1 - Introduction: the United Nations Global Compact – retrospect and prospect

Summary

About This Book

Much like the Global Compact, this book is based on the idea of collaboration between different stakeholders. We invited practitioners from a variety of areas and academics to share their views about the first ten years of the Global Compact, and to also reflect on what remains to come. From the outset it was understood that the different contributors would explain and reflect on the Global Compact in their own way. Instead of seeing this as a problem, we believe that a variety of perspectives can help to expose areas of agreement and disagreement. Over the years, the Global Compact has significantly profited from the ideas introduced by different parties and the tensions these ideas created. The unique blend of people involved in this book project serves to further develop the Global Compact by sustaining the existing discourse among practitioners and academics. Combining practical insights and lived experiences with recent academic reflections was one of the key motivations for this edited volume.

Bearing in mind that the Global Compact celebrates its tenth anniversary in 2010, we asked all contributors to take the theme of ‘Achievements, Trends and Challenges’ as a ‘walking stick’ to create their chapter contribution. While in some chapters a reflection on past achievements, current trends and future challenges is implicitly embedded in the discussion, other chapters address these three issue areas in a more explicit way.