A Sneak-Peek at Our Environment Panel

Here is a brief overview of our environment panel, Promising or Risky Environmental Policies? which focuses on Germany’s environmental policies and recent green initiatives.  

Germany’s renewable energy endeavors have received growing attention in the past few years. Following the Tohoku tsunami in March 2011, which led to Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, Germany has announced its commitment to cease all nuclear power production and close all plants by 2022. Its use of alternative energy sources as both a green energy initiative and as a means of replacing nuclear energy demonstrate Germany's strong environmental consciousness. In today’s world it is difficult to avoid talks related to pollution, nuclear waste and the emission of greenhouse gases.

Panelists and Guest speakers include:

Lutz Mez (Environmental Policy Research Centre, Freie Universität Berlin)

José Etcheverry (Environmental Studies, York University)

Maya Jegen (Political Science, University of Québec at Montréal)

Chuck Farmer (Ontario Power Authority)

In addition to the morning keynote, the environment panel is one of four afternoon sessions to be held at the symposium on March 31^st, 2012. Information on additional panels will be posted over the next few weeks.

Tour of Glendon's New Addition!

Here we are on the 2nd floor of Glendon's new addition!
Nancy Tran, Nicole Thwaites, Gilles Fortin, Sunny Gladish, Malvina Jozwik.

Last Friday, a few of us were given a tour of the new addition to Glendon’s York Hall. If all goes as planned and construction stays on schedule, I'm exited to say that this is where we'll be hosting the Symposium this year. Gilles Fortin, Glendon’s Executive Officer was kind enough to meet with us and gave us a tour of what has been completed so far. So we threw on our hard-hats as we wandered through the many rooms and corridors that will soon become Glendon’s lovely new wing and (more importantly) the location of Germany Symposium! All in all, the tour was quite a treat. We can only hope that construction will go as planned so that its ready for us to take over at the end of March.  

Esther Phua, one of Glendon’s eAmbassadors, also joined us on the tour. We’re happy to say that she will be helping us to promote and cover Germany Symposium during the day of the conference! In the meantime, check out Esther’s Blog!

Introducing our panel topics and Keynote speaker

Now that we are well into the Winter term, the conference is really starting to come together. I’m happy to announce that Dr. Birgit Mahnkopf, Professor of European Politics at the Berlin School of Economics and Law Berlin, will be participating in the symposium as our keynote speaker. Dr. Mahnkopf will be speaking during our morning panel on Germany's role in the ongoing European debt crisis. Further information on her research interests and publications can be found HERE.

 

Here is the list of panel topics that will be explored in detail during Germany Symposium 2012: Prospects and Challenges for Contemporary Germany:

Morning Panel 

The Euro Crisis: Germany to the Rescue? 

The morning session is about Germany’s role in the Euro crisis, which has been a highly discussed topic for several months now. For this reason, it would be interesting to bring this as the main topic for the morning session so that the many opinions on Germany’s role in the Euro crisis could be brought to the table with the possibility of shedding some light on current opinions. 

Afternoon Panels 

Promising or Risky Environmental Policies?
The first topic is on Germany’s environmental policies and initiatives.  The topic came about in order to bring the much attention needed to Germany’s initiatives towards renewable energy.  Following the Fukushima disaster, Germany has made a commitment to shut down all of its nuclear power plants by 2022. In the current world it is difficult to escape from talks related to pollution, nuclear waste and the emission of greenhouse gases.  This is why it is important to bring awareness to the actions people can take to prevent any further damage to the environment.

Germany’s Transformed Multilateralism: European Security and the Transatlantic Relationship 

The second topic is on Germany’s foreign policy. We felt that it would be interesting to try and focus on Germany and its transatlantic relationship, its policy towards and inside the EU, as well as Germany’s transformed multilateralism. Some have argued that Germany’s foreign policy revolves around its status as a civilian power, and this has ultimately had an impact on Germany’s actions towards NATO and the EU.

Constitutional Challenges Post 9/11: Security Measures and Human Dignity  

The third topic is on Germany’s constitution.  This was inspired by Germany’s constitution and how it balances national security, and liberty. Germany’s ability to face terrorist threats without undermining liberty has motivated us to study this in further detail. For instance, the Aviation Security Act, which would allow armed forces to shoot down a hijacked aircraft, was nullified by Germany’s highest court since it was not compatible with the Basic Law.  It would be fascinating to compare Canada and Germany’s constitution in order to have a more complete understanding of how both countries react to threats and security issues dealing with preserving human dignity.

The Education System: A Tool for Immigrant Integration or Social Division?  

The final topic looks into Germany’s education system, and how it functions as an integration tool for immigrants, leading to a discussion of the challenges affiliated with integrating immigrants. These challenges range from educational aspirations in immigrant families in comparison to those born in Germany to the different education tracks that lead to distinct qualifications. Germany’s school system is highly stratified and the futures of students are determined at an early stage. There will be speakers who will be able to comment on Canada’s education system and the challenges and prospects for integrating immigrants, as well as Germany’s system to compare the two.

 
More information on panelists and other guest speakers will be posted over the next few weeks.

What we've been up to.

On Friday, January 18th the Junior Research Fellows hosted the Official Launch of the Germany Symposium 2012.  In all honesty, we were a little worried about the possibility of a miniscule turn-out. Since it was a Friday evening, we knew there was always the possibility that people would rather rush home to relax for the weekend. However, much to our pleasure, the event was a success. Following speeches made by Principal Kenneth McRoberts and our supervisors, Prof. Dagmar Soennecken and Prof. Ulrich Best, we introduced ourselves and the scope of our project to a room full of fellow students, professors, family, and guests from the German community. Other notable guests included Consul General Sabine Sparwasser, Dr. Lorna Wright (Associate Vice-President International), Prof. Stanislav Kirschbaum (Chair of the International Studies Department), and Prof. Sabine Dreher. We would like to thank you all for your generous support and contributions to our project!

All in all, we were happy with the outcome of the event. We were able to raise a considerable amount of funds through our raffle and silent auction, the food was tasty, and we had the opportunity to mingle and network with fellow students, faculty, and members of the Germany community here in Toronto.

 Here are a few snapshots for those of you who missed the event.

The Symposium Team

Guests enjoying tasty appetizers.

Prof. Stanislav Kirschbaum, Principal Kenneth McRoberts, Consul General Sabine Sparwasser

Prof. Ulrich Best, Prof and Dagmar Soennecken - our wonderful supervisors

During the month of January we also held a bake sale in the York Hall breezeway. It was quite a success! Thank you fellow Glendon students for your support!

Our Funding Coordinator, Sue Vivanco, selling the goods.

With all that said, we still have much work ahead of us as we are now less than two months away from the conference!