Based at Northeastern University's Policy School within the College of Social Sciences and Humanities, the Global Environmental Governance (GEG) Project is a collaborative initiative uniting researchers, practitioners, and policymakers in the pursuit of enhanced environmental governance for a brighter future. Initiated in 1997 at the Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy, it was co-founded by Professor Maria Ivanova, then a graduate student at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, and Professor Daniel Esty. With research emphases on global environmental governance, global development governance, and organizational sustainability, the Global Environmental Governance Project endeavors to connect students, faculty, and staff across diverse boundaries. We regularly convene and host distinguished scholars and policymakers from around the world, fostering discussions on environmental policy, regulation, implementation, advocacy, and justice.
The mission of the Project is to provide state-of-the-art research, policy input, and training tools to build a corps of new professionals committed to academic excellence, public service, and innovative leadership in solving complex sustainability challenges. ​
Our vision is to establish a leading intellectual hub that connects scholars and practitioners worldwide, linking analytical rigor and policy action on issues of environment, development, and sustainability governance.
Dr. Maria Ivanova, Director and Co-Founder
Professor Maria Ivanova is the Director of the Global Environmental Governance Project, with research focusing on international environmental institutions, sustainability, and the science-policy interface. She is a published author, notably of "The Untold Story of the World’s Leading Environmental Institution: UNEP at Fifty."
As the Director of the School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs at Northeastern University, Prof. Ivanova is a Research Scholar at MIT's Center for Collective Intelligence, an Ambassador for Transparency International, and serves on advisory councils for Yale University and the Carnegie Climate Governance Initiative.
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In 2022, the International Science Council honored her as one of 66 inaugural Foundation Fellows. She contributes to the Technical Advisory Group for the Global Commission on Science Missions for Sustainability, is an Andrew Carnegie Fellow, and serves on committees for the World Climate Research Programme.
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