On 5-6 June, Heinrich Boell Foundation dedicated a two-day conference to celebrate the date together with its partners from all three South Caucasian countries, as well as the representatives of Academic sphere. With the consideration of priorities of the Foundation and the experience it gained in the region during these ten years, the main focus was made on the political culture, government and public transformation that have been taking place in the last decade. Consequently, the main topic of the conference was: South Caucasus at the Crossroad: 10 years of Heinrich Boell Foundation in the Region.
His excellence, Davit Usupashvili, the chairperson of the Parliament of 8th convocation made a salutary address. The conference participants were politicians, thinktanks and the representatives of civil society from Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. Among speakers were the representatives of leading analytical centers of European Union and the USA, the partners of Heinrich Boell Foundation Charles Fairbenks, Lincoln Mitchell, Adrian Brisku and Jana Kobzova.
The two-day conference summarized the development trends in the countries of South Caucasus during the last decade to which the South Caucasus Regional Office of Heinrich Boell Foundation has made its modest contribution. Consequently, conference participants distinguished four thematic platform based on the Foundation activities, spheres of their concern and experience:
1. South Caucasus - Three Countries: One Region?
2. Modernization and Societal Transformation: Theory and Practice
3. Battle for the Public Space: Civil Society between Local Self-government and Street Activism
4. Caucasian Chalk Circle: Perceptions and Approaches of the Western Engagement
The conference ended on 6 June with cultural events and gala reception. The achievements of the Foundation and its partners in the cause of democracy, peace and sustainable development to ensure the European future in the region were discussed in an informal situation. South Caucasus Regional Office of Heinrich Boell Foundation made a special emphasis on the contribution of its friends and partners acquired during its activities in the region to the cause of democratization and development of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia.
Conference "South Caucasus on the Crossroads"
Opening Remarks
- Ms. Nino Lejava, Director, South Caucasus Regional Office, Heinrich Boell Foundation, Tbilisi
- Mr. David Usupashvili, Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia, Tbilisi
South Caucasus – Three Countries: One Region?
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Mr. Ivlian Haindrava, Director, Republican Institute, Tbilisi
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Mr. Tatul Hakobyan, Reporter and Analyst, Civilitas Foundation, Yerevan
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Mr. Kenan Aliyev, Director, Radio Azadliq, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Prague
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Panel Discussion
Modernization and Societal Transformation: Theory and Practice
- Ms. Salome Asatiani, Editor, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Prague
- Mr. Rahman Badalov, Leading Researcher, Department of the Theory of Consciousness at the Institute of Philosophy, Sociology and Law of The National Academy of Sciences, Baku
- Mr. Sergey Rumyantsev, Sociologist, Baku/Berlin
- Ms. Gayane Shagoyan, Researcher, Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Erevan
- Panel Discussion
Battle for the Public Space: Civil Society between Local Self-government and Street Activism
- Mr. Lado Vardosanidze, Architect, Professor at Georgia’s Technical University, Tbilisi
- Mr. David Losaberidze, Caucasus Institute for Peace, Democracy and Development (CIPDD), Tbilisi
- Mr. Zohrab Ismayil, Director, Public Association for Assistance to Free Economy, Baku
- Ms. Khadija Ismailova, Journalist, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Baku
- Ms. Arpine Galfayan, Institute for Democracy and Human Rights, Erevan
- Panel Discussion
Caucasian Chalk Circle: Perceptions and Approaches of the Western Engagement
- Mr. Walter Kaufmann, Head of Division, Eastern and Southern Europe, Heinrich Boell Foundation, Berlin
- Mr. Adrian Brisku, Research Fellow, Research project “Europe 1815-1914”, University of Helsinki, Helsinki
- Ms. Jana Kobzova, Wider Europe Program Coordinator and Policy Fellow, European Council on Foreign Relations, London
- Mr. Charles Fairbanks, Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute, Washington/Tbilisi
- Mr. Lincoln Mitchell, Associate Research Scholar, Harriman Institute, Columbia University, New York
- Ms. Manana Kochladze, Coordinator of Georgian National Platform, EaP Civil Society Forum, Tbilisi
- Panel Discussion
Photo gallery of the conference and reception
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