Say it like you mean it. Looking back at @ecdpm.org 40th anniversary conference, I went hunting for new vocabulary in international cooperation. What I found is that something has changed, but it isn't the words. New piece on InterComms. 👉 intercomms.substack.com/p/when-words...

When words catch up with reality

Notes from our 40th anniversary celebrations.

intercomms.substack.com

This corner of Amsterdam has seen a lot, something new is about to show up. #digitalartonchain #artinprocess #digitalart

Preparations for our 40th Anniversary event are in full swing! I hope to see many of you there on Thursday! @ecdpm.org tinyurl.com/yneeb4ek

I finally launched InterComms. It comes from a question I keep coming back to: how do we talk about the work we care about in a world that is changing fast? First posts are up. Feedback always welcome. 👉 intercomms.substack.com

More necessary than ever. Ambassador João Cravinho on international cooperation, listening more, engaging better and being honest. And, of course, on @ecdpm.org

ECDPM 🌍@ecdpm.org · 3mo ago

🔵 International cooperation is not dead – but it has to change. If traditional development cooperation fell short because it was not honest about competing interests, better partnerships will start by listening.

Day2 of the Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi. What's in it for France and for the EU... bit.ly/4fmdLGq

Africa Forward Summit: From French influence to European partnership?

The EU is watching whether France will advance the union’s strategy in Africa or simply (re-)build its own political capital.

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FRANCE 24 English@en.france24.com · 3mo ago

Africa Forward Summit Day 2: Macron pitches new French partnership model

@ecdpm.org is a nice idea I hope it will be there for the next 40 years alive and kicking.

ECDPM 🌍@ecdpm.org · 3mo ago

🔵 As the old global order fractures, it is harder – and more important – to get very different actors around the same table.

ODA numbers for 2025: a decrease of 23.1%, the largest single-year drop in history. Unsurprising perhaps, but still relevant. Can this cut lead to "a break from structural dependency and construct interest-driven partnerships that truly deliver mutual benefits"? @ecdpm.org @oecd-ocde.bsky.social

ECDPM 🌍@ecdpm.org · 4mo ago

📣 2026 marks a clear shift from development aid to defence spending. For millions across Africa, Asia and Latin America, it is a real loss - especially where aid still finances basic services. But it may also signal the end of a model that was already under strain 👉 bit.ly/4mmvqj5

Amid these big #tariffs announcements and headlines on #trade corridors, it is easy to miss what is actually happening on the ground – as well as the realities of trading within Africa itself. Great commentary by @ecdpm.org Bruce Byiers. 🪄 bit.ly/3MFUjZn

Notes from Kasumbalesa: Where 25km of trucks meet bikes on the Lobito corridor

Bruce Byiers went to the Kasumbalesa border between Zambia and the DRC to find out what trading at the crossroads of the Lobito and North-South corridors looks like. Drawing on field observations, he ...

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So, bottom line is that to find true leaders we need to look to Canada and Ukraine. #EUCO #Davos

The EU's collective ability to shoot itself in the foot is mind-boggling. Let's see what the rest of the week brings... 🫣

Dave Keating@davekeating.substack.com · 7mo ago

In a shock result, the European Parliament has just voted to refer 🇪🇺President @VonDerLeyen's signature of the #Mercosur agreement to the EU's high court by razor-edge vote on 334 to 324. A heavy blow to the EU's geopolitical ambitions.

EU's “track-changes diplomacy”...

POLITICO Europe@politico.eu · 8mo ago

OPINION: As others set the tone for Ukraine’s future, Europe stays reactive — managing fallout, limiting damage and hoping to regain influence. 🔗 politi.co/4rvguB2

If AI saves a team 10h a week, what do [think tanks] do with that time? Do they chase more outputs? Or do they invest in storytelling [] and engagement – the things that deepen impact? Asks @designbysoapbox.bsky.social @johnschwartz.bsky.social. Up to us all to make sure it's the latter. @ecdpm.org

Writing for the algorithm? @cfieschi.bsky.social talking to @catherinedevries.bsky.social. Can something be 'shareable' without losing its complexity? What do you think @sbeverts.bsky.social @anthonyzach.be @garethbxl.bsky.social ?

At the #Dynamig conference in rainy and #EUCO locked Brussels. ‘Improving living conditions in countries of origin can be effective in reducing migration’s aspirations and migration pressures’. One of the interesting findings that came from the analysis of #EUTF. Interesting policy implications

@catherinedevries.bsky.social interviews @casmudde.bsky.social. Very interesting and insightful as usual. catherineeunicedevries.substack.com/p/etched-in-...

US ambo on #DMA & #DSA: “..if the intent is to inflict economic pain on competitors outside of Europe to help European companies, that’s something that the United States would object to […] You can’t have legislation that punishes companies from . . . your ally.” US tariffs then? @financialtimes.com

Immensely sad. RIP Robert Redford. 😢

Indeed, another spectacle of internal divisions that we could have easily done without.

Nicolai von Ondarza@nvondarza.bsky.social · 11mo ago

European Parliament today: Von der Leyen: "Europe is in a fight!" EPP: It's the S&D fault, let's fight! S&D: It's the EPP's fault, let's fight! Patriots for Europe: It's her fault! Tables motion of Censure. Let's fight! Left: It's her fault! Tables another motion of censure. Let's fight!

These Dutch guys deserve your support. They bring discarded fishing and flower bulb nets to Ukraine. To protect people and lives. All volunteers doing the right things. But donations have dropped, so time we all step up.

De Leeuw Kyiv@deleeuwkyiv.bsky.social · last yr.

🕸️ Hundreds of lives saved. Millions in damage prevented. Don’t let us hit the brakes. In recent months, we’ve been sending dozens of truckloads each month filled with discarded flower bulb and fishing nets to the front lines in Ukraine. (1/6)

Everytime you want to override fear with numbers you will fail - advice to politicians by Kata Tüttő - president of CoR at the opening of #europcom

A third of the @undp.org budget today comes for programmes countries themselves. UNDP Ahunna Eziakonwa on agency, multilateralism that goes beyond NY, Brussels and Geneva and not choosing sides.

At the European Parliament for the @ettg.bsky.social conference on the next steps for Eu development policy. @shirinwheeler.bsky.social moderating @billgates.bsky.social and International Partnerships commissioner Síkela. Cuts and changing policy priorities obviously centre stage.

🙃 Sad that while outside #Italy they call it a crucial #referendum, the current government is pushing people not to bother voting to prevent reaching the 50% threshold. 🙃 #iovoto

@adamtooze.bsky.social loved your FT piece today. The sort of stop-and-think articles I am happy to start my day with. More EU cooperation of course, but how would you push current leaders to actually do it? #EUdefence

✏️ Very good and useful read on how to shape a better research question. And, more generally, a place to help you write better. ✏️ Good resource for us @ecdpm.org

Catherine E. de Vries@catherinedevries.bsky.social · last yr.

You don’t need more ideas. You need a better question. A thread on clarity, chaos, & what a Nobel Prize winner, a mosquito net & a PhD meltdown taught me about writing (+ thinking) better. 🪨 Here’s my new Respect the Marble post: catherineeunicedevries.substack.com/p/you-dont-n... 🧵

[Commentary] #GlobalEurope: The #AU-#EU partnership - Closer ties or common worries? By @virginiamucchi.bsky.social | @ecdpm.org www.pubaffairsbruxelles.eu/opinion-anal...

The AU-EU partnership: Closer ties or common worries? - PubAffairs Bruxelles

A flawless ministerial, top marks, a shared commitment to multilateral institutions and a common goal to reform them, topped off by a determination to deliver results at the upcoming AU-EU summit. Tha...

pubaffairsbruxelles.eu

Very glad that in a crowded policy space @euiss.bsky.social and @ecdpm.org joined forces to put the spotlight on EU-AU relations. Partners in the storm we called it - attracting a room full of people and energy. Doesn’t happen every day in Brussels. Read here what it all means:

Virginia Mucchi@virginiamucchi.bsky.social · last yr.

After the meeting between European and African ministers we organised a debrief to hear how things went...Very well, they told us. But is it true? My write-up. @ecdpm.org @euiss.bsky.social

After the meeting between European and African ministers we organised a debrief to hear how things went...Very well, they told us. But is it true? My write-up. @ecdpm.org @euiss.bsky.social

ECDPM 🌍@ecdpm.org · last yr.

📣 As African and European representatives express great satisfaction about the outcome of the recent EU-AU ministerial, is the relationship finally evolving, or is it too good to be true? Read the commentary 👉 bit.ly/4jrVgix ✍️ @virginiamucchi.bsky.social

As the next #EUAU ministerial approaches, we suggest different ways to move the relationship between the two continents forward. @ec.europa.eu @eudiplomacy.bsky.social

ECDPM 🌍@ecdpm.org · last yr.

📣 As the EU and AU celebrate 25 years of "robust" summits and the vague, unmonitored commitments that result from them, is it time to embrace new, more pragmatic methods of engaging? Read the commentary 👉 bit.ly/433AFL5