UIA Academic Forum

The Union of International Associations has founded the UIA Academic Forum to provide the opportunity for discussion of all aspects of international organization activities, their history and future prospects. Research based on UIA data, or not, may be presented, and exchanges on developments in associations and their work are encouraged.

It will welcome participants from academic institutions, intergovernmental, governmental and non-governmental organizations, and anyone with an interest in the topics to be debated.


UIA Academic Forum

Future Roles for International Organizations

Held in cooperation with the
17th International Conference of the International Society for Third Sector Research (ISTR)
13 and 14 July 2026 at ISCTE – Instituto Universitário de Lisboa, Lisbon


This first meeting is planned for Monday 13 July and Tuesday 14 July 2026 at the Instituto Universitário de Lisboa - ISCTE, Avenida das Forças Armadas, 1649-026 Lisbon, Portugal, in association with the Seventeenth International Conference of the International Society for the Third Sector ISTR which will be held from 14 to 17 July.

The schedule is as follows:


MONDAY 13 July 2026

1:15

Welcome from Cyril Ritchie, Elizabeth Bloodgood and Daniel Laqua

1:30

Opening Lecture

  • Cyril Ritchie (President, Union of International Associations), ‘Future Roles for International Associations’

2:00

Coffee break

2:15

Panel 1: International Associations and Global Governance

  • Thomas Davies (Reader in International Politics, City-St Georges, University of London), ‘INGOs and Alternative Visions of Global Order’
  • Esperanza Duran (Vice-President, Union of International Associations), ‘Navigating Power: How NGOs Shape the Rules of Global Economic Governance’

3:15

Coffee break

3:30

Panel 2: The Politics of Representation

  • Takumi Shibaike (Assistant Professor of Political Science, Syracuse University), ‘Who Governs Endangered Species? Science, Ideology, and North–South Representation of NGOs at CITES’
  • Elizabeth Bloodgood (Professor of Political Science, Concordia University), ‘NGOS, Representation and Location’

4:45

Close

5:00

Reception (details tbc)

TUESDAY 14 July 2026

9:00

Panel 3: The Pasts of International Organisations

  • José Pedro Monteiro (Assistant Professor, Centre for the History of Society and Culture, Universidade de Coimbra), ‘The Impact of Decolonization in the Past, Present (and Future?) of International Organizations: The Politics of Information and Representation’
  • Ana Guardião (Research Fellow, Università degli Studi di Firenze / Researcher, Universidade de Coimbra), ‘Decolonization, Refugeedom and the (Re)Shaping Humanitarian Governance: Challenges for International Organizations’

10:00

Coffee break

10:15

Panel 4: Supporting International Organisations

  • Tim Wöffen (Universität Osnabrück), ‘What is the Future of Infrastructural Organisations for International Associations?’
  • Bob Clark and Hillel Arnold (Rockefeller Archive Center), ‘Archives and the History of International Organisations’

11:15

Closing comments: Daniel Laqua and Cyril Ritchie

For information on event, please contact Elizabeth Bloodgood (elizabeth.bloodgood@concordia.ca) and Daniel Laqua (daniel.laqua@northumbria.ac.uk).
Daniel is also happy to answer questions about the UIA Academic Forum.


To register, click here: RegistrationRegistration will close on 1 July 2026

For questions concerning UIA in general, please contact the UIA President, Cyril Ritchie (critchie485@gmail.com)

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