Seminars |
On 16th of June at 13.00-15.00 a seminar with Dr. Eve Hepburn on Scottish devolution was held in the Parliament building of Mariehamn. The organizers were the Åland Parliament and the Åland Islands Peace Institute. The seminar was held in English, with the option of asking questions in Swedish.
The theme was the following: Scotland's parliament is now over a decade old. The Scottish nation has been irrevocably changed by the devolution settlement in 1999, but the need for further constitutional change continues to dominate the political agenda. The lecture explored three main questions. First, why did devolution take place? Second, what are the main features of the devolution settlement, in terms of institutions and powers for Scotland? And finally, what are the consequences of devolution? Has it been a success or a failure? And is it really a stepping stone to independence?
A summary of the seminar can be found here.
More information on Dr Hepburn can be found here.
On the 30th of March, at the day of the demilitarization of Åland, a seminar on peace workwas held at Ålands handelsläroverk in Mariehamn. At the seminar persons who have contributed to peace related work abroad shared their experiences. The possibilities to use Ålandic experiences in peace work was discussed, with the Åland example as a point of departure.The seminar was held in Swedish.
Download Tom Asplund's presentation of CMC here. (pdf)
On Monday 11 January 2010 the seminar "Strategic options for Åland in the EU" was held in the town library of Mariehamn. The seminar is based on the researcher Sarah Stephan's report "Regional voices in the European Union - regions with legislative power and multi-level-governance. Perspectives for the Åland Islands."
Sarah Stephen demonstrates how different ways of looking at the EU can have effects on the methods for influence chosen by regions. She also indicates that there are more ways of gaining influence than those normally considered, and since these methods do not need to be expansive they can also be useful for smaller regions with limited resources.
A few possible alternatives for Åland is to increase the presence in Brussels, to offer expert knowledge within special areas of expertise, and to increase the knowledge of Åland at a national level as well as at a European level through for instance civil service exchanges.
About 40 people came to the city library in Mariehamn, Åland, on the evening of the 8th of September to listen to researcher Bogdan State presenting his report "Strangers by degrees: Attitudes toward Immigrants in the Åland islands".
Local media, as well as the Swedish-speaking newspaper Huvudstadsbladet in Helsinki, have reported on the report and its results.
Links to some of the reports (in Swedish) can be found below.
Nya Åland - Bra svenska det vikitgaste för att bli ålänning 9.9.2009
Ålands radio - Bättre svenskundervisning ger lyckad integration 8.9.2009
Tv 24 - Åland 24 den 9:e september 9.9.2009
The comparison focuses on the self-governing, demilitarized Åland region and the Ryukyu islands southwest of the Japanese mainland in the Pacific Ocean. The islands with 1,4 million inhabitants are a popular tourist resort and have a language and culture distinct from the mainland. The U.S. military presence in Okinawa after World War 2 has had great impact on Okinawa's social, economic, and cultural development. For the self-sustaining development of Okinawa, Okinawa is setting up a centre for IT industry accumulation and an institute of science and technology. Okinawa has a special free trade zone since 1999 to promote industry and trade.
Download the seminar programme here
The organisers have written a report from the event, that can be downloaded here.
The common security and defence policy of the European Union is rapidly being developed and is also a central part of the security of Finland. How does the Finnish account of security and defence policy meet the challenges of the future? What will be Sweden’s priorities for the presidency? What will this mean for Åland?
On 1 June at 13.00 the Europe Information, in cooperation with the Åland Islands Peace Institute, arranged a seminar on security policy in the town library of Mariehamn. The lecture was held by Markus Lyra, Under Secretary of State for the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Nils Daag, Deputy Head of Unit at the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Sia Spiliopoulou Åkermark, director of the Åland Islands Peace Institute, acted as discussant. Read more about the seminar here (in Swedish).
What effects does European security cooperation have on Åland's demilitarisation? The Åland Islands Peace Institute invited the public to discuss this question at the seminar "Åland's demilitarisation - self‐evident or threatened?" where both the threats and opportunities of enhanced security cooperation were discussed.Around 35 persons came together at the Handelshögskola in Mariehamn to participate in the seminar on Monday evening, March 30th - Åland's Demilitarisation Day. Among the issues discussed were Thorvald Stoltenberg's recent report on enhanced Nordic security cooperation, the European security cooperation, enhanced by the Treaty of Lisbon, Finland's partnership for peace with NATO and a possible future Finnish Nato membership.
A summary of the content of the seminar can be found here.
On may 9 at 10.00-13.30 the Aland Islands Peace Institute and the Crisis Management Center Finland held a seminar about civil crisis management at Ålands lagting in Mariehamn. Among the topics discussed were the civil crisis management at the Aland Islands, internally displaced persons and crisis management, experiences from field work in the Western Balkans and civil-military coordination, and Crisis Management Centre and Finland in the context of EU and United Nation civilian crisis management activities.
The speakers from the Aland Islands were county governor Peter Lindbäck, minister Roger Eriksson, director of the Aland Islands Peace Institute Sia Spiliopoulou Åkermark and researcher Rhodri Williams, also from the Aland Islands Peace Institute. Participants from the Crisis Management Center Finland were director Ari Kerkkänen, research director Kirsi Henriksson and senior researcher Jari Mustonen.
Contributors at the seminar were Ingrid Schiöler from the Red Cross in Sweden and Gunnar Jansson, first deputy speaker of the Åland Parliament and former chairman of the Roma Delegation in Finland.
Ingrid Schiöler gave an insight to the historical and cultural background of the Roma people and said that the persecution and discrimination they have experienced, and still are experiencing, makes many Romas suspicious of the representants of the majority people. Gunnar Jansson, who talked about European Roma politics, stressed that the Roma must be given opportunities to participate in decisions concerning themselves, especially on a local level where most everyday matters are resolved. They both pointed out that problems emerge when people in welthy societies react to the living standards of newcomers, still, the housing situation and the possibility to provide for themselves can for the newcomers be much better here than in their homeland.
The Åland Islands Peace Institue has published a new report about the right of domicile in Åland. In the report, Anna-Lena Sjölund (Researcher at the Åland Peace Institute) focuses on the right to conduct business, and own and/or be in possession of real property in Åland. She compares these rights with the non-discrimination principle of the EU.
Anna-Lena Sjölund will present her conclusions at a seminar in Mariehamn at Högskolan på Åland (Navigationsskolegränd 2) April 28th at 14-16.30. The seminar is arranged in cooperation with the Chamber of Commerce.
The report "Ålandsprotokollet och EG-rättens icke-diskrimineringsprincip" (in Swedish) can be downloaded here [436 K]
Comments by Kaveh Bahar, the Multicultural Association on Åland.
Discussion.
Warmly welcome!
Den 16 november 2007 ordnar Ålands fredsinstitut ett seminarium om minoritetesfrågor i Östersjöområdet. Seminariet "Minority Policies in Transition" är en uppföljning av forskningsprojektet och boken International Obligations and National Debates: Minorities around the Baltic Sea (red. Sia Spiliopoulou Åkermark), som fredsinstitutet gav ut 2006.
Medarrangörer är Centrum för multietnisk forskning vid Uppsala universitet och det s.k. Gamla torget-samarbetet vid Uppsala universitet. Seminariet finansieras med stöd från Nordiska kulturfonden och Gamla torget-samarbetet.
I seminariet medverkar 16 minoritetsexperter från hela Österjöområdet. OSSE:s kommissionär för nationella minoriteter Rolf Ekeus kommer att hålla ett inledningsanförande.
Programmet kan laddas ner här.
On October 24th 2007, the Åland Islands Peace Institute arranged a seminar about the position of autonomous regions within the EU. The seminar focused on the development of the autonomy legislation in Spain and on the challenges of the Ålandic autonomy. The seminar was arranged in the Parliament Building in Mariehamn, Åland Islands. The seminar was conducted in English.
Seminariet HEMBYGDSRÄTT - NÄRINGSRÄTT - MEDBORGARRÄTT: HÖRNSTENAR I DEN ÅLÄNDSKA SJÄLVSTYRELSEN ordnas i Helsingfors den 14 juni 2007 kl. 13-17 i samband med Ålandsdagarna den 14-16 juni. Seminariet ordnas vid Helsingfors universitet, Unionsgatan 34, auditorium XV i universitetets huvudbyggnad. Arrangörer är Ålands langting och arrangörskommittén för Ålandsdagarna 2007, medan Ålands fredsinstitut och Centrum för Norden-studier vid Renvall-institutet står för planering och ledning av seminariet.
Den 12 april 2007 kl. 14-15.30 ordnar fredsinstitutet ett eftermiddagsseminarium om människohandel (i lagtingets konferensrum 3). Huvudtalare vid seminariet är Marianne Eriksson, tidigare EU-parlamentariker och jämställdhetsexpert. Under sin nio år långa EU-karriär publicerade hon ett flertal rapporter om jjämställdhet, trafficking och mäns våld mot kvinnor. Marianne Eriksson har fått stor internationell uppmärksamhet för sittt betänkande om konsekvenserna av sexindustrin i EU. I seminariet medverkar även representanter för polisen och gränsbevakningen. Ladda ner programmet . Läs Nya Ålands artikel från seminariet.Seminarium i Mariehamns stadsbibliotek den 22 januari kl. 18-20 om partier och ideologier i de nya EU-medlemsländerna.
Föredrag: Susanne Jungerstam-Mulders
Moderator: Sia Spilopoulou Åkermark
Hur har de politiska partierna och det politiska livet utvecklats i de nya EU-medlemsstaterna? Vilka politiska ideologier och institutionella mönster förekommer i de baltiska staterna, i Polen, Ungern, Slovakien, Slovenien och Tjeckien? Har de politiska partierna i dessa länder utvecklats efter de mönster som de politiska partierna i Västteuropa följer?
Vilka skillnader och likheter har forskarna funnit? När Europeiska unionen som fredsprojekt omfattar länder där etniska späningar och uppdelningar förekommer, hur stor roll spelar regionala, kulturella och ideologiska frågor i det politisk livet? Vilken roll åtar sig de politiska partierna som förmedlare av medborgarnas åsikter och preferenser?
Susanne Jungerstam-Mulders är pol.dr.och t.f. forskningsledare vid Svenska yrkeshögskolan i Vasa samt styrelseledamot i Ålands fredsinstitut. Hon har nyligen redigerat och publicerat boken Post-Communist EU Member States - Parties and Party Systems, där forskare från de nya EU-länderna skriver om ovannämnda frågor.
Sia Spiliopoulou Åkrermark är direktör vid Ålands fredsinstitut.
Program
14.00 Inledning, Barbro Sundback, ordförande i Fredsinstitutets styrelse
14.15 Hembygdsrättens tillkomst: ett exempel till kulturrätt, Fujio Ohnishi, gästforskare vid Ålands fredsinstitut. Sammanfattning
14.45 Små territorier i Europeiska unionen. Sören Silverström, EU-enheten, Ålands landskapsregering
Sammanfattning
15.15 Ethnic representation, individual rights and refugee return in Bosnia. Rhodri Williams
Sammanfattning
Alla är hjärtligt välkomna. Inga förhandsanmälningar krävs.
H01.12.2005ler e-mail marja-leena@peace.aland.fi, om du har frågor.
KRIG OCH FRED är temat på årets demilitariseringsdag, tisdag 30/3.
Dessutom utkommer en NY UPPLAGA av CHRISTER AHLSTRÖMS bok "Demilitariserade och neutraliserade områden i Europa". Se bifogat program!
Slaget vid Bomarsund är utgångspunkten på förmiddagen då landskapsstyrelsens museibyrå står för programmet. Krig som historiens hörnstenar och som kulturarv är frågor som tas upp i föredragen och i en diskussion med Nina Fellman och Jan Helin i panelen diskuteras våld och media under rubriken "från Bomarsund till Irak".
Mera information om förmiddagens program får ni av Graham Robins, tel 432135 eller 0457-374 9687.
På eftermiddagen pratar ambassadör Tom Grönberg om demilitarisering i praktiken och Christer Ahlström om demilitarisering i framtiden.
Ålands fredsinstitut arrangerar programmet på eftermiddagen och det är också dit ni skall vända er för att få mera information om Grönbergs eller Ahlströms inlägg.
Tel Robert Jansson 15 570 eller Marja-Leena Magnusson 23 238.