One of the most important roles played by the Centre on Knowledge Governance is to create spaces for discussion and dialogue. With our base at the Geneva Graduate Institute, and our access to a network of expertise around the world, we are in a strong position to create spaces for analysis, creative thought and for achieving consensus, with expert facilitation and thematic experts from around the world.
The first quarter of 2026 has been a busy season, with CKG helping to convene 4 retreats on 2 continents, involving policy makers, practitioners and experts. See the list below for more details. Also if you are interested in Artificial Intelligence, Access to Knowledge and Human Rights in the Knowledge Economy, don’t miss our upcoming events in Rio and Geneva. Join the conversation with CKG.
Meetings we Supported in the First Quarter of 2026
(1) The African Group is made up of the 54 African member states who participate in negotiations at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). At WIPO the African Group is one of a small number of regional groupings who generally present common positions in negotiations. From time to time they hold consultative and research meetings to share views and obtain input from experts. In February 2026, the Centre on Knowledge Governance was invited to assist in convening a retreat, and specifically to provide expert historical analysis of discussions at WIPO committees on topics ranging from Access to Knowledge to protection of Traditional Knowledge to policies on Artificial Intelligence. The Centre worked with its partners, including the South Centre and the African Union to assist in convening an in-person retreat in Montreux, Switzerland and to provide the requested input.
(2) The Group of Like Minded Countries (LMCs) is a more informal grouping of very diverse member state across the Global South who wish to consult and share views on work in the World Intellectual Property Organization. The Centre also received a request via Permanent Mission of Indonesia, who currently chair the Like-Minded Countries group, to support a retreat of Like Minded Country representatives, also in February 2026. This retreat included an Ambassadorial Round Table, followed by a day and a half of discussions between delegates. The Centre worked with a similar group of partners, including the South Centre and Knowledge Ecology International to assist in convening and making specialist inputs to this retreat.
(3) The Access to Knowledge Coalition is a civil society grouping which represents educators, researchers, students, libraries, archives, museums, other knowledge users and creative communities around the globe. The coalition works on researching and analysing copyright policies, looking for opportunities to increase access to knowledge. CKG provided an opportunity for the coalition to meet in February 2026 and for its members to interact with government policy makers who represent their countries at WIPO.
(4) The Just AI community in South Africa and Africa: We brought together 40 people, including policy makers from Geneva and from African capitals, together with stakeholders involved in the Artificial Intelligence ecosystem in Africa. The meetings included a public one-day conference at the University of Pretoria and a private retreat at the Cradle of Humankind, close to Johannesburg. You can read a full report of this meeting here.
Copyright, the Right to Research and ‘Just AI’: Geneva, October 1st 2026
See below for information about our upcoming Conference in Geneva from 1-2 October. Join us for a discussion of Copyright, the Right to Research and ‘Just AI’.
If you are a member of the User Rights Network and you would like to make a presentation at the meeting, please apply below:
For general participation or attendance please register below:
