Description

The 2026 ACUNS Annual Meeting will examine how multilateral governance can be maintained despite challenges from major and emerging powers, continuing armed conflicts, humanitarian emergencies, overheated planet, and other crises. In September 2024, the Summit of the Future galvanized attention worldwide on rebuilding trust and gaps in global governance; reaffirming the UN Charter, 2030 Agenda, and other existing commitments; and renewing the multilateral system to prepare for over-the-horizon challenges and opportunities. Responding to unilateral funding cuts by the world body’s largest donor, the Secretary-General’s UN80 Initiative, in 2025, is intended to streamline and consolidate the UN system, while building momentum for delivery of the Pact for the Future – the 2024 Summit’s chief outcome – in the run-up to its 2028 high-level review. Together, the Pact and UN80 aspire to re-commit Member States  to multilateral cooperation and international law and to reform global institutions toward resilience, equity, innovation, and intergenerational justice. The current international climate calls into question some aspects of these hopeful scenarios.

The Annual Meeting will critically assess the UN system’s capacity to facilitate multilateral cooperation and reflect on its performance since the last comprehensive UN system-wide reform effort, the UN60 World Summit in 2005. We invited panels and papers that examine challenges to multilateralism in current or previous times, how they have been and can be overcome, and what opportunities they provide. We also welcomed contributions that focus on the tension between power and norms, between political declarations and actions/implementation in various fields.

Submissions were invited under one of the following broad thematic categories:

• Civil society, youth, local communities
• The Pact for the Future, UN80 Initiative, UN Charter reform, and UN financial crisis
• Challenges to reforming multilateral institutions and possible solutions/opportunities
• Regional organizations as building blocks for global governance innovation
• International law and international courts
• Peace, security, and conflict prevention
• Global economic governance and financing for development, poverty and inequality reduction
• Human rights, refugees, and humanitarian assistance
• Climate change and the environment
• Science, technology, and digital governance

Contact admin@acuns.org with any questions.

Please find here the Preliminary Programme of the 2026 Annual Meeting. This programme is subject to change and will be updated regularly.

We have closed visa request form submissions for the 2026 ACUNS Annual Meeting.

NOVA University Lisbon is pleased to offer affordable on-campus dorm accommodation for ACUNS Annual Meeting participants. ACUNS encourages applications for these accommodations from students and members who request travel support. 

About NOVA Accommodations

All NOVA dorm accommodations are gender neutral. The University offers limited double-bed rooms with shared bathrooms and single-bed rooms with shared  bathrooms. Limited single rooms with private bathrooms are available. Interested applicants may therefore be paired with participants of the same sex.

Rooms and beds are fully furnished. Dorms also offer internet access, fully furnished kitchens, laundry rooms, living and study rooms, and computer rooms.

Dates and Cost of NOVA Accommodations

On-campus accommodations are available from the 1st of July to the 4th of July, 2026. The cost below covers the duration of stay per participant. 

• Twin-bed room with shared bathroom: €81
• Single room with shared bathroom: €96 
• Single room with private bathroom: €129

No payment is due at the time of application.

NOVA Accommodation Application Form

Qualified Annual Meeting participants should apply through the NOVA University form here by Monday, 25 May 2026. NOVA and ACUNS will then confirm room assignments with each participant and then proceed with an invoice for payment.

Instructions for Particular Form Questions

Dorms: Applicants should select Alfredo de Sousa Halls of Residence, then select their preferred room option in the drop-down menu. Applicants are reminded they may be placed in a shared room.

Fiscal ID Number: Applicants should enter their passport number.

ACUNS Code: In the “Comments” section at the end of the form, applicants must indicate “ACUNS” as the code. Applicants should note in this section the name of any preferred roommate.

Please consult the Practical Guide for Participants below for information on hotel accommodations, transportation options, the Annual Meeting venue at NOVA University Lisbon, and tourist attractions.

More information about becoming an Annual Meeting Sponsor is available on this page.

Richard Ponzio
Senior Fellow & Director
Stimson Center

Vesselin Popovski
Professor and Vice-Dean
Jindal Global Law School

Julia Seixas
Professor
Universidade NOVA de Lisboa

Adriana Abdenur
Co-President
Global Fund for a New Economy

2026 ACUNS Lecture in Honor of Kofi Annan

Jean-Pierre Lacroix
Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations
United Nations

2026 ACUNS Lecture in Honor of John Holmes

Kitty van der Heijden
Assistant Secretary-General & Deputy-Executive Director
UNICEF