SID Nederland Weblog

On Monday 19 April 2010 Dr Robert Falkner, Senior Lecturer at the London School of Economics and Political Science, will hold a lecture entitled International Cooperation in a Multi-Stakeholder World: Under Challenge or in Crisis? The discussion after the lecture will be moderated by Jan Pronk. Please click here for the agenda and for more information on Falkner’s lecture.

On monday 15 March 2010 Yvo de Boer gave the sixth lecture in the series on ‘Common Goods in a Divided World – Challenges and Opportunities for International Cooperation’. In front of a big turn-out he first explained that the world really is facing problems due to climate change and that the grave problems people in developing countries are facing are likely to be exacerbated due to this process. Furthermore, he clarified the different positive and negative outcomes of the most recent climate change conferences and explained what should be prioritized in the lead-up to the UN Climate Change Conference in Mexico at the end of 2010.  After the lecture Irene Dankelman lead a lively discussion between the audience and Yvo de Boer. For the powerpoint presentation De Boer used during his lecture, please click here.

SID Nederland is voor haar kantoor in Den Haag op zoek naar een Project Medewerker m/v (28 uur p/week voor de periode mei 2010-december 2010).

De vacature met meer informatie kunt u vinden door onderstaand bestand te openen:

Vacature – Project Medewerker

On Tuesday 23 March 2010 a briefing session for parliamentarians and policy makers will take place at the Residence Palace in Brussels. The objectives of the session are threefold: (1) to provide a review of what came out of Copenhagen and a look forward to the key challenges and the different options for moving ahead towards COP16 in Mexico, (2) to understand the potential role the EU can play in this proces and (3) to identify the practical implications for the EU’s external relations policy. If you want to know more about the briefing session please click here for the background and (draft) programme including key note speakers.

On monday 15 February 2010 Richard Black gave the fifth lecture in the series on ‘Common Goods in a Divided World – Challenges and Opportunities for International Cooperation’. During his lecture prof. Black discussed the possible virtues of migration. He elaborated on the misconceptions that exist in the international and local community and on what should change to make migration work for development. After prof. Black’s speech, prof. Valentina Mazzucato moderated a discussion with much input from the audience. For an informative Powerpoint Richard Black used during his speech, pleace click here.

SID Nederland zoekt per 8 februari 2010 een stagiair(e), ter ondersteuning van het organizeren en uitvoeren van SID-activiteiten zoals de lezingenserie ‘Common Goods in a Divided World’ alsmede activiteiten binnen het SID European Programme, en het voorbereidingsproces van de lezingenserie 2010-2011. De deadline is donderdag 28 januari. Voor meer informatie over de stage alsmede de sollicitatieprocedure zie de stagevacature. DE VACATURE IS REEDS VERVULD.

On Monday 18 January 2010 Seth Kaplan gave the fourth lecture in the series on ’Common Goods in a Divided World – Challenges and Opportunities for International Cooperation’. During his lecture Mr. Kaplan discussed his approach to fragile states, which emphasizes the need to stay clear of standardized approaches and frameworks, and instead focus on a customized approach taking in local cultural, economic and political factors. There was a high-level discussion with the audience after his speech, which was moderated by Prof. Stephen Ellis. For Seth Kaplan’s speech please click here.

On Monday 14 December Andrew Mack gave the third lecture in the series on ’Common Goods in a Divided World – Challenges and Opportunities for International Cooperation’, on the topic of Human Security. More information on his lecture as well as the powerpoint which he used will be posted on the website shortly.

This seminar was part of a broader debate on the financial and ecological crises, including a special issue of Development (vol. 52, no. 3) entitled Beyond economics and an international seminar held with UNDESA in New York in November this year, highlights of the new York event can be found in the report. This global event was organised in partnership between the Society for International Development (SID International and SID NL) and the Humanist Institute for Development Cooperation (Hivos). The title of the launch organised in partnership with HIVOS was Beyond Economics: building collective responsibility for sustainable livelihoods. The afternoon event was chaired by SID President Jan Pronk and it featured a presentation by Professor Rick van der Ploeg  as the key note speaker and an international panel of civil society experts: Allert van den Ham, Franck Amalric and Arthur Muliro.

Presentations have initiated an informed and lively debate, which was skillfully lead by Jan Pronk.

On Monday 16 November the second lecture in the 2009-2010 series took place. Mr de Geus, deputy Secretary-General of the OECD spoke about the matter of sustainable economic development. In his lecture and the ensuing discussion he discussed the relationship between economic development and taking care of the environment. Interestingly, in Mr. de Geus’ eyes investments for the environment may provide a way out of poverty; a statement which he illustrated with the example of Haiti, where extreme poverty and climate vulnerability go hand in hand and are mutually reinforcing. Mr. de Geus also emphasized that the current economic crisis has made very clear that our usual way of measuring growth and prosperity will need to be revised. Not only does the development of, for instance, GDP not necessarily indicate the economic situation of people, it also does a poor job measuring prosperity (i.e. happiness, well-being) in a society. Mr. de Geus’ lecture is now on the website.