International Cooperation Talks at the C·A·P

Dr. Peter Thiery, Prof. Dr. Werner Weidenfeld, Prof. Marco Rüdiger Ph.D., Jürgen Turek M.A. and Michael Bauer, M.A.

As response to a visit of a delegation of the C.A.P earlier this year, Prof. Marco Rüdiger Ph.D., a leading and highly qualified figure from the Brazilian Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV), visited the Center in order to discuss some concrete common projects.

Initially, the foundation, which was founded by former Brazilian President Getulio Vargas, was mainly working in the area of public services and youth education. Its original goal was to train people for the country’s public and private sector management. Additional courses have been offered as the institution grew. This process of expansion is still ongoing. Of particular interest for the FGV in this context are methods for measuring the quality of governance within the federal system of Brazil. In this policy field, the C·A·P has been a pioneer for the past decades. The Center has played a central role in developing the Bertelsmann Transformation Index (BTI) and the Sustainable Governance Indicators (SGI). Both are highly regarded scientific instruments for the measurement of performance in governance, democracy and the economy. Additionally, today the Center is sought-after in the whole field of applied policy research. Last but not least, the education of Brazilian students is of common interest as well and could be realized through online training programs as well as in the framework of the European Studies Program in cooperation with the Munich International Summer University (MISU). The umbrella for this is a Memorandum of Understanding that has been signed a few days ago between the C·A·P, the Foundation and the University of Munich.

The activities of the Fundacao Getulio Vargas cover the whole country and focus on Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and Brasilia. Originally designed as a venue for modernizing the public sector, the FGV nowadays produces a large amount of academic research. The subject areas comprise macro and micro-economics, finance, business, decision-making, law, health, welfare, poverty and unemployment, pollution, and sustainable development. The foundation also entertains research programs in the fields of history, social sciences, education, citizenship, and politics. Moreover, it also realizes projects at the request of the public sector, private enterprises and international agencies such as the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). Notable examples of such work include assistance to Rio de Janeiro’s successful application for the 2007 Pan American Games and the 2016 Summer Olympics. The Foreign Policy magazine considers the FGV to be among the top 5 ‘policymaker think-tanks’ worldwide.