REDEFINING EUROPE
Prague Conferences: Shaping Up

Next Spring, Prague, the “window showing the light of freedom between east and west”, will once again become the center of our focus as we launch our new series of global conferences on Redefining Europe.

The theme of the series –Redefining Europe- reflects a very unique approach to European Union enlargement issues from a Euro-Atlantic prospective. What makes this series even more attractive is that we will bring the United States specifically into the mix of Western and Eastern Europe in an attempt to understand the tectonic forces currently causing a geopolitical drift.

The inaugural conference on Federalism and the Union of European Democracies will be held March 26, 2003 through March 30, 2003. Timing for this first conference –simultaneously to Europe-wide campaigns for the ratification of the new EU Constitution- seems perfect to be focusing on the new European Union Constitution, which should reflect the basic federalist principles that have proven to be the pillars of well-established democracies. These principles should be common values shared by the United States, the European Union, and future European Union nations.

One of the primary goals of the conference will be to consider the inclusion of the United States of America in these debates and to address a roadmap for a stronger Euro-Atlantic partnership in which accession and future accession states would find themselves playing a key role.

After several months of brainstorming, planning, and organizing, we are finalizing our concept of a conference organized at different levels, in which young people will have the opportunity to interact with key deciders and academics from the European Union, EU accession states, and the United States through the technology of video conferencing.

The main conference level will be academic. A Call for Papers has recently been posted and sent to major institutions. Academics are invited to submit papers, reports, presentations and workshops on themes such as the new European Union Constitution and its implications; the role of federalism and federalist principles; the place and role of the United States of America; equal representation of nation states; issues of sovereignty; issues of fair representation; implications for education, justice, social welfare, religion, politics; global regional stability; or future accession to the European Union. Projects will be peer reviewed. Our sub-themes for the conference will derive from the analysis of the papers received. Selected academics will be invited to Prague to present their paper to the conference and attend the different workshops. After the conference, selected papers will be developed and published in a themed hard copy book.

The second level will involve university students in the debate. We have already stirred interest among students at several major American universities and are working to increase our network to major universities in the United States, Western Europe, and Eastern Europe. Following the concept of the model United Nations, students will do a simulation assuming the roles of the different regions at stake and viewing themes from the perspective of EU and future EU ministers to prepare for the conference. Thanks to the unique technology of video conferencing, they will be able to interact with all academics gathered in Prague to discuss issues arising from their simulation and propose their solutions.

A third level to the conference would involve middle and high school level. Following the path of university students, middle and high school students would prepare for the video conference in their classroom, with their teacher, studying EU enlargement issues with a real-world interactive approach. A special conference will be organized for students to present their work to the academics gathered in Prague.

Interaction between all three levels is unique and essential to bridge generation gaps and educate leaders and academics of the future.

 

We are currently building a web page for the Prague conference. More details on the schedule of events and on the call for papers will be available soon at iaud.org