The Interdisciplinary Observatory on Climate Change is involved in the development of the initiative Autonomy and Multilateral Reconfigurations: EU–Latin America Relations, a four-year research project conceived by a consortium of Brazilian and French universities and made possible by the CAPES/COFECUB Programme. Bringing together 20 scholars from the State University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ), the Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE), the Université Clermont Auvergne (UCA), the Université de Tours (UT) and the Paris and Saint-Germain-en-Laye campuses of Sciences Po, under the coordination of Professors Kevin Parthenay (UT) and Rafael Mesquita (UFPE), AURELA includes Professors Ana Paula Tostes, Carlos R. S. Milani and Pablo Saturnino Braga as members of its research team.
Between 2026 and 2029, the project aims to strengthen Franco-Brazilian cooperation in the field of social sciences by investigating the future of relations between the European Union and Latin America during a period marked by tensions between cooperation and autonomy, focusing on three main axis: Climate Change and Sustainable Development, Security and Emerging Technologies, and Fundamental Rights and Values. Co-ordinated by Prof. Milani, Director of the OIMC, together with Carola Kloeck (Sciences Po), the first axis will involve PhD and Master’s students affiliated with the Observatory in the production of publications and teaching materials on multilateral negotiations and foreign policy in the field of anthropogenic climate change.
The first activity in Brazil took place on 15 June 2026, with a lecture given by Kevin Parthenay, organised by the Jean Monnet Chair at UERJ and the World Political Analysis Laboratory (LABMUNDO) at the Institute of Social and Political Studies (IESP-UERJ). Last Wednesday, 17 June 2026, Prof. Saturnino organised the project’s first working meeting on Brazilian soil, at the Alexandre de Gusmão Foundation (FUNAG) premises located in theItamaraty Palace in Rio de Janeiro, attended by Prof. Tostes and Prof. Parthenay.
Next week, on 29 June, AURELA will hold its official launch, attended by several members of the research team. Taking place in person at the Sciences Po Paris campus, the event will provide an opportunity to present the project’s objectives, discuss its research agenda and foster dialogue between scholars, policy makers and representatives of civil society.
