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Nesta is an innovation foundation. For us, innovation means turning bold ideas into reality and changing lives for the better. We use our expertise, skills and funding in areas where there are big challenges facing society.

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Partner event

What makes nations succeed? Insights on balance & boundaries from Nobel Laureate Professor James Robinson

26 Mar 2025 17:30 – 19:00

58 Victoria Embankment, London

Free

This event took place on Wednesday 26 March.

Global inequalities are widening and the Covid-19 pandemic, polarisation, geopolitical conflicts and technological disruptions have exposed institutional fragilities worldwide. Understanding what drives successful governance and innovation is critical to addressing these challenges.

On Wednesday 26 March 2025 we were joined by Nobel Prize-winning economist Professor James Robinson, as he shared insights on how inclusive political institutions and innovation drive sustainable economic growth.

Professor Robinson’s expertise provided a rare opportunity to connect theoretical insights with practical policymaking, offered actionable strategies for tackling global challenges, including inequality, climate change, and digital transformation.

Led by BIT’s Director of International Programmes, Mónica Wills Silva, this conversation built on BIT’s extensive international programmes work on cohesion, conflict, and economic growth, highlighting practical frameworks for cross-sector collaboration.

James Robinson

He/Him

James Robinson is a University Professor at the Harris School for Public Policy at the University of Chicago and recipient of the 2024 Recipient of the 2024 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel. He studied economics at the London School of Economics, the University of Warwick and Yale University and is co-author with Daron Acemoglu of Economic Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy, Why Nations Fail, (which has been translated into 50 languages including Amharic, Arabic, Dari, Farsi, Mongolian and Somali), and The Narrow Corridor. He is currently writing a book on Sub-Saharan Africa entitled Wealth in People and conducting research in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Nigeria where he is a Fellow at the Institute of African Studies at the University of Nigeria-Nsukka. He taught every summer for 28 years at the University of the Andes in Bogotá and now teaches research design in the pan-African collaborative PhD program in economics run by the African Economic Research Consortium in Nairobi.

Mónica Wills Silva

She/Her

Mónica is the Director of International Programmes for BIT EMEA. Since joining the team in 2015, she has worked with a broad range of partners including charities and international organisation (the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, UNDP, UNICEF, CIFF), the UK government (Department For International Development, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and police forces), as well as foreign governments in over 15 countries across Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America, including in her native Colombia. From public health, education and tax compliance to recidivism prevention, anti-corruption, teenage pregnancy, and gender-based violence, Monica has worked on a wide range of increasingly complex policy areas. Prior to joining the team, Mónica worked with the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) on youth violence prevention in South Africa, the European Centre for Anti-corruption and Statebuilding (ERCAS) in Berlin and with a peacebuilding think tank in Colombia. Monica holds a Master of Public Policy from the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin, and a BSc in Economics and a BA in Political Science from Los Andes University in Colombia

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26 Mar 2025 17:30 – 19:00

Free

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What makes nations succeed? Insights on balance & boundaries from Nobel Laureate Professor James Robinson

About Nesta

What makes nations succeed? Insights on balance & boundaries from Nobel Laureate Professor James Robinson