The World We Live In, The World We Want To Live In
Interning at the Forum 2000 Conference; Listening in on Global Discussions
The Forum 2000 Conference held in Prague, Czech Republic, is one of the most notable global events held here in Central Europe. The mission of the three day conference is to "identify the key issues facing civilization, and to explore ways in which to prevent escalation of conflicts that have religion, culture or ethnicity as their primary components." By organizing this conference, the Forum 2000 Foundation aims to bring together notable individuals such as former presidents, prime ministers, activists, scientists, architects, business leaders, Nobel laureates, and others, to initiate honest and true discussion about the world's key issues we face today.
We aim to provide a platform to discuss these important topics openly and to enhance global dialogue. Through our activities, we also intend to promote democracy in non-democratic countries, and to support the civil society, respect for human rights and religious, cultural and ethnic tolerance in young democracies.
The Forum 2000 Foundation was originally founded in 1996 by former Czech president Vaclav Havel, Japanese philanthropist Yohei Sasakawa - chairman of Japan's Nippon Foundation, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Elie Wiesel. Guests of the conference in the past have included Bill Clinton, H.H. the Dalai Lama, Madeleine Albright, and H.R.H. Prince Hassan bin Talal, to name a few.
I had the extremely lucky and unique opportunity to be chosen as one of the Foundation's interns. As an intern, I would not only assist with preparation, but also be a reporter, and co-editor. As a reporter, my job was to be assigned to a specific event or panel each day of the conference, summarize the event / panel, and send my reports to the Foundation's chief media executive, which would then be released to journalists and to the Forum's official website.
I was first assigned to attend the first official opening night of the conference, which was a unique opportunity because I was the only intern to be assigned to this opening night, as it was invitation only. What was unique about this assignment was that my supervisor emailed me the speeches of two of the opening ceremony's keynote speakers - former President Vaclav Havel's speech, as well as Chairman Sasakawa's speech, to summarize. These summaries would then be released to the Forum website, as well as to journalists attending. Here are the summaries.
Summary: Vaclav Havel, Opening Ceremony Speech
Former President Havel welcomed the audience expressing concern for the current living environment humanity has grown accustomed to. In the past, he describes, people lived harmoniously between urbanized and natural life. Now, due to pressures of “international uniformity,” he defines today’s living environment as “overgrown,” “losing its identity,” and scattered.
Havel then questioned the proliferation of this global phenomenon, believing humanity now prefers a “short-term profit to long-term profit,” lacking thought of how today’s global industrialization and development will affect future generations. It is pride, he believes, that hinders ambitious individuals from thinking about “respecting the contribution of nature and our forebears.”
With today’s growth of science, technology, rational and atheistic thought, Havel expresses that people have lost consideration for the unknown; the “question of the infinite and eternal,” because of 21st century obsession with advancement and rational thinking. The current economic crisis, he says, is a warning against “self-assurance and pride of modern civilization.” He believes we must respond thinking actively about humility and about coming to terms with the mysteries of the unknown instead of chasing ignorantly after answers, because of profit-driven initiatives. Without this mindset, humankind is propelled to try to plan the world, resulting in illogical social and even architectural infrastructure.
Havel ended his welcoming speech questioning our existence, as wonderers of our continuously mysterious world. By acknowledging humanity’s flaws of “short-sightedness, omniscience and pride,” Havel concluded expressing his wish for the Forum to end having recognized and understood the wider implications of today’s issue of urbanism, the overarching theme of this year’s Forum 2000 Conference."
Summary: Yohei Sasakawa, Opening Ceremony Speech
Yohei Sasakawa, Chairman of The Nippon Foundation in Japan and fellow co-founder of the Forum, began his welcoming speech asking the question about defining who “we” are as inhabitants of today’s world. He defines “we” as people of the past, present, and future, rather than simply those living in today’s world presently. But the underlying problem of today’s civilization, he says, is that everyone has different ideas about the kind of world people want to live in. With that in mind, Sasakawa illuminated the purpose of this year’s Conference, which he believes is to “seek ways in which we can work together towards a world that respects, nurtures, and strives on diversity, and yet in which people can work together towards a similar vision of a better world.” He elaborated on the issue of how historic events define humanity by introducing the opening of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki Exhibit in Prague, pondering about defining the concept of understanding ourselves through history; an example being the notable war events of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. With the exhibit, Sasakawa hopes that it will be one of many ways people can come together to help build a world everyone would be “proud to live in,” the fundamental keynote of this year’s Forum 2000 Conference.
I would say that the most memorable part of that night was being 10 feet away from former President Vaclav Havel. Compared to some of the other speakers, Havel looked quite humbling; he had a humbling stance about him that you could see from him walking slowly, in his hunched, no-rush manner. In a way, he reminded me of an old grandfather with an important past to share, smiling thoughtfully to the audience as he shared his words about the kind of world we are living in today. It was hard to believe that this rather small man also had such a powerful, booming voice - well perhaps it wasn't so much booming but, it was a deep, resonating sound, which I would say fits a man who led the fall of Communism...
I contributed as an intern by editing and finalizing the press release that was to be sent to the chief media executive - and to the website. For the article, here is the link:
The second day, I was assigned to report on the panel called, "The World We Want to Live In; The Asian Perspective." But before the panel, I sat in on two panels: the first being introductory and the second called "The Future of Freedom and Democracy." For summaries and long panel reports on the topic, as well as other topics, here is the link!
http://www.forum2000.cz/en/projects/forum-2000-conferences/2010/summaries/
The speakers of this panel were:
*Opening Remarks:
Yohei Sasakawa, Chairman, The Nippon Foundation, Japan
*Keynote Speech:
Dewi Fortuna Anwar, Deputy Chair, Indonesian Institute of Sciences, Indonesia
*Moderator:
Surendra Munshi, Sociologist, India
*Panel Discussion:
Martin Davidson, Chief Executive, British Council, United Kingdom
Keizo Takemi, Former State Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Japan
Daud Khattak, Journalist, Radio Mashaal (Pakistan Service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty), Pakistan
Tain-Jy Chen, Former Minister, Council for Economic Planning and Development, Taiwan
I must say that being a reporter was quite fun - a little stressful but, fun to say the least! I teamed up with a fellow intern, Michal, a Charles University student with excellent English - my role was to type up as much of what the speakers were saying as possible for useful quotations, using the handy Microsoft Word tool of recording and typing on my laptop, while Michal wrote notes that would focus on the bigger picture. We then had only a half hour to write up 200 word summaries of the panels, and then 2 hours to write up the 500-700 word panel reports that expanded on summarizing the speakers' thoughts.
Here is the brief summary we had to create - fast!
The panel, “The World We Want To Live In; The Asian Perspective” emphasized the cultural diversity and dynamism of Asia. Mr. Sasakawa launched the discussion explaining that the challenges Asia faces are issues that the whole world must work together on.
Keynote speaker Ms. Anwar described Asia as a “region of superlatives and contradictions,” stressing the importance of more cooperation and integration among the various Asian countries. She suggests that Asia can learn from the history of the West.
By recognizing Asia as a diverse region, Mr. Davidson said that the West should respond to Asia with humility and learn to understand its complexity.
Mr. Takemi introduced the concept of new power politics of the 21st century, discussing that common agendas can bring the global community together. He suggested policies focused on human security, especially for the socially vulnerable.
Mr. Khattak talked about ethnic and religious problems in the Pakistani/Afghan region, declaring that one major solution, among many, is education.
Mr. Chen pointed out that Asian values are in fact not that much different from European values; rather, it is the institutions that are different from each other.
The panel ended with questions from the audience.</blockquote>
The next day, I was assigned to a unique panel called "Aesthetics: The Search for Harmony and Beauty." This panel focused on urban development and architecture, a major aspect of the world we create to live in. Here is the following summary:
<blockquote style="margin-top: 13px; margin-right: 20px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 20px; font-size: 85%; line-height: 1.3em; ">This panel explored the idea of architecture and environment influencing people’s lives and personal identities. It also emphasized the importance of cooperation among political figures, architects and their clients.
Keynote speaker Juhani Pallasmaa, Finnish architect, criticized today’s architecture, raising the question, “Shouldn’t architecture seek to strengthen equality, human dignity and optimism instead of offering itself unconditionally to the purposes of consumerism and corporate and private interest?” He believes these values are important because environments affect people from the inside.
Japanese architect Fumihiko Maki discussed the process of architecture competitions, and the need to distinguish between observing beauty vs. feeling delight in architecture. He believes beauty is subject to culture and changes overtime, whereas feeling delight is universal.
On the examples of wastewater treatment and protecting Budapest’s historical buildings, former mayor of Budapest, Gábor Demszky, showed that strong government and regulations are necessary for urban development. He called for the stronger role of city authorities to maintain the heritage of buildings while keeping public interests in mind.
Willem Jan Neutelings, Dutch architect, stated, “the beauty of cities lies in the simple balance between private and public interests.” He agreed with Pallasmaa that cultural identity should be respected when designing buildings, yet added it can be shaped by an architect as well.</blockquote>
Being assigned to a panel with a topic I've never encountered before was a truly rewarding experience. If there is anything I learned to do here in Prague, it would be the fact that I have grown so much more open-minded to doing and learning about things I normally would never have thought I'd be into - such as the discussion of architecture and urban development. If anyone could go to these conferences, I would highly recommend so, because of how intellectually stimulating and provocative these conversations were.
I had the pleasure of meeting figures like Chairman Sasakawa, who kindly signed my notebook! I also had the EXTREME pleasure of speaking with Fareed Zakaria, as well as Alison Smale, a major editor for the International Herald Tribune. I bonded with my colleagues - most of whom were Charles University students (for those who don't know, Charles University is one of the top - if not, THE top - university in the Czech Republic, and every student from there I worked with were all brilliant), and my supervisor, on top of meeting others such as a member of Radio Free Europe.
Much more to discuss about the Forum... coming soon!
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