The CIGI Campus, located in

Waterloo, Ontario Waterloo is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is one of three cities in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo (formerly Waterloo County, Ontario, Waterloo County). Waterloo is situated about west-southwest of Toronto. Due to the c ...

, is a hub of academic study and policy-based research in

global governance Global governance refers to institutions that coordinate the behavior of transnational actors, facilitate cooperation, resolve disputes, and alleviate collective action problems. Global governance broadly entails making, monitoring, and enfor ...

and international affairs. Currently, the campus contains its namesake

Centre for International Governance Innovation The Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI, pronounced "see-jee") is an independent, non-partisan think tank on global governance. CIGI supports research, forms networks, advances policy debate and generates ideas for multilateral ...

(CIGI), a global think tank previously housed in the former

Seagram Museum The Seagram Museum was a museum in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, preserving the heritage of the once venerable Canadian distillery Seagram. Located at 57 Erb Street West, the museum operated from May 1984 to March 1997. Designed by architect Barton ...

, and the

Balsillie School of International Affairs The Balsillie School of International Affairs (BSIA) is a centre for advanced research and teaching on global governance and international public policy, located in Waterloo, Ontario. As one of the largest social sciences initiatives in Canada, t ...

(BSIA).

History

In 2009, CIGI announced plans to house the BSIA within a "CIGI Campus" that would be built alongside its headquarters in Waterloo. The resulting $68 million complex received federal and provincial funding totalling $50 million through the Knowledge Infrastructure Program and Ontario's 2009 Budget. The City of Waterloo donated the land for the campus through a 99-year lease. Toronto-based Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg Architects was selected to design the CIGI Campus building in a classic Oxbridge style, complete with an inner courtyard and bell tower. Construction began in 2009 and substantially concluded in late 2011.

Features

Within the CIGI Campus courtyard is a public art installation crafted by

Richard Fleischner Richard Fleischner is a Providence, RI–based environmental artist. Born in New York in 1944, he received a BFA and MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD , pronounced "Riz-D") is a private art and ...

. The art piece highlights significant moments of progress in international governance, with copper markers located on an unseen world map. The building also incorporates environmentally friendly green roofs, operable windows, energy-efficient in-slab cooling and heating systems, and an underground cistern to collect grey water for landscape irrigation. The building was constructed using a BubbleDeck system that reduces structural concrete usage, and as a whole, achieves a 50-percent energy reduction beyond the requirements of the National Building Code. Centre for International Governance Innovation 2

Centre for International Governance Innovation 2

The campus also houses the CIGI Auditorium, a 250-seat theatre-style space for public lectures and events.

Occupants

The CIGI Campus is home to academic and research programs that are partnerships between CIGI and other institutions. The BSIA, established in 2007 in a three-way partnership among the

University of Waterloo The University of Waterloo (UWaterloo, UW, or Waterloo) is a public research university with a main campus in Waterloo, Ontario Waterloo is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is one of three cities in the Regional Municipality ...

Wilfrid Laurier University Wilfrid Laurier University (commonly referred to as WLU or simply Laurier) is a public university in Ontario, Canada, with campuses in Waterloo, Brantford and Milton. The newer Brantford and Milton campuses are not considered satellite campuses ...

and CIGI, was the first occupant of the campus in fall 2011. The school comprises roughly 60 percent of the campus building. Additional occupants on the campus include:

Perimeter Institute Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics (PI, Perimeter, PITP) is an independent research centre in foundational theoretical physics located in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. It was founded in 1999. The institute's founding and major benefactor i ...

Capacity CanadaThe Arctic Research Foundation
an
Innovation Asset Collective

References

External links

CIGI Campus WebsiteCIGI's Official WebsiteBalsillie School of International AffairsCIGI Campus Flickr Group
{{coord missing, Ontario 2009 establishments in Ontario Waterloo, Ontario Buildings and structures in Waterloo, Ontario Political and economic think tanks based in Canada