Areas of Work

Applied knowledge to strengthen institutions

IGA organises its work around areas that reflect the great institutional challenges of the twenty-first century, bringing together applied research, executive education, publications, seminars and international cooperation.

IGA's areas of work are not isolated compartments. They connect within a common agenda: understanding how public and private institutions can make responsible decisions in contexts of complexity, risk, technological change, climate pressure and the reorganisation of public authority. The Institute works from a living interdisciplinarity: a real dialogue between lawyers, technologists, managers, regulators, researchers, companies, public institutions and sector specialists.

Governance and Institutions

Devoted to the study of the structures, processes and practices that guide decision-making in public, private and transnational organisations. The focus is on understanding the mechanisms of coordination, accountability, transparency, legitimacy and control that allow institutions to act consistently in complex societies.

  • public and private governance;
  • institutional architecture and decision-making processes;
  • institutional responsibility;
  • coordination between public and private actors;
  • risk, trust and legitimacy;
  • institutional design and control mechanisms.

Public Law and Constitutionalism

Examines the contemporary transformations of the state, public authority, the separation of powers, jurisdiction and constitutional models. Contemporary public law faces challenges that go beyond the classical categories of the nation state — globalisation, digitalisation, private platforms, regulatory interdependence, the climate crisis and transnational risks.

  • state, sovereignty and public authority;
  • separation of powers and jurisdiction;
  • comparative constitutionalism;
  • judicial activism and institutional integrity;
  • global public law;
  • legal transplants and the circulation of institutional models.

Digital Regulation

Devoted to the governance of digital technologies, platforms, artificial intelligence, algorithms, data and the new forms of authority exercised by private infrastructures. It starts from a central methodological premise: to regulate technology, law must understand the real operation of technological systems.

  • artificial intelligence and algorithmic governance;
  • digital platforms and private authority;
  • content moderation and Big Tech regulation;
  • the Digital Services Act and comparative models;
  • systemic risk in digital environments;
  • data, transparency and oversight;
  • duties of care, due diligence and responsibility in digital systems.

Sustainability and Climate

Addresses the legal, institutional and regulatory challenges associated with the climate crisis, sustainable transition and the responsibility of public and private organisations in the face of environmental risks. IGA approaches sustainability as a matter of applied governance, integrating law, economics, regulation, science, management and institutional decision-making.

  • climate risk and sustainable transition;
  • ESG and governance;
  • institutional responsibility;
  • environmental and climate regulation;
  • duties of care and diligence;
  • sustainable finance;
  • governance of environmental risks in public and private institutions.

Corporate Governance

Examines decision, control, accountability and integrity structures in the corporate sphere, with particular attention to regulatory, reputational, financial and institutional risks. IGA understands corporate governance as a strategic practice of organising responsibility.

  • corporate governance;
  • compliance and integrity;
  • regulatory risk and directors' liability;
  • governance of family businesses;
  • wealth governance;
  • trusts, estate planning and international wealth structures;
  • decision-making in regulated environments.

International Cooperation

Develops bridges between Brazilian institutions and academic, professional and regulatory networks abroad. International cooperation is understood as an instrument of institutional improvement: it allows models to be compared, good practices to be identified, regulatory repertoires to be broadened and more sophisticated responses to shared problems to be built.

  • international academic cooperation;
  • institutional partnerships and Brazil–Europe projects;
  • comparative law and transnational governance;
  • circulation of legal and institutional ideas;
  • international seminars and programmes.

The areas converge around a common agenda: to understand and strengthen institutions in times of transformation. Law, technology, climate and institutions are analysed in an integrated way because the great contemporary challenges rarely belong to a single field.

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