Collaborative Research Project Go-Chains: Sustainability Governance of Global Value Chains

Overview

How can global supply chains become more socially just, environmentally friendly and compliant with human rights? This question is at the heart of the research cluster  “Sustainability Governance of Global Value Chains”. The interdisciplinary research project - funded by the state of Lower Saxony and the Volkswagen Foundation - brings together the expertise of Leuphana University Lüneburg, the Universities of Osnabrück and Oldenburg and the GIGA Hamburg.

The GO-Chains research cluster examines how new legal regulations of global supply chains - such as the German Supply Chain Act or the EU Supply Chain Directive - are implemented, what challenges and scope for action arise for companies, authorities and those affected, and what ecological and human rights effects these regulations have along the entire value chain - especially in countries of the Global South. The effects as well as similar laws and alternative proposals will be analyzed.

The research in the project combines interdisciplinary expertise from political science, law, economics and geosciences. At Leuphana University, researchers from three faculties are involved - Sustainability, Management & Technology and Political Science. The consortium is complemented by researchers from the Universities of Oldenburg and Osnabrück and the German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA) in Hamburg. Among other things, they contribute knowledge in comparative political science, sustainable supply chain management, geography and development cooperation - with a particular focus on the perspectives of the Global South.

In the long term, the scientific area is intended to create a sound basis for political and economic action - for example through concrete recommendations for action or further training courses for companies, authorities and other stakeholders.

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