GREECE TO UNITED STATES
Climate diplomacy, international institutions in shaping environmental and climate policies
Emmanuella Doussis (Fulbright Scholar, 2022–2023) is Professor of International Institutions in the Department of Political Science and Public Administration at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. She teaches international law and international organizations, environmental policies, climate diplomacy, and climate policy, with a particular focus on Southeast Europe. Her current research examines the role of international institutions in shaping environmental and climate policies.
Since 2019, Doussis has held the UNESCO Chair on Climate Diplomacy. She has served as advisor to the rapporteur of the European Economic and Social Committee in the preparation of its 2023 opinion on EU Climate Diplomacy and as advisor to the President of the Hellenic Republic on environmental and climate-related issues in 2023–2024.
Her Fulbright experience at the University of California, Berkeley, in 2022–2023 provided an important opportunity to advance her research on climate migration. Through interactions with colleagues working in related fields, participation in seminars and lectures, and discussions with undergraduate students, she was able to engage with cutting-edge research while bringing together perspectives from the American migration experience and the Mediterranean context. The UC Berkeley library system also provided an invaluable resource for her research.
Her host department, the Department of Ethnic Studies, offered a particularly inspiring interdisciplinary environment, with its focus on the histories and experiences of different ethnic groups. The experience influenced not only her research but also her approach to academic and educational activities.
Following her return to Greece, Doussis drew on her Fulbright experience in organizing an intensive summer course on refugee and migration studies, combining lectures, seminars, and fieldwork, as well as a joint workshop examining health, democracy, and the experiences of immigrant and refugee communities in Europe during and after COVID-19. She also designed new undergraduate and postgraduate courses focusing on Southeast Europe.
Doussis describes her Fulbright experience as both inspiring and intellectually refreshing, strengthening her research and enriching her teaching and academic engagement. Her advice to younger scholars is simple: be bold and think outside the box.