United Nations University will establish a new Research and Training Programme (RTP) on comparative regional integration studies in Bruges, Belgium.

At its first meeting for 2001, the UNU governing council endorsed a proposal from Rector Hans van Ginkel to establish UNU/CRIS  in collaboration with the College of Europe and with the support of the Government of Flanders from April 1.

The proposal to establish an RTP on comparative regional integration studies is based on the need to understand the dynamics of regionalization and integration in various contexts, and in light of a number of contemporary processes and forces such as globalization, localization, and socio-economic change. 

The UNU Council recommended that the initiative should consider inter- and intra- regional integration beyond Europe, and that the study should be conceived and managed to generate insights into the challenges of integration in developing countries. A broad and multidisciplinary approach should be encouraged – including an anthropological investigation of the social background of different types of regional integration.

The government of Flanders has offered funding of US$1.5 million for 2001 and 2002 and an additional $1.25 million a year for five years from 2003.