reviewed journals and 10 languages including inter alia in ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, World Trade Review, Business and Politics, Global Policy, International Labour Review, Journal of World Trade, Journal of World Trade and Investment, Regulation and Governance, European Political Science Review, Political Research Quarterly, Field Methods, Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, Sociological Methodology, Globalizations and World Development. I co-edited several books on global governance, international organizations, labor rights, trade and business and human rights and special issues in International Labour Review (2016), Global Policy (2017, 2023), Sustainability (2019, 2020) and Journal of European Integration (2022). I also developed a Massive Open Online Course on the Sustainable Development Goals and Sustainable Trade on the EdX-platform and launched an EdX Professional Certificate on Global Sustainability Governance. As a guest lecturer I have taught inter alia at European University Institute, China University of Political Science and Law and several European Universities. I am currently the co-chair of the Academic Advisory Council of the United Nations Forum on Sustainability Standards, a member of the Evidensia Research Council and a member of the steering committee of the ILO Labour Provisions in Trade Agreements Hub. My research interests include voluntary sustainability standards, sustainable trade, human/labour rights, global governance, corporate social responsibility, EU trade policy and comparative case methods.