Direct Faculty Support
One important way CEU contributes is via direct faculty support to organizations requiring expert assistance. For the European Commission, CEU faculty assessed the implementation and enforcement of environmental law in six accession countries. For the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), CEU faculty members investigated online privacy and protection of children. For the U.N. Environmental Programme, CEU faculty developed a program for promoting the Bali Guidelines on Rio Principle 10, focused on improving nations' legal structures on environmental governance. And for the U.N. High Commission on Refugees, CEU faculty provided a day of training on high-level diplomacy and negotiation to 15 senior officials.
Partnerships
Apart from individual projects, CEU is involved in hundreds of partnerships within the region and worldwide. In tandem with the Law Society of Ireland, for example, CEU's Legal Studies Department will offer joint training courses to Irish and Hungarian judges in Dublin and Budapest to promote judicial cooperation in civil matters and to increase familiarity with essential elements of European Union instruments. CEU Business School cooperates with Hungary's National Innovation Office, the American Chamber of Commerce in Hungary, the U.S. Embassy and the Hungarian Venture Capital Association, among others, to promote innovation and entrepreneurship. And through a joint initiative, CEU and Turkey's Sabanci University provide financial support to cooperative projects in fields including foreign policy, globalization, human rights, international development, conflict analysis and resolution, and democratization.
Public Events
CEU is a hub of open debate, of academic and cultural gatherings and exchange. The University hosts over 700 public events a year, including lectures and lecture series, roundtables, workshops, conferences, seminars, film screenings, book launches and cultural events. Participants in these events, including leading figures from around the world and members of CEU's own diverse body of academics and researchers, discussed solutions to challenges as diverse as globalization and technology, minorities and poverty, migration, surveillance, secrecy and disclosure, the Syrian conflict, journalists and whistleblowers, and assessments of the EU. Some key speakers included Lawrence Bacow, George Lakoff, Paul Collier, Helga Nowotny, Aryeh Neier, Gareth Evans and Stephen Greenblatt.
