News archive - Event review: "Can United Nations be Taught? A Central, East and Southeast European Regional colloquium on innovative teaching techniques about the United Nations System"
"Can the United Nations be Taught?" was the provocative title of a three day event which took place in November 2008 at the Diplomatic Academy, the Vienna University Law School, and the UN headquarters in Vienna. It was organised by the Academic Council of the United Nations System (ACUNS), the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna, the Austrian Science and Research Liaison (ASO) Office Ljubljana, and the Central and East European International Studies Association (CEISA) in cooperation with a wide range of Austrian and international organizations dealing with both the system and studies of the UN, including the United Nations Association of Austria and the Academic Forum on Foreign Affairs...
Participants in the colloquium were primarily academics and UN officials from Austria, and Central and Southeast European countries.
The keynote address on "how the academic world could support the work of the UN system" was delivered by UN Assistant Secretary General for Policy Coordination and Inter-Agency Affairs, Mr. Thomas Stelzer. Mr. Stelzer acknowledged that there is still no systematic institutional way for academics to impact the work of the United Nations. But Stelzer revealed that the UN was considering an "Academic Impact" mechanism to harness the creative ideas of higher education institutions and to allow for their direct engagement in the UN system.
The Executive Director of the Academic Council on the United Nations System, Patricia Goff, welcomed the initiative and underlined that academics sought such a role but that they must learn to speak the same language as UN practitioners. Proceedings of the event will be published in the "favorita papers" book series of the Diplomatic Academy in Vienna. Participants from SEE countries expressed interest in organising a follow-up workshop in Belgrade which ASO Ljubljana considers to support financially.
Contact:
ASO Ljubljana, Miroslav Polzer, polzer@zsi.at
Source: ASO newsletter, February 8, 2009.
Entry created by Katarina Rohsmann on February 2, 2009
Modified on February 12, 2009
