Our Policy Work

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Whether exploring trade policy, digital governance, or international cooperation, the Max Bell School’s research goes beyond theoretical frameworks to emphasize the practical realities of public policy. Our approach not only examines the principles of effective policy design but also delves into the critical details of policy implementation, ensuring that innovative ideas translate into impactful, real-world solutions.

Centre for Media, Technology and Democracy

The Centre for Media, Technology and Democracy led by Taylor Owen is McGill’s focal point on critical research and public debate about the role of media and emerging technologies in shaping democracy and public life, pioneering research and policy activism on the interplay between media and technology and its relationship to public life and democracy.

Centre for International Peace and Security Studies

Established in 1995, the Centre for International Peace and Security Studies combines the academic strengths in international security studies from McGill University and l'Université de Montréal and is co-directed by Jennifer Welsh.

Protecting the internally displaced: Sovereignty, agency and the localization of international norms

In 2021, the UN Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on Internally Displaced People (IDPs) painted a stark picture of the expanding number of forced migrants worldwide and outlined a series of challenges related to the provision of humanitarian assistance, protection, and ‘durable solutions’ for this growing population. The Panel also provided a series of recommendations to improve national and international responses to IDPs –including through more research on IDPs and strengthened collaboration between researchers and policymakers on these responses.

In response to this call, the primary objective of this four-year SSHRC-funded research project, led by Professor Jennifer Welsh and Professor Megan Bradley, is to develop a landmark, comparative study of the localization of international norms on IDP protection. The project acknowledges the increased attention to IDP participation in the design of policy responses, by centering the roles of IDPs themselves and focusing on two critical challenges: acute risks to IDPs’ physical security, and the pursuit of durable solutions to displacement. The project engages in original empirical and normative analysis, with a particular focus on four cases studies: Ukraine, Ethiopia, Mexico and Fiji. The research team also engages closely with the UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of IDPs (Paul Gaviria Bentancur) and UNHCR.

Collectif québécois pour la prévention de l'itinérance

Quebec Homelessness Prevention Collaborative

The Max Bell School of Public Policy is a partner with the Quebec Homelessness Prevention Collaborative/Collectif québécois pour la prévention de l’itinérence which was founded in 2021 by the Old Brewery Mission and McGill University. The QHPC convenes academic, community and public service organizations in Quebec, along with people with lived experience and expertise and elected officials to forge innovative public policy and legal reform recommendations. The approach is normative, human rights-based and data-driven, and is at the heart of the collaboration of the Max Bell School of Public Policy in addressed the homelessness crisis and rising housing precarity.

Max Bell’s engagement in the QHPC is led by Pearl Eliadis.

The Research Network for Women, Peace and Security

The Research Network on Women, Peace and Security was co-directed by Jennifer Welsh and mobilized Canadian-based expertise on issues related to the WPS agenda, and more broadly, to the intersections of militarism, (in)security, settler-colonialism, gender, race, sexuality and disability