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Vast amounts of data are being generated across all segments of society. If taken advantage of, these data offer an unprecedented opportunity to accelerate scientific discovery, to improve healthcare and wellbeing, and to strengthen our communities. The data science community of Maastricht University is home to multiple institutes covering a wide range of expertise.

The inter-disciplinary project looks at global trends and dynamics with a focus on multidimensional globalization and the Ecological Footprint as a proxy for human pressures on the environment. Further, the research deconstructs the global policy discourse(s) on the (green) economy, climate change and health & well-being and thereby reveals the underlying values and worldviews.

The coffee production system in Indonesia is mainly characterized by smallholder production (90%). It is also a sector with several (competing) global certifying entities, some of which have a partnership structure. These certifying partnerships have somehow restructured the coffee supply chain in Indonesia, although its magnitude might not be as large as the impact potentials on strengthening the social capital and improving the community-cooperative governance in the producing regions. The partnerships generally require establishment of farmers’ organizations and locally adopted conducts. However, many of these standards provide no guarantee that direct benefits, particularly price premiums, would reach farm laborers or local communities.

Partnerships that certify agricultural commodities should be taken seriously by governments because they represent legitimate expressions of societal perspectives. However, they also create dilemmas for them, as they need to find a new balance between public and private responsibilities. Current research shows a lot of uncertainty among governments on how to react. This is further complicated by the variety of certifying arrangements and the competition among them. Moreover, from various studies it has also become clear that the effectiveness of private certification strongly depends on governmental policies.

This research project focuses on certification and view certification as a governance intervention logic. This intervention intends to transform conventional agricultural production toward a more sustainable agricultural production. However, the effects on smallholders are questioned, as they still confronted with problems of making a living, while they also face many limitations, such as limited access to training, access to capital and access on inputs production. Those who do not have access on assets may be marginalized from the market, which may also hamper their ability to improve their livelihood.

The newly appointed advisory council on diversity and inclusivity has held its first meeting on 11 December 2017 to discuss its 2018 agenda.

It is with great sadness that we mourn the totally unexpected death of Hugo Heuveneers (†14 December 2017), first year European Law School Student. Hugo lived in Chaudfontaine, Belgium. Following his high school diploma and a first year of studies in Liège, he came to Maastricht in September 2017 with ambition and big dreams.

It’s pretty impossible to get a hold of him these days. “November has been crazy travel wise and it will continue to be like that until halfway December.” Samuel Laurinkari, Head of European Affairs at eBay, is the linking pin between eBay and the European institutions when it comes to legislations or policies that affect their platform or stakeholders. “I share our views on the regulatory framework and related policies with European policy makers. Sometimes that includes telling them than something is not a good idea, something that includes supporting ideas that have been put forward. As eBay is an open commerce platform, there’s a huge amount of legislation impacting us and our users“