National governments are, of course, also important players in the landscape of multi-level governance. In the European model, they play a crucial role in the development of a country's infrastructure, the core elements of which are public order and security, as well as sectors such as education, health care, social security and culture. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, countries will start to invest more in strategic economic sectors, such as the production of medicines or basic services like electricity. Now those are all fairly monocausal issues, and that is where the democratic model with its political parties comes in. Of course, you need a clear government structure for that, and as far as that is concerned, we are not particularly spoiled in Belgium... In any case, universities are well placed to advise the authorities in all of this. Just as study services of political parties do. 

Clustered multi-causal problems such as biodiversity, CO2 emissions, pandemics or refugee flows are of an entirely different order. Solutions can only be provided through international cooperation, at every level. We are, of course, looking at political actors such as Europe, the G7, the United Nations and so on. But other actors also play a very important role. Here are a few examples from the colourful world of multi-level governance. Who is working at the construction site of our future? 

First, there is the international network of scientists. Deciding on how to handle the COVID-19 pandemic might have divided countries internally and externally, but you saw little to no of this division among scientists. Virologists, infectiologists, bacteriologists and whatever techniques they used, they found each other almost immediately in a global network of knowledge exchange in which great consensus was maintained. International knowledge networks are now driving policymaking. Similarly, economic experts across countries established the euro currency in 2002 and steered European economic policy, overcoming the banking crisis of 2008 and, most recently, the COVID-19 crisis, leveraging what they have long advocated: the introduction of European bonds.

First, there is the international network of scientists. Deciding how to handle the COVID-19 pandemic might have divided countries internally and externally, but you did not see this division among scientists. Virologists, infectiologists, bacteriologists and whatever techniques they used, they found each other almost immediately in a global network of knowledge exchange in which great consensus was maintained. International knowledge networks are now driving policymaking. Similarly, economic experts across countries established the euro currency and steered European economic policy, overcoming the banking crisis of 2008 and, most recently, the COVID-19 crisis, leveraging what they have long advocated: the introduction of European bonds.
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Companies are also powerful national and international networks with great expertise. The mind shift in the business world over the last five years has been enormous. The difficult-to-grasp umbrella term ‘sustainability’ is considered at every level. The fact that companies are making this move has a lot to do with the fact that both their staff and their customers expect this of the company. Just as scientific networks can fundamentally contribute to solving the wicked problems, so can the business world, because they are a huge player. Pressure from below is also an important factor.
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The latter leads us to the other end of the spectrum with other important players who can help tackle the clustered problems. The globalisation of the world is at a turning point. Take a look at the long production chains and the just-in-time management of stocks: this is inherent to the globalisation of the free market, but the COVID-19 pandemic showed that we must organise the world in a completely different way. Moreover, in recent years, the realisation has grown that global problems can also be solved decentrally. I refer to Elinor Ostrom, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2009 for her analysis of governance by commons. She showed that global public good can be created with local, decentralised solutions. The success of such decentralised solutions is contagious, in that other regions are increasingly opting for them.What we see emerging is the upgrading of smaller clusters, which is indicative of some form of deglobalisation. I am thinking, for example, of societal ecosystems: a complex set of coherent interactions in a given area without clear boundaries. Let us take the region of Antwerp. How big is it actually? If you take health care as your focus, then this region has a reach of some 1.2 million people – deep into the Waasland region, towards Brussels, as far as the southern Netherlands. This coincides with the scope of the University of Antwerp, because among the ranked universities of excellence, you have one university per one million inhabitants worldwide. The wide region of Antwerp presents itself as a coherent area in many respects, with fluid boundaries. In this kind of ecosystem, private actors, companies, knowledge institutions such as universities and colleges, groups and actors from civil society, together with the urban authorities, can achieve a great deal, developing their own regional ecosystem into a climate and people-friendly region, in which, for example, energy is exchanged, in which we redesign the spatial planning with mixed forms of living that bring together young and old, thus bringing together the many fields of expertise present in a large project of co-creation. Such a model also increases the democratic legitimacy and support for the choices that are made. It is an ecosystem in which the urban level will become even more important. There, decisions can be made quickly and have an immediate impact. In such a network, UAntwerp also has an important role to play, and we are taking on that role, as the driving force of the region, in order to focus on Flanders, on Belgium, and on the rest of the world. Help shape the future – that is what our university stands for!

The new world is facing major challenges, where good interplay between science and policy offers opportunities for global solutions. That policy takes shape in politics, but also on many other levels, such as international scientific networks, the world of business and industry, or the many ecosystems that develop from the joint effort from below. Universities and colleges have a big role to play in all of this. But this applies even more to the students. Because the world of tomorrow is their world. And they are young people who, with fresh eyes and an aversion to cynicism, are absorbing knowledge and developing insight, soon to spread their wings out into the world and take on responsibility.
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Dear students, colleagues and friends of UAntwerp: I wish you all the best!