The results of the flagship project on "Institutional Interaction" on Conflicts and Synergies between International and EU Environmental Institutions, financed by the European Commission (GD Research) and Ecologic, were presented and discussed with scholars at two Annual Conventions of the International Studies Association (ISA) in Portland, Oregon, in 2003 and in San Diego, California, in 2006.  Sebastian Oberthür and Thomas Gehring chaired the sessions with scientists from the Institutional Interaction project team presenting, and Oran Young leading the discussion on the interaction and synergies among institutions in international environmental governance.

The initial project on Institutional Interaction, directed by Sebastian Oberthür of Ecologic, was based on the cooperation mainly among European institutions, but it was clear that a transatlantic exchange would be highly beneficial.  The transatlantic science outreach resulted in the publication of the book "Institutional Interaction in Global Environmental Governance: Synergy and Conflict among International and EU Policies" based on the Institutional Interaction project (MIT University Press).

Program of the 2003 ISA Session: Interaction between International Institutions:  Synergies and Conflicts (FC22)

Chairs:

• Thomas Gehring, Otto Friedrich University, Bamberg
• Sebastian Oberthür, Ecologic

Presentations:

• Access and Benefit Sharing of Genetic Resources:  The Interaction between the CBD and TRIPs, Kristin Rosendal & Olav Schram Stokke, Fridtjof Nansen Institute
• Investigating Institutional Interaction:  Concept and General Findings, Sebastian Oberthür, Ecologic
• Protecting the North-East Atlantic:  Enhancing Synergies by Institutional Design, Jon Birger Skjærseth, Fridtjof Nansen Institute
• The EU's Air Quality Policy:  A Home Brew or Just a Copy of WHO?, Jørgen Wettestad, Fridtjof Nansen Institute
• WTO and Standard Setting Institutions:  From Conflict to Mutual Reinforcement, Thomas Gehring, Otto Friedrich University, Bamberg

Discussant:

• Oran R. Young, Dartmouth College
   

Program of the 2006 ISA Session: Institutional Interaction/Interplay in International Environmental Governance (WB44)

Chairs:

• Sebastian Oberthür, Ecologic and Otto-Friedrich University Bamberg

Presentations:

• Institutional Interplay and Arctic Governance, Olav S. Stokke, The Fridtjof Nansen Institute
• The Causal Mechanisms of Institutional Interaction in Global Environmental Governance, Thomas Gehring, Otto-Friedrich-University Bamberg
• Vertical Interaction between Sectoral Institutions: EU Legal Instruments and International Regimes, Sebastian Oberthür, Ecologic and Otto-Friedrich University Bamberg

Discussant:

• Oran R. Young, Bren School, University of California, Santa Barbara