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Summer School - Illicit Trade, 2022, University of Groningen, Netherlands

Publish Date: Apr 03, 2022

Deadline: Jun 20, 2022

Event Dates: from Jul 04, 2022 12:00 to Jul 08, 2022 12:00

Money laundering. Terrorist financing. Drug trafficking. Arms smuggling. Illicit trafficking of wildlife, human body parts, and ancient historical artifacts. Tax havens. Proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Oil bunkering. Human smuggling and the modern-day slave trade. Conflict minerals and blood diamonds. These are not just abstract terms, but billion-dollar globalized industries that are part of the world’s globally interconnected economy and which overlap with and exacerbate terrorism, wars and conflicts, corruption, authoritarianism, the decline of the natural environment and other contemporary security threats.
With these considerations in mind, the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) and the University of Groningen (UG) organize the third edition of the summer school on Illicit Trade, which will be delivered online, from 4 to 8 July 2022.
The summer school pierces the veil of secrecy around issues related to the dark side of globalization and teaches participants about illicit financing and trading. This exciting course, being offered on a twice-yearly basis for a number of years now, is the first of its kind in teaching illicit trade in a holistic and practically useful way. Participants will learn how criminals set up offshore companies and bank accounts; how they obscure the beneficial ownership of assets; how they exploit the loop-holes of dual-use goods legal systems, and identify vulnerabilities in particular institutions, countries, and jurisdictions. Also, participants will learn how to investigate these criminal enterprises and networks using open source intelligence techniques. The Summer School includes academic and practical learning about illicit finance, trafficking, and trade, and expert examination into strategies and practices about how to combat illicit trade.

More specifically, the course curriculum will include the following topics:

  • Illicit trade: relevant definitions, types and actors involved
  • The global governance of illicit trade
  • Features and consequences of illicit trade
  • Illicit trade in illegal goods, with case examples of trafficking in humans, narcotics, and endangered wildlife
  • Export control and dual-use goods
  • Terrorist financing, illicit finance, offshore finance, and money laundering
  • Ethical, political, legal and practical challenges in dealing with illicit trade
  • The role of the Darknet and the Internet
  • Open source intelligence techniques (OSINT): from the surface to the deep and dark web
  • Techniques of investigation and network analysis of illicit trade

The summer school offers professional, legal, social, scientific and academic perspectives through live webinars, group discussions, dynamic case studies, individual readings, and practical exercises. The faculty is composed of leading scholars and academics from the University of Groningen and other universities, as well as international legal experts from the United Nations system, international and non-governmental organizations, and civil society.
Through a dedicated online platform, participants will have the opportunity to interact with internationally recognized experts and peers from all over the world, so as to build lasting professional relationships. This experience fosters intercultural dialogue and promotes a deeper understanding of the most salient issues faced by the international community related to illicit trade.

Course leader
Dr. Francesco Giumelli
Dr. Tim Wittig
Dr. Pim Geelhoud

Target group
The Summer School is designed for students in their final year in the undergraduate studies, masters students, PhD students in Law, Political Science, International Relations, Economics, Social Science and other relevant disciplines, who are interested in learning more about illicit trade. It is also addressed to professionals working in governmental institutions, local authorities, international and non-governmental organizations seeking to deepen their understanding of current illicit trade issues.

Credits info: 3 EC

Upon attendance of all live webinars and completion of the course activities and assignments, participants will receive a United Nations and University of Groningen certificate of participation.
Upon successful completion of the programme, participants can apply for recognition of 3 ECTS to the relevant authorities in their home institutions, therefore the final decision on awarding credits is at the discretion of their home institutions. Participants who wish to fulfil the equivalent work of 3 ECTS will need to deliver a written assignment to the University of Groningen within one month after the end of the Winter School. More detailed information can be requested at illicittrade@rug.nl.

Fee info
EUR 600: Includes participation in all sessions as well as grading an (optional) assignment

For further information, please click the "LINK TO ORIGINAL" button below.

 

Further Official Information

Link to Original

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Disciplines

Economics

Governance

International Relations

Law

Political Sciences

Science

Social Sciences

Study Levels

BA

MA

Master’s

PhD

Undergraduate

Opportunity Types

Online

Eligible Countries

International

Host Countries

Netherlands