Events

GIGA, RWI, DEval, and the evaluation department of KfW invite to a one-day Learning Forum on the use of evidence in German development cooperation. The forum aims to firmly establish evidence-based approaches on the agenda of political decision-makers and to strengthen the dialogue between research and practice. Using concrete examples and current development policy challenges, the event will demonstrate how evidence can be systematically applied to inform and improve decision-making processes.

This GIGA Talk explores how people and politicians across Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East view today’s major conflicts — perspectives often missing from European media. Our panelists discuss how history, regional dynamics, and strategic priorities shape these diverse interpretations of events.

One year after Germany’s significant – and controversial – cannabis reform, leading experts draw on experiences of marijuana legalisation elsewhere to discuss the intended and unintended outcomes, the opportunities for improvement, and the uncertain outlook for the country’s new cannabis policy.

Global carbon markets rely heavily on land-based projects in the Global South. While offering to finance nature-based solutions, they risk overestimating emissions reductions and producing conflict with local communities over scarce land resources. A new Land Matrix report underlines the need for high-integrity markets.

The Horn of Africa is in flux: new alignments, regional rivalries, and global involvement are reshaping prospects for peace and stability. What do these shifts mean for Germany, the EU, and their role in the region?

Discover how China draws on shared histories, emotional resonance, and nostalgia to shape its influence in the Global South. In this talk, Lina Benabdallah explores how Silk Road memories and anti-colonial affinities are reimagined to frame the Belt and Road as a revival of past prosperity.

Prof. Alev Çınar examines the production of civilizationist discourse in the Islamic intellectual field, which gave rise not only to the civilizationist vision of Turkey’s ruling party, the AKP, but also to various other Islam-based intellectual movements that emerged in the field since the 1940s.

This GIGA Forum brings together four experts to dissect the highlights and outcomes of the 17th BRICS Summit in Brazil. With perspectives spanning longstanding and newer BRICS members, the panel explores in depth the group’s evolving role in addressing global challenges.

In summer 2025, the city-twinning of Hamburg and Dar es Salaam will celebrate its 15-year anniversary. What opportunities can such a partnership offer for North–South cooperation in the context of changing geopolitical power relations?  

India is an active BRICS member also deepening its ties with the West. With its strategy of “multi-alignment,” India claims to be a leader of the Global South. The GIGA’s team of India experts, Sharinee Jagtiani (German Marshall Fund), and Germany’s ambassador to India, Philipp Ackermann, debate the country’s geopolitical sweet spot.

How can we balance economic development opportunities with fair labour conditions and environmental responsibility in global supply chains? Join us and our international guests on the occasion of the Hamburg Sustainability Conference to explore the key dilemmas and solutions for more sustainable trade. 

Presenting insights from more than 30 global experts on Global Perspectives on Responsible Economic Statecraft we discuss how economic tools can be used to navigate geopolitical tensions, balance diverging interests, and contribute to more stability through forward-looking and proactive strategies.

Germany is facing important foreign policy decisions: How can the new government best interact with the Global South between democratic crisis, power competition, and ongoing economic interests? In this GIGA Forum, experts analyse challenges, opportunities, and possible strategies here. 

The panel analyses the characteristics, causes, and consequences of drug trafficking and drug policy in the Middle East, the Caribbean, Southeast Asia, and West Africa. The discussion contextualises the challenges of transatlantic drug trafficking, teases out commonalities and differences, and provides comparative insights.

Experts from diverse fields gather to explore the evolving challenges of illicit drug trafficking from Latin America to Europe and beyond. With a focus on ports as strategic hubs, they examine underlying dynamics and emerging trends, available data and common misconceptions, community impacts and civil society’s role. 

At “Decoding BRICS,” renowned experts, policymakers, and representatives from business and academia will discuss key questions about the future of the BRICS group and its impact on the global order. Joint conference by Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom, Federal Chancellor Helmut Schmidt Foundation, Körber-Stiftung, German Asia-Pacific Business Association, and GIGA.

The Co-LABorate workshop, “Preserving and Transferring Indigenous Knowledge in a Digital World,” will convene global experts, leaders, and activists to explore key challenges and opportunities in preserving and sharing indigenous knowledge through digital innovation.

This event will officially launch and highlight selected insights from the Sustainable Global Supply Chains Report 2024 on “Decent Work in Global Supply Chains”.

The 29th webinar of the Franco-German Observatory of the Indo-Pacific, hosted by the CERI, features Dr Kelly A. Grieco of the Stimson Center in Washington. She will speak about the integration of defence Industries and US hegemony. Is an Indo-Pacific military-industrial complex in the making?