Our History

The Consortium for Comparative Research on Regional Integration and Social Cohesion (RISC) was established in November 2007 when the directors of socially conscious research institutes from Europe, North America and South America met in Luxembourg to participate in a conference on “Social Cohesion in Europe and the Americas.” Since that time, the consortium has expanded its membership into Africa and Asia and consolidated its scientific activities through annual international conferences, a book series, a scientific journal, thematic workshops/symposium grants for young scholar mobility and professorial exchanges and academic prizes. Starting 2020, RISC has evolved into RISC-RISE (Regional Integration and Social Cohesion-Social Elevation) which integrates community engagement, citizen science and policy-impact into its mission.

Our Objectives

Promote regional integration as a way to address socio-ecological vulnerability in two ways:

1) Establish “regional integration” through dialogue between academics, stakeholders and government officials from different world regions in reflections on common socio-ecological problems.

2) Investigate how regional integration can provide innovative strategies to address transnational factors that contribute to local socio-ecological problems.

3) Present proposed innovative solutions to socio-ecological problems to stakeholders and policy-makers.