Climate & Sustainability
Climate policy, resilience and sustainability across development, security, mobility, technology and global governance.
Our Work
Complex challenges. Connected questions.
SPI works across six interconnected areas of policy and public life. Each represents a distinct field of inquiry, but many of the questions that matter most sit between them.
Science, Technology & Society
We examine how science, emerging technologies and research systems interact with institutions and society, with a focus on governance, innovation and the public value of knowledge.
Mobility & Migration
We study the policies and institutions governing human mobility—from visas and borders to labour, education and talent mobility—and their consequences for opportunity and inequality.
Trade, Development & Regional Integration
We examine how trade, economic policy and regional cooperation can support development, economic transformation and greater connectivity within and between regions.
Peace, Security & Governance
We explore the institutional and policy dimensions of conflict, peace, security and governance, including how societies build resilience and respond to complex and transnational challenges.
Africa & Global Affairs
We examine Africa's changing place in the international system, including its relationships with global powers, multilateral institutions and evolving structures of international cooperation.
Leadership & Public Purpose
We explore how leadership, institutions and networks can strengthen public problem-solving, while developing opportunities for emerging leaders to engage with consequential policy challenges.
Across our work
Some of the most important questions sit between fields.
A systems approach means that SPI's work does not stop at the boundaries of these six areas. Climate change, technological transformation, inequality and institutional change are not challenges that belong to any single policy field. They shape—and are shaped by—questions of development, security, mobility, governance and international cooperation.
These intersections are not exceptions to our research agenda. They are central to it.
Technology & Societal Change
How emerging technologies reshape institutions, economies, security and relationships between states and societies.
Institutions & Governance
How institutional capacity, rules and governance systems shape policy outcomes across different contexts.
Inequality & Inclusion
How policies and institutions distribute access, opportunity, risk and voice within and between societies.