13. 9. 2017 | Danube, PR
The EU macroregional strategies conference on media and communication – know thy neighbour is aimed at bringing together media people, practicians, academia, general public and interested stakeholders from the four EU macroregional strategies (Baltic, Danube, AdriaticIonian and Alpine) to discuss how to improve the visibility of macro-regional strategies in the public sphere and how to strengthen the media support to macro-regional endeavors.
Globalisation has made countries more interdependent, and problems must now be addressed across borders. This calls for a reflection on how macro-regions, as new functional areas, can contribute to improving the implementation of EU policies.
The emergence of macro-regional strategies (MRS) has been driven by a number of EU countries and regions as a complement to traditional national policies on territorial management. The aim of a macro-regional strategy is to mobilise new projects and initiatives thereby creating a sense of common responsibility. They provide regional building blocks for pursuing EU-wide policy, marshalling national approaches into a more coherent implementation at the EU level.
But without proactive communication, no effort is really seen from the outside, by EU citizens and stakeholders. During the Mediterranean Coast and EU Macro-Regional Strategies Week organised under the Slovenian presidency of the EU Strategy for the Alpine Region (EUSALP) in September 2016, a proposal to create a single horizontal pillar for all 4 EU macro-regional strategies was presented – “the media/communication” pillar – that would be of help in creating sufficient visibility for macro-regional strategies’ joint endeavors and understanding, and support for the exchange of ways of thinking and acting within the MRS.
Join us in Portorož, Slovenia between 20th and 22nd of September!
Registration until 18th September here. The final program with speakers is available here. More information about the Mediterranean Coast and EU Macro-Regional Strategies Week is reachable here.
12. 9. 2017 | PR, Serbia - Traineeships, Slovenian Development Assistance
Centre for European Perspective will conduct a new project in cooperation with the Ministry of European Integration of the Republic of Serbia entitled “Professional traineeships for Serbian public servants”. The project aims to directly strengthen readiness and capacity of the public and civil servants of the ministry of European integration in order to better equip them for the EU accession negotiations.
In the course of the project, CEP foresees to train and educate up to five public servants that will get acquainted with the good practices and organizational solutions of the Slovenian public sector. Special attention will be devoted to the fields related to the European legislation, the demands of aquis communitaire and its implementation. Successful practical examples of Slovenian engagement as a full member of the EU, data bases of the EU and reporting to the European Commission will be examined in details.
The project is funded from the Program of International Development Cooperation of the Republic of Slovenia and the Ministry of European Integration of the Republic of Serbia and implemented by the Centre for European Perspective.
11. 9. 2017 | IECEU, PR
IECEU (Improving the Effectiveness of Capabilities in EU Conflict Prevention) and WOSCAP (Whole of Society Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding) are together organizing their Final Conference “Effectiveness and Inclusivity of EU Peacebuilding and Conflict Prevention” that will start with an evening reception on November 7 (venue tbc) and continue on November 8, 2017 at the Scotland House in Brussels, Belgium.
The conference will aim to present both H2020 projects’ research results and recommendations as well as to contribute to further debate and improvement in EU’s conflict prevention and peacebuilding interventions through sustainable, comprehensive and innovative means.
The speakers will include representatives from various EU institutions such as the EEAS (PRISM), DEVCO, and the ESDC, alongside academics and peacebuilding practitioners from around the world, who have contributed to these projects. Civil society representatives and practitioners from different partner regions in the world, such as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Mali, Georgia, Yemen and Ukraine will also participate in these debates. Various EU Member States, as well as representatives from the UN and OSCE are also expected to take part.
The conference will specifically focus on:
• Main aspects of conflict prevention
• Integrated approach
• Effectiveness of EU missions and operations
• Potential for pooling and sharing in CSDP
• Civil-military cooperation in CSDP
• Inclusivity, local ownership and civil society perspectives in peacebuilding.
To find out more about the organizers and this conference, please visit the projects’ websites: IECEU & WOSCAP.
IECEU and WOSCAP are kindly inviting you to register for the conference here and are looking forward to welcome you in Brussels, Belgium on November 7 and 8, 2017 at the Scotland House.
For specific inquiries regarding the conference please write to [email protected].
8. 9. 2017 | Bled Strategic Forum, PR
The Bled Strategic Forum, the pre-eminent foreign policy event in Slovenia, ended on Tuesday after two days of reflections that focused on the technology-driven societal and economic change summed up by the forum’s title New Reality. Calls for common solutions to challenges posed by the changing world dominated the agenda of the first day, with senior Slovenian officials opening the forum by singling out challenges such as climate change and existing and emerging security threats.
Foreign Minister Karl Erjavec stressed that “we are facing new international actors” and “still struggle to address climate change and its negative global impact”. Prime Minister Miro Cerar noted that new challenges, which had “become the key driver of progress in society”, demanded new approaches.
The leader’s panel, the central event of the first day of proceedings, took a broad look at the technology-driven change shaping present-day society. While the participants found some cause for concern, they also exuded optimism.
The debate, featuring EU Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans, OECD Secretary General Angel Gurria, former Slovenian President Danilo Türk and Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabić, dedicated a lot of time to debating youths, specifically how they can be activated and engaged in policy-making, and how to create jobs.
Several policy proposals were put forward, but the overarching suggestion was that youths should get active and participate in the democratic process to achieve change; being active on social media is not enough.
With the forum coming just a day after North Korea conducted its latest nuclear test, some of the debates also touched on the escalation of tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
Federica Mogherini, the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said a cooperative rather than confrontational approach to existing challenges, including in North Korea and the Western Balkans, was needed.
Miroslav Lajčak, the president-elect for the 72nd session of the UN General Assembly, touched on North Korea indirectly by saying that such issues needed to be addressed by the UN General Assembly as the most representative UN body.
The second day featured over a dozen panels dedicated to issues such as the EU’s future, the progress of the Western Balkans towards the EU, global nuclear governance, human rights in time of change and Twitter diplomacy.
The panel on the EU in the changed world argued that the EU is facing numerous challenges, including a crisis of trust and identity. The key to its future lies in convergence, integration, cooperation and attention to people’s needs.
The debate on global nuclear governance saw South Korean Foreign Ministry official Enna Park saying that condemning the nuclear tests conducted by North Korea was not enough. She called for concrete action by the international community.
At the panel on Western Balkans, a mainstay of the forum, foreign ministers from the region were in broad agreement that the EU accession process has a transformative effect on the countries. But they also warned that the accession was taking too long and ought to be more predictable.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad Al Hussein presented his office’s activity and human rights developments in the world at a special panel. He highlighted an erosion of commitments built on the experience of enormous human suffering in the first half of the 20th century and was very critical of the US president.
In line with this year’s motto, the business segment of the BSF focused on various aspects of innovation and how it affects and changes society. It touched on connectivity and leading the change, as well as the relation between government and business in the globalised and digitalised world.
A special panel was dedicated to tourism, in particular the collaborative economy.
The debate revolved around whether and how to regulate the new providers without suffocating the growth, how cities should deal with growing number of tourists, and what the new providers, especially big platforms such as AirBnB, should do to allow policy makers to enforce efficient and just regulation.
Youth BSF, the segment featuring young leaders, featured debates under the banned (Dis)connected Reality, which were condensed in a nine-point manifesto dealing with electronics, the environment and the economy.
While the BSF followed the established formula, there was one novelty this year as Slovak Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajčak received a special accolade in being named a BSF distinguished partner for his enduring support of the purposes and principles of the forum.
5. 9. 2017 | Bled Strategic Forum, PR, Youth
There lived an incredible group of individuals who wanted to make a difference in society. They answered the call from Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia and one weekend they all gathered together for a magical event called ‘Youth Bled Strategic Forum’. They came from many faraway lands – Japan, Brazil, Egypt, Moldova, Montenegro, Australia, Serbia, EU countries and others, to attend this event held in the region of central Slovenia – green Ljubljana at ABC Accelerator. In fact, more than 30 creative minds, tech and social entrepreneurs and researchers gathered for 48 hours to collaborate to create stories and raise awareness on the pressing issues related to the nexus of economy, ecology and electronics in times of (dis)connected reality.
Concrete issues were tackled over the weekend. Groups were created with a mix of professions, including start-up CEOs, researchers, governmental officials, innovators, web designers, social and tech entrepreneurs. Led by a design-thinking coach these groups were tasked with creating a ‘tale for the ages’ regarding their chosen venture. For 48 hours, participants of the 7th Young BSF were networking and bonding, thinking outside the box and making magic. Participants really got to work on Saturday morning in an Opening Reflection with H.E. Dr Miro Cerar, Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, that encouraged the participants not to forget the values behind any positive change in society and to be courageous, bold, innovative, open, but also to be tolerant and cooperate with each other.
Participants prepared a manifesto with 10 actionable policy recommendation for the changing world in three sessions on electronics, environment and economy that were initially presented to the Mayor of Ljubljana Mr Zoran Janković and subsequently at the Bled Strategic Forum. In addition to that, participants walked away knowing that they were helping to make the world a better place. Participants left the event inspired, buzzing and motivated. New partnerships were formed and friendships created. They travelled back to their faraway lands motivated and inspired…
1. Prepare For The Challenge Of Industry 4.0
2. Technological Inclusiveness
3. Problem-Based Learning
4. Universal Technological Ethical Code
5. Incentive-Driven Agriculture Policies
6. Green Urban Planning
7. Sustainable Consumption
8. Increasing The Efficiency Of Public Services
9. Trust Building Through Improving Transparency
10. Enhanced Cyber Security
1. Prepared for the Challenge 4.0: Each stakeholder – policy makers, implementers, educators, non-technological businesses, media, and users should be continuously educated to enable them to adequately participate rather than just observe Industry 4.0. Plans and resources should be made for relevant, efficient and timely training and learning by the best providers in education – public and/or private.
2. Technological Inclusiveness: While technological achievements are common and widely used in more developed and affluent parts of the world, it is not the case across the globe. To address the emergence of regional technological asymmetries and the distinctive form of inequality that it brings, we propose the establishment of a Universal Basic Technology System to act as a redistribution mechanism similar to that of the Universal Basic Income. The system should be financed by a combination of smart taxation and an incentive-focused tax relief policies, built around key stakeholders, both corporate and individual.
3. Problem-based Learning: For the humankind to remain and be a positive factor in the ever-more frantic societal change, we call for an Education Reform employing problem-based, life-long learning with an emphasis on character-building. Such reform would help raise responsible and proactive citizens, capable of critically assessing new issues and responding to them in a swift manner which remains inclusive and sustainable.
4. Universal Technological Ethical Code: We unanimously recognize the development of clearly defined ethical standards as one of the main challenges of our hyper-technologised and often borderless societies. To avoid the misuse of power around scientific breakthroughs, both on the part of states as well as non-state actors and individuals, a clear set of rules and guidelines need to be established. They would direct all areas of human activity heavily impacted by digital and other newly emerging technologies.
5. Incentive-driven Agriculture Policies: Many traditional human activities are facing the challenge of an aging population and disappearing knowledge pools in certain industries. Agriculture, particularly at local level, is a pertinent case in mind. To motivate producers in the agricultural sector to continually educate themselves and strive for sustainable production, we suggest a revision of subsidy policies and smart incentive-oriented approaches that enable local production to better dovetail with the industrial food sector. Such approach would result in higher quality of products while also ensuring a more secure form of income and sustainability for producers at all levels.
6. Green Urban Planning: It is projected that by 2050, 70% of the world’s population will be urban. Cities, regardless of their size, should strive to increase and balance the size of their green areas. This can be achieved by traditional means, such as re-opening old and creating new parks in different forms, as well as using previously idle spaces, as is the case with rooftop gardens. This would provide a valuable example for city-dweller to also engage in responsible and sustainable production within the confines of their own homes and communities. Green urban planning should become an highly-ranked integral part of policy contemplations both at the state and municipal level, while also becoming a fulcrum of private undertakings.
7. Sustainable Consumption: It is important to stress that how we consume is just as important as how we produce. Since the bulk of the global consumption stress is rooted at the level of the individual consumer, the only way for us to lessen the ecological footprint of human consumption is to become more and better aware of the impact of our everyday activities. People should be encouraged to engage in moderate and ideally environmentally neutral consumption, something that can also be supported by innovation and awareness raising campaigns undertaken by both public and private actors, as well as on international level.
8. Increased Efficiency of Public Services: Today, large portions of the public sector seem to be trapped in a pre-digital era. This is perhaps most evident in the case of bureaucratic services, which many people consider to be the epitome of inefficiency and tediousness. It is even more remarkable when we consider the innovation and optimisation potential of modern technology on administrative processes and the fact that technology-based solutions are regularly adopted in the private sector to great avail. In addition to existing digital solutions, newly emerging technologies, such as virtual reality and blockchain should also be considered seriously and in a timely manner to enable e-governance systems to be fit to serve the needs of people in the 21st century.
9. Trust Building through Improving Transparency: Lack of trust both in public institutions and private organisations is undermining people’s ability to tackle contemporary challenges across the global policy spectrum effectively. As technology develops, this problem is likely to worsen, unless ethical standards are introduced along with scientific advancements. To this end, existing as well as emerging technologies should be taken up with the aim of improving the transparency of all societal and economic processes, through open data, big data and more. While process tractability is likely to be affected to an extent, particularly regarding privacy, we still regard these measures worthy of consideration given their trust-building potential.
10. Enhanced Cyber Security: In a world where not only virtual but also physical infrastructure is governed using digital systems, the enhancement of cyber resilience is paramount. To avoid intrusions and disruptions at an individual level as well as curtail systematic risk, a two-pronged approach is required. Firstly, we need to reinforce our technical capabilities by investing in nascent technologies, such as machine-learning and artificial intelligence, which will help us have the necessary level of control in an ever-more complex world. Secondly, restrictive standards should be put into place – they would clearly define which actions are permissible within the cyber realm and crucially how to deal with violations. Cyber security standards should be agreed at a global level and would need to be binding for all relevant stakeholders.
Support the Manifesto at: http://bit.ly/ybsf17manifesto
5. 9. 2017 | Bled Strategic Forum, Danube, PR
A leading conference in Central and South-East Europe, the annual Bled Strategic Forum provides the needed high-level platform for discussion of pressing regional and global issues. Attracting over 1000 participants, including heads of state and government, ministers, diplomats, representatives of the business sphere, scholars and the media from the entire world, the forum also offers a unique opportunity for bilateral and multilateral meetings with the foremost regional and global stakeholders and a possibility for extensive networking between political and business leaders of today.
This years Bled Strategic Forum attracted specially interesting guests from 66 countries, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, H.E. Ms Federica Mogherini and First Vice-President of the European Commission and Mr Frans Timmermans, to name only two. Fifteen Foreign Ministers joint them in interesting debates, ten of them were representatives of the Danube region, which gave the event a fascinating regional dimension and opportunity to numerous bilateral meetings.
A high-profile panel debate on the Western Balkans wrapped up the two-day Bled Strategic Forum, with the participants agreeing that the EU accession prospect has a transformative effect on the countries in the region, but also that the accession is a two-way process that requires effort from both sides. Entitled Western Balkans: EU Enlargement – Is Pretending the Name of the Game?, the panel featured ministers or deputy ministers of foreign affairs of seven Western Balkan countries as well as representatives of the European Commission, the European External Action Service, the EBRD and the US State Department.
PA10-SI Centre for European Perspective as co-organizer of the Bled Strategic Forum ensured that the voice on macro regions was well heard as well. Mr Walter Deffaa, European Commissioner Cretu’s special adviser joined the debate of prominent speakers and emphasized that “one should not underestimate the transformative power of cooperation between the Western Balkans and EU that is happening at the moment. This are kind of mini laps of an integration.” He explained that there are four macro regional strategies at that two are of importance for the Western Balkan countries, the Danube and Adriatic-Ionian strategy. Concisely he wrapped up the importance of the macro regional strategies saying that “having it for the first time in this kind of set up, that for high profile initiatives, endorsed by the European Council, the Western Balkan participating countries – they are there on an equal footing. They are shaping and deciding on development issues for the Danube and for the Adriatic Ionian region. Serbia, for instance, is very active now, when it comes to the Danube. These are concrete examples of what can happen in very concrete terms in the area of regional cooperation.”
Speakers at the panel:
H.E. Mr Ditmir Bushati, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Albania
H.E. Mr Igor Crnadak, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina
H.E. Mr Ivica Dačić, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia H.E. Prof. Dr Srdjan Darmanović, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Montenegro
Mr Walter Deffaa, Commissioner Crețu’s special adviser, European Commission
H.E. Mr Nikola Dimitrov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Macedonia
Mr Pierre Heilbronn, Vice President, Policy and Partnerships at EBRD
Mr Thomas Mayr-Harting, Managing Director for Europe and Central Asia at the European External Action Service
Mr Valon Murtezaj, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kosovo
H.E. Ms Marija Pejčinović Burić, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of the Republic of Croatia
Mr Hoyt Brian Yee, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, US Department of State
