Framework for a New Paradigm of Human Development

International Conference on Framework for a New Paradigm of Human Development April 30, 2015, in BAKU, Azerbaijan

Format was brief presentations by moderators and panelists on the subject of each panel followed by open discussion among all conference participants and synthesis of key points and conclusions by the summarizers. There will be no formal presentation of papers.

* Moderators are requested to present short (7-10 minute) introductory remarks on the panel topic.

† Panelists are requested to each make brief (5-7 minute) remarks addressing the panel issue.

‡ Summarizers are requested to present highlights from the discussion and draw conclusions during the last session of that day (12-15 minutes).

International Conference on Framework for a New Paradigm of Human Development April 30, 2015, in BAKU, Azerbaijan

PANEL 1: INTERNATIONAL FRAMEWORKS FOR HUMAN-CENTERED PARADIGM

What type of international framework is required to provide an effective institutional basis for addressing global challenges and promoting peace, multi-lateralism and equitable development in the 21st century?

Moderator: Alexander Likhotal

Following are the questions: 

1. The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists has a famous doomsday clock. It goes back to the late 1940s. The clock is placed several minutes before “midnight.” Midnight means we’re done, finished. They just moved it two minutes closer to midnight -- three minutes from midnight. That’s the closest it’s been since the early 1980s when there was a major war scare. To what extent that could be justified by the deterioration of Russia-US relations, the changing nature of security challenges, the systemic vices of the modern international framework? 
2. We live in the destruction of the existing world order. This is the result of the failure to adjust the world order to the new realities after the end of the Cold War (power shifts, governance structures, security systems, economic mechanisms etc), while the world's development has reached a point at which the degree of interdependence of nations turned out to be “out of sync” with that of their co-ordination. Will this asynchronity  create a more strict but “self adjusting" system of international coordination? Or the nations will try to attenuate the degree of interdependence, give way to the centrifugal processes of “deglobalisation” and rely more on local and regional affiliations?
3. The pace of change has been accelerated by the interconnected nature of today's world. Technological progress is occurring within a complex and deeply integrated ecosystem, meaning that it simultaneously affects economic structures, governments, security arrangements, and people's daily lives. How the current governance system and international institutions could be upgraded to harness and channel change, instead of being overwhelmed by it?
4. In today’s world international law cannot be enforced against great powers. Ample number of examples are available. Likewise the United Nations - it can work up to the point where the great powers permit it. Beyond that, unfortunately, it can’t. Can we imagine that the great powers will voluntarily renounce this privilege? Under what conditions?
5. A completely new balance of political, economic, and military power, gradually shifts “centres of gravity” from West to East, from North to South, and from nation-states to private actors. Can a new architecture provide an integrated agenda for progress on security, energy, and economic cooperation or it will be a new edition of the old (unipolar, bipolar, multipolar) system. What are key elements of such an architecture? What safeguards, fuses are required/possible to avoid inadvertent escalation/confrontation during the transition period?

PANEL 2: SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Scientific and technological advances are far outpacing the capacity of human civilization and culture to adapt. What should be the responsibility of science and government for ensuring that science and technology are applied in a manner that promotes human security, welfare and well-being? What types of safeguards should be put in place to mitigate the harmful impact of technological applications?

Moderator: Roberto Peccei

1. Do we worry too much about the negative aspects of S & T and, as a result, end up by not emphasizing enough its positive aspects?
2. Is the focus on the negative aspects of S & T make the public distrust science, thus contributing to the rise of science skeptics?
3. What can scientists and engineers do to make the public be more interested about science and technology?
4. Should scientists be more outspoken about global issues like climate change, losses in biodiversity and population growth?
5. Would a list of specific “grand challenges”- like the problem raised by John Fullerton- help raise awareness in the public about global issues?

PANEL 3: FUTURE OF MULTI-CULTURALISM

The increasing frequency and intensity of cultural interactions has become a source of concern, friction and conflict in many regions of the world. Multi-culturalism is at once a threat to peace and stability and the source of creative diversity humanity needs to adapt to the challenges confronting us today. What measures can be adopted to encourage the positive spin-offs and minimize the negative consequences of multi-culturalism within and between societies?

Moderator: Nebojša Nešković

(1) Statement: It can be said that culture is composed of seven elements – language, customs, religion, science and art, social organization, economic system, and government. 

Questions: Which of these elements can prevent interactions within a multicultural society and between societies with different cultures? Which of them can be used to stimulate these interactions? 

(2) Statements: Multiculturalism is the policy of giving equal attention and representation to the needs and contributions of all cultural groups in a society. The opposite policy is monoculturalism, which is based on cultural assimilation. Two major multicultural policies have been developed. The first multicultural policy, usually referred to as traditional multiculturalism, promotes cultural isolation with the aim to protect cultural diversity. The second multicultural policy, usually designated as interculturalism, promotes interaction between different cultures. 

Question: What are the advantages and disadvantages of these three policies? 

(3) Statement: Traditional multiculturalism asks for preservation of cultural identity. 

Questions: Is this request a divisive force in a country? Would cosmopolitanism give people in the country a greater sense of shared citizenship? Is it possible to create a consistent and efficient global governance system that will ensure protection of cultural richness of humanity? 

(4) Statements: One of the basic principles of sociocultural anthropology is the principal of cultural relativism, which asks for understanding other cultures in terms of their own values. This principle prevents reductionism in cross-cultural comparisons and studying intercultural relations. 

Questions: Is it true that only the members of a particular culture have the ability to understand its elements? In other words, should one apply the principle of cultural relativism as an absolute one? 

(5) Statements: Interculturalism has arisen in response to the criticism of traditional multicultural policies that legitimized separate cultural groups in a state, which accentuated their specificities and isolated themselves from other groups. Its ideal is benign coexistence of the existing cultural groups, which interrelate and influence one another and yet remain distinct. 

Questions: Is this ideal realizable and sustainable? Should the new paradigm of human development contain interculturalism, to be applied locally and globally, i.e., within states and between them? 

(6) Statement: A nation-state has been synonymous with a distinctive cultural identity. 

Question: Would such a state be endangered by enforced interculturalism applied internally and in relations with other states, which can ultimately erode this identity? 

(7) Statements: In the Western countries, multiculturalism as the official cultural policy began to be applied in Canada in 1971 and Australia in 1972. After that, it was quickly adopted as the official cultural policy by most member-states of the EU. However, in recent years, there has been a clear tendency in some of the EU states to reverse their cultural policies, and return to monoculturalism. 

Question: How can this reversal be explained?

PANEL 4: TOWARD HUMAN-CENTERED SOVEREIGNTY

The current international system is heavily weighted in terms of the sovereignty of the nation state, with minimal voice for individuals, civil society and the human community as a whole. What evolutionary advances can be envisioned to alter the balance between individual, nation-state and humanity?

Moderator: Bohdan Hawrylyshyn

1. Should unitary and federal states transform themselves into confederations?
2. Should direct democracy – total decentralization be a model for above transformations?
3. Should EU change to a more decentralized structure with a subsidiarity principle (whatever can be solved at a lower level should not be passed to a higher level of decision making)?
4. Should UN change from being a world organization of governments to a world organization of people?

International Conference on Framework for a New Paradigm of Human Development April 30, 2015, in BAKU, Azerbaijan

Joseph Agassi – Professor Emeritus, Department of Philosophy, Tel Aviv University; Fellow, World Academy of Art & Science.

Robert Berg – Advisor to the Board of Trustees and former Treasurer, World Academy of Art & Science; Former Senior Advisor, U.N. Economic Commission for Africa, World Education Forum and the World Summit for Children.

Zbigniew Bochniarz – Treasurer and Member of the Board of Trustees, World Academy of Art & Science; Professor of Economics, Evans School of Public Affairs, University of Washington; Affiliate member, Microeconomics of Competitiveness program at Harvard Business School.

Andreas Bummel – Executive Director and Chairman, Board of the Committee for a Democratic United Nations (KDUN); Secretary General, Campaign for a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly (CEUNPA); Fellow, World Academy of Art & Science.

Emil Constantinescu – Former President of Romania; Member of the Board of Trustees, World Academy of Art & Science; Director, World University Consortium; Member of the Board, Nizami Ganjavi International Center, Azerbaijan; Member of the Board, Club of Madrid; President, Romanian Academic Forum.

Momir Djurović – President, Montenegrin Academy of Sciences and Arts; Member of the Board of Trustees, World Academy of Art & Science.

Vivian Derryck – President and CEO, The Bridges Institute; Member, Board of Directors, Global Rights, Jane Goodall Institute, Asian University for Women and Wellesley Centers for Women; Fellow, World Academy of Art & Science.

Jüri Engelbrecht – Member of the Board of Trustees, World Academy of Art & Science; Former President, All European Academies (ALLEA) & former Vice-President, Estonian Academy of Sciences; Head of the Centre for Nonlinear Studies, Tallinn University of Technology, Estonia.

Tarja Halonen – Former President of Finland, Former Member, Committee of Wise Persons of the Council of Europe; Chair, Council of Women World Leaders; Co-chair, UN Secretary-General’s High-level Panel on Global Sustainability; Fellow, World Academy of Art & Science

David Harries – Member, Board of Directors, Global Initiatives Project and Proteus, Canada; Member, Canadian Pugwash; Chair, Foresight Committee; Head, Leadership and Management community of IdeaConnector.net; Fellow, World Academy of Art & Science.

Mohamed Hassan – Co-Chair, Inter-Academy Panel (IAP); Former Founding Director, The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS); Fellow, World Academy of Art & Science.

Bohdan Hawrylyshyn – Member of the Board of Trustees, World Academy of Art & Science; Economic Advisor to the Government of Ukraine; Founder and Chairman, Foundation Vidrodgenia (Geneva) and Bohdan Hawrylyshyn Charitable Foundation (Ukraine); Member, Club of Rome.

Gjorge Ivanov – President, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia; Professor of Political Science, Ss.Cyril and Methodius University, Skopje; Founder and Honorary President of the Macedonian Political Science Association; Protector, European Academy of Sciences and Arts; Fellow, World Academy of Art & Science.

Garry Jacobs – Chief Executive Officer, World Academy of Art & Science; Chairman of the Board & CEO, World University Consortium; Managing Editor, Cadmus Journal; Vice-President, The Mother's Service Society, India; Full Member, Club of Rome.

Ivo Josipović – Former President of Croatia; Jurist, composer and politician; Fellow, World Academy of Art & Science.

Gadija Kahn – Former President, Regional Courts of the Western Cape; Former Acting Supreme Court Justice, Supreme Court of the Orange Free State.

An Krumberger – Chairman, World 2033 Forum; Co-founder & Director, Council One; Associate Fellow, World Academy of Art & Science.

Zlatko Lagumdžija – Minister of Foreign Affairs, Former Deputy Prime Minister and President of the Social Democratic Party, Bosnia and Herzegovina; Fellow, World Academy of Art & Science.

Alexander Likhotal – President, Green Cross International (GCI); Member, Board of Trustees, World Academy of Art & Science; Director, World University Consortium; Member, Advisory Committee, Club of Madrid; Councillor, World Future Council; Full Member, Club of Rome.

Stjepan Mesić – Former President of the Republic of Croatia; Fellow, World Academy of Art & Science.

Winston Nagan – Chairman of the Board of Trustees, World Academy of Art & Science; Director, World University Consortium; Professor of Law, Levin College of Law, University of Florida, USA; Editor-in-Chief, Eruditio Journal.

Nebojša Nešković – Secretary General and Member of the Board of Trustees, World Academy of Art & Science; Head of TESLA Project, Vinča Institute of Nuclear Sciences, Belgrade, Serbia.

Roberto Peccei – Vice-President, Club of Rome; Member of the Board of Trustees, World Academy of Art & Science; Professor of Physics and Astronomy and Former Vice Chancellor for Research, UCLA.

Diogo Pinto – Secretary General, European Movement International; Former Secretary General, European Youth Forum.

Roberto Poli – Research Professor, Department of Sociology and Social Research, University of Trento; UNESCO Chair, Anticipatory Systems (2014-2017); Fellow, STIAS—Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Studies; Editor-in-chief, Axiomathes; Member, Editorial board, Futures, European Journal of Futures Research; Fellow, World Academy of Art & Science.

Jorge Quiroga – Former President of Bolivia; Former Governor, World Bank, Andean Development Corporation, International Finance Corporation and the International Monetary Fund; Recipient of the World Leader of Tomorrow Award from the World Economic Forum.

Richard Register – Founder & President, Ecocity Builders; Founding President, Urban Ecology; Appointed to the International Scientific Advisory Committee on Active Ecological Urban Development to the Scientific Committee on Problems in the Environment (SCOPE); Fellow, World Academy of Art & Science.

Ismail Serageldin – Co-Chair, Nizami Ganjavi International Center; Director, Library of Alexandria; Fellow, World Academy of Art & Science.

Herwig Schopper – Member of the Board of Trustees, World Academy of Art & Science; Former Director General, The European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN); Chairman, Scientific Council of UNESCO International Basic Science Program; Recipient of Niels Bohr Gold Medal of UNESCO-Denmark, UNESCO Albert Einstein Gold Medal in 2004.

Kakha Shengelia – President, Caucasus University, Georgia; President-elect, International Association of University Presidents.

Ivo Šlaus – Honorary President, World Academy of Art & Science; Director, World University Consortium; Member, International Advisory Council of the Club of Rome; Member, Pugwash Council and European Leadership Network.

Ingrid Stange – Founder and Chair, Partnership For Change; Head of Philanthropy Advisory Services at Formuesforvaltning, Norway; Associate Fellow, World Academy of Art & Science.

Tibor Tóth – Former Executive Head, Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO); Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Glocal E-Cubator, Austria; Fellow, World Academy of Art & Science.

Ted Trzyna – President, InterEnvironment Institute, USA; Senior Adviser, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN); Fellow, World Academy of Art & Science.

Danilo Türk – Former President,Republic of Slovenia; Member, UN Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities.

Felix Unger – Founder & President, European Academy of Sciences and Arts; Former Director, University Clinic of Cardiac Surgery of the Paracelsus Medical University, Salzburg; Director, European Heart Institute & European Institute of Health; Ambassador of the Austrian Red Cross, Club of Rome; Fellow, World Academy of Art & Science

Sesh Velamoor – Director of Programs, Foundation For the Future, USA; Fellow, World Academy of Art & Science.

Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga – Former President, Republic of Latvia; Co-Chair, Nizami Ganjavi International Center; Founding Member, Club of Madrid; Member, Global Commission on Elections, Democracy & Security; Fellow, World Academy of Art & Science

Vesna Vučinić – Chair, World Council of Anthropological Associations (WCAA); Professor, Department of Ethnology and Anthropology, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade; Fellow, World Academy of Art & Science.

Alberto Zucconi – President, Person-Centred Approach Institute (IACP), Italy; Secretary General, World University Consortium; Member of the Board of Trustees, World Academy of Art & Science.

International Conference on Framework for a New Paradigm of Human Development April 30, 2015, in BAKU, Azerbaijan

Papers

Towards a Theory of Sustainable Development by Winston Nagan

Priming the Policy Strate for Fateful Choices by Yehezkel Dror