Ideas and Ideals to be Ourselves in the World

Vision

A follower of the universalist and profoundly humanist tradition of historical Galicianism (galleguismo), IGADI promotes an international system based on democracy, equitable distribution of the world’s resources among peoples and nations, and their responsible and sustainable usage, on the respect for Human rights, on the promise of the defence of diversity and on the search for methods of coexistence that insure complete constituent dialogue among those of all identities.

Mission

IGADI is a collective that carries out its duties with a clear vocation of public service, in conditions of complete self-determination - indispensable to the fostering of  pluralistic and transpartisan action - vying to establish itself as a meeting place in which all sensibilities and disciplines may develop themselves in a loyal and efficient manner.  Any and all institutions and society writ large may find in IGADI a collaborative instrument in their strategies for international engagement.

Our Objectives

• To assert ourselves as an influential entity in the definition and dynamisation in the international engagement of different institutional actors at all levels, through direct interaction, and with a capacity to create opinion, both directly and through the media.
• To establish ourselves as an independent think tank of reference for interested people, institutions and businesses in the internationalisation of Galicia and as a research centre specialised in international relations with an accepted calling to build intellectual bridges among distinct political and socio-cultural trends.
• To strengthen our role as an organisation of excellence linked to relevant present-day international debates, capable of generating critical reflection and knowledge, recognised both locally and globally.
• To create an alliance that fosters a pluralistic and convergent process of internationalisation with an identity built on the foundation of the consideration of Galicia as an autonomous actor in the world.

Our Tools

• The formulation of initiatives and analyses, generating quality information that facilitates the understanding of global trends that situate us in the vanguard of the observation and study of international affiars.
• The stimulus of research in areas of strategic interest to Galicia and the rest of the world, favouring interdisciplinarity and a vision that facilitates the identification of new trends and the definition of public policy.
• The consolidation of a space, a “room for debate,” for all of those persons and institutions interested in international matters with the willingness to create alliances in a collaborative and transformative spirit.
• Direct involvement in the development of concrete proposals that favour a greater international engagement on the part of governments, economic actors and other participants within civil society.

Areas of Activity

Our efforts are carried out in four main areas

Documentation

The Centro de Información y Documentación Internacional Contemporánea (CIDIC), or Centre for Contemporary International Documentation and Information, one of its kind in Galicia, relies upon a specialised periodicals library and receives more than one hundred publications relating to international affairs. Three times per year the CIDIC publishes a Boletín de Sumarios (Summary Bulletin).

Analysis and Research

Through our research programmes (Paradiplomacia; Seguridad, Conflictos y Pacificación; and Cooperación Internacional al Desarrollo) we study in-depth the analytic and normative dimensions via the contributions of the Centre’s research associates, based in various countries throughout the world. In Paradiplomacia we analyse the theoretical frameworks which uphold global paradiplomacy, defining the specific axes of priority for Galician paradiplomacy. In Seguridad, Conflictos y Pacificación (“Security, Conflicts and Conflict Resolution”) we consider global trends and case studies, endeavouring to move beyond the obvious circumstances. In Cooperación Internacional al Desarrollo (“International Development Aid”) we analyse the Galician model of development aid, suggesting the ways and means for the model’s permanent growth and development.

The analyses provided by IGADI seek to play a useful part in the decision-making process and carry with them a level of internationally recognised specialisation in these preferred areas of research. To that end, IGADI pays special attention to its interaction with the academic world.

Dissemination

We develop and publish via numerous platforms and fora for opinion on international problems, conflicts and trends in various media (press, radio and television) as well as in specialised journals, both in Galicia and abroad.

In addition to our Texturas Internacionais collection, we must highlight our semi-annual journal of international studies, Tempo exterior, created in 1997 and refounded in 2000. Tempo exterior relies upon an extensive Academic Council and is a metaphorical meeting point for reflection and debate, with the goal of outlining the common bases for action for Galician society and the world. Every year we also publish the Igadi Annual Report and We in the World, a report on Galician international engagement. In 2011 we initiated our Informe Mundial sobre Estados de Hecho (World Report on de facto States).

The ORBALIA network, which consists of journalists interested in international news (in collaboration with the Professional Association of Journalists of Galicia), organised and supported by IGADI, seeks to enhance the visibility of Galicia within the mass media and to focus said visibility on news and analysis in the international interests of Galicia.

IGADI develops and provides experts on international affairs.

Project Management

In 1997 IGADI promoted the creation of the Fondo Galego de Cooperación e Solidariedade (The Galician Fund for Development and Solidarity; www.fondogalego.org) and currently serves as the Technical Secretary for Municipalities and Regional Governments (diputaciones, at the sub-province level of governance) of the Fund. The Fondo Galego brings together more than one hundred local governmental entities that they unite their development aid efforts.

The Observatorio de la Política China (OPCh) (Observatory of Chinese Politics; www.politica-china.org) is a project promoted by IGADI that relies on the support of Casa Asia. Its objective consists of permanently following the evolution of Chinese politics, paying special attention to China’s legal and political system, foreign policy, Taiwan, ethnic minorities, human rights, and security and defence. IGADI also promotes and manages the Red Iberoamericana de Sinología (the Iberoamerican Network of Chinese Studies) in which more than twenty specialists in a dozen countries participate. The OPCh publishes an Informe Anual de la Política China (Annual Report on Chinese Politics) and the quarterly on-line journal Jiexi Zhongguo. IGADI also organises the Simposio Electrónico Internacional sobre Política China (International Electronic Symposium on Chinese Politics).

The Observatorio Galego da Lusofonía (OGALUS) (The Galician Observatory of the Portuguese-Speaking World) accentuates language in the promotion of the analysis of news coming out of the various countries of the Portuguese-Speaking world and seeks to raise awareness of the relations between Galicia and the Lusophone world at all levels.

The creation for and impetus behind the Fundación Plácido Castro (Plácido Castro Foundation) in 2001, with the participation of the municipalities of Cambados, Corcubión and Vilagarcía de Arousa, in addition to the Asociación de Traductores Gallegos (Association of Galician Translators), serves to recognise and restore the opus and thought of this one-of-a-kind figure of Galician nationalist history. Among its activities, the Foundation organises an annual conference and awards a prize for translation.

We are a Team

The structure of IGADI brings together a permanent core group that includes analysts, a webmaster and administrative staff that is supplemented by a network of contributors and research associates.

The Governing Council (Consejo Rector), a pluralist body at all levels, provides unique insight of great importance in the evaluation, betterment and permanent renovation of IGADI’s objectives and activities.

IGADI oversees and administers internships of university students and fosters the exchange of researchers. ARREDALIA is a network that unites former student interns.

Key Priorities for 2011-2016

To delve deeper into our principal geopolitical areas of study: Latin America, China, the Middle East, the countries of the Lusophone world, Europe – with special focus on the Celtic world and Eastern Europe – and the former countries of the USSR

To integrate education and training as an area of specific interest, encouraging participation in courses and conferences organised by diverse universities and research centres, both public and private, as well as by any other entities concerned with securing sufficient academic qualifications and through the promotion of our own courses and initiatives.

To improve the dissemination of IGADI’s analytic discourse and publications, in hopes that they reach interested persons and groups with greater ease, especially similar entities in throughout Europe and the rest of the world.

To widen the spectrum of people and institutions involved in our activities, particularly those in the areas of business, politics and civil society.

To strengthen IGADI’s place as a key reference in Galicia for the debate, plural reflection and intercultural exchange capable of generating innovative ideas and having an effective bearing on the social fabric of international affairs.

To promote the establishment of synergies among and the encouragement of collaboration with entities that share similar objectives with us, both within Galicia and beyond, formalising alliances and assuring integration in diverse global networks.

Versión de Jared D. Larson