SEA ASEAN news 2018

November 26, 2018

Wonderful visit by Gadjah Mada University, School of Postgraduate Tourism Studies, including Dr. Adji Kusworo, alumni of our Spatial Planning department. The delegation from UGM was joined by the Indonesia Ministry of Tourism, including Mr. Cecep Rukendi, Head of Bureau. The visit focused on master exchange and tourism research with Cultural Geography, Tourism section, led by Dr. Arie Stoffelen, and a visit by the professors, officials, and accompanying Indonesian students to the Leeuwarden campus. Welcome delegation and meetings included Dean Oscar Couwenberg, Dr. Paul van Steen, and SEA ASEAN director Prof Ronald Holzhacker. Agreement was concluded to accept up to five students each year into a master exchange program between UGM and UG.

November 9, 2018

Our Groningen alumni office and Patricia Poppendick coordinated with NUFFIC to organize an alumni event with Indonesians graduates from Universities across the Netherlands, including 25 from the University of Groningen. It was wonderful to see so many familiar faces. The event came at the conclusion of the annual student recruitment fare held at the National Library in Jakarta. The academic theme of the evening was 'Sustainable Communities for Circular Economy.' As the Indonesian Minister for the Environment, Ms. Siti Nurbaya Baker entered the event to deliver a key note address, SEA ASEAN director Ronald Holzhacker introduced her to the alumni from the University of Groningen who gave her a warm welcome.

November 9, 2018

SEA ASEAN director Ronald Holzhacker visited the NUFFIC student fair held at the National Library of Indonesia. Here with Ponti Caroline from the UG Jakarta recruitment office, we were discussing the opportunities for a prospective bachelor student to study in the Planning department at the Faculty of Spatial Sciences. The student's mother was very kind to serve as the photographer! Prof. Holzhacker also interviewed two excellent prospects for the PhD, one former master graduate from Groningen from the humanitarian action program (NOHA) now working on behalf of children's rights for UNICEF, and a master graduate from Spatial Sciences currently working for the Indonesian home ministry. Both are interested in conducting research related to the sustainable development goals, looking at the synergies across the various goals, and multi-level governance approaches to implementation.

October 30, 2018

On 30 October 2018, the Embassy organizes a dinner reception for the participants of the SEA ASEAN Fall Conference 2018 by University of Groningen. The Conference was held from 29 - 31 October 2018 in Brussels as a capital of Europe and was part of the University's effort to bring closer institutions and actors in the context of EU - ASEAN relationship.

October 17, 2018

The University of Groningen honored the (former) Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr. Ban Ki-moon with an honorary Doctorate degree on October 17, 2018. The ceremony in the historic Martini church in Groningen was focused on his contributions toward the Global Goals 2030 and the sustainable development goals. The Director of SEA ASEAN, Prof. Ronald Holzhacker and some of the SEA ASEAN scholars from across Southeast Asia were present to congratulate him on this festive day.

October 19, 2018

Engagement of the UG in the international fulfillment of the Global Goals:

Groningen Research Centre for Southeast Asia and ASEAN organize major conference Challenges of Governance for Innovation, Resilience and Sustainability

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September 13, 2018

Judge Pangalangan of the International Criminal Court spoke to SEA ASEAN and faculty and students of the Law faculty on September 13, 2018 in the Old Court Room. The Judge's important speech on 'The Rule of Law in Asia' was delivered as part of the SEA ASEAN Distinguished Speaker Series. This was followed by a meeting with the President of the University, Sibrand Poppema, Prof. Aurelia Colombi Ciacchi, PhD candidate Stanati Netipatalachoochote, and SEA ASEAN director Prof. Ronald Holzhacker.

SEA ASEAN Distinguished Lecture Series

Challenges of Governance for Innovation and Sustainability

Preliminary program for the conference on Challenges of Governance for Innovation and Sustainability, 29th - 31st October 2018: download program

"The conference showcases leading thinkers and policymakers around challenges of governance for innovation, resilience and sustainability. The scope will focus on ASEAN-EU relations and dialogues, exploring the longstanding political and cultural relationship between both regions in light of a sustainable common future. Building upon SEA ASEAN’s key mission is to bridge both regions through research, recruitment and social impact, this conference will serve as a platform to engage our partner institutions within the ASEAN and EU region in an open dialogue and serve as the launch platform for SEA ASEAN’s upcoming publications."

July 17, 2018

Visit and lecture by Ronald Holzhacker at Kyoto University, Center for Southeast Asian Studies (CSEAS), about the sustainable development goals, with the Director Prof. Yoko Hayami.

June 29, 2018

Summer Thai dinner at the home of Ronald Holzhacker, Director, SEA ASEAN, with the Dean, Lecturers, and students from Thammasat University, Faculty of Architecture and Planning, along with all of the SEA ASEAN PhD candidates. Organizer of the visit and summer school was Naim Laeni, Groningen PhD candidate in Spatial Sciences, and alumni of Thammasat.

April 13, 2018

Meeting between Prof. Ronald Holzhacker, Director of SEA ASEAN and Le Minh Tuan, International Relations Director, Vietnam National University to discuss deepening relations between the University of Groningen and VNU, Hanoi.

April 10, 2018

Special lecture by Prof. Ronald Holzhacker at the Faculty of Architecture of Souphanouvong University, Laos on the sustainable development goals in Southeast Asia, national and regional approaches.

April 9, 2018

Visit to Souphanouvong University in Luang Prabang, Laos as part of the BRECIL project. Meetings focused on research governance issues within the university and the country, and how research with high social impact could be fostered.

April 4-6, 2018

Kick-off meeting of the new EU BRECIL project in Vientiane, Laos, with partner universities from Malaysia and Laos, and European partners in the Netherlands, Sweden, and Germany. The focus is on increasing social science research capacities in Southeast Asian universities. Here, Ronald Holzhacker making a presentation on aspects of research governance to promote scholarly research, publication, and societal impact.

March 23, 2018

A friendly lunch and meeting with a delegation from Japan at the Osaka European Center in Groningen, to hear more about the new Osaka University ASEAN Campus Initiative with Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Brunei, and the prospective of synergies with our SEA ASEAN centre.

March 19, 2018

A very constructive and friendly exchange of ideas between the University of Groningen and a delegation from Airlangga University, Surabaya, Indonesia, including their Rector and the head of their ASEAN centre. This was followed by a signing of a new Memorandum of Understanding by Rector Prof. Elmer Sterken and Rector Prof. Mohammad Nasih. This was followed by a presentation about our SEA ASEAN centre and opportunities for collaboration.

March 15, 2018

SEA ASEAN was pleased to participate in the launch event for the University of Groningen's new 'Aletta Jacobs School of Public Health.' This new centre is a cooperation between many different faculties, including Spatial Sciences, especially the demography department, and the Medical Faculty. We are pleased that their offices will be located within the Spatial Science faculty. Public health is an important contributor to the sustainable development goals in Southeast Asia. We are hoping to have PhD candidates from SE Asia join our SEA ASEAN research team and be part of this new research school.

March 12, 2018

SEA ASEAN director Prof. Ronald Holzhacker and PhD candidate Stanati Netipatalachoochote visited the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague on Monday. We had a very insightful conversation with Judge Pangalangen, a Philippine citizen and the the only ICC judge from Asia. We discussed legal developments within the court and in Southeast Asia, and Stanati discussed his research related to human rights and ASEAN. The judge has accepted our invitation to deliver a major address at the University of Groningen on September 13, titled 'The Rule of Law in Asia.'

Scholars from the University of Groningen, both from the Faculty of Spatial Sciences and the Faculty of Arts, International Relations department, will participate soon in the launch event for the EU BRECIL project. This Erasmus+ funded project focuses on sharing knowledge and strengthening the research governance capacity of universities in Laos and Malaysia. The director of the Groningen Research Centre for Southeast Asia and ASEAN (SEA ASEAN), Prof. Ronald Holzhacker will be meeting the partner universities from SE Asia and Europe in Vientiane, Laos for the kick off event in early April.

Recent news from the Asia-Europe meeting web-site about this network:
"The project BRECIL on "Building Social Research Capacities in Higher Education Institutions in Lao PDR and Malaysia" is a multi-country Erasmus+ KA2-CBHE joint project involving higher education institutions from both the EU (Sweden, the Netherlands and Germany) and ASEAN countries (Malaysia and Laos) that focuses on the development of research and innovative capacities for good research governance and management through capacity building in higher education systems."

February 27, 2018

Prof. Ronald Holzhacker attended an event February 27 in Brussels called 'EU - ASEAN Relations: the next forty years.' The event was organized by 'friends of europe' in conjunction with ASEAN and the EU External Action Service. Pictured here during the first session is Mr. Le Luong Minh (Secretary General of ASEAN, 2013-2017) delivering the opening key note address. Ron was able to speak to numerous Ambassadors and staff from Southeast Asian embassies, ASEAN academic centres, and EU officials about cooperation in higher education across the region. There was great interest in our EU BRECIL project on improving research governance at universities in Malaysia and Laos. Tomorrow Ron has additional meetings with the EU External Action Service to discuss cooperation in higher education between Europe and Southeast Asia.

February 27, 2018

Event in Brussels with the Myanmar Ambassador to the EU, Mr. U Paw Lwin Sein, on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of independence. The director of SEA ASEAN, Ronald Holzhacker spoke to the Ambassador about the seven high achieving Myanmar bachelor students currently on exchange in Groningen as part of the EU - Share program. Previously, during a meeting with all ASEAN ambassadors in the Hague, the Myanmar Ambassador and Prof. Holzhacker discussed the situation of the Rohingya in Rakine State. A high level official of the Belgian Foreign Ministry also spoke at the podium of this event in Brussels about the humanitarian crisis currently continuing in Myanmar. The director of SEA ASEAN also had an important conversation with Ms. Swe Swe Aye, a medical doctor in Myanmar, where she spoke about research related to the health care of child laborers in northern Myanmar.

February 8, 2018

The SEA ASEAN research team was very proud to attend the PhD defense of Mala Sondang in the Aula of the University of Groningen. She defended her dissertation titled ‘Corruption in Indonesia: The Impact of institutional change, norms, and networks.’ She is in the department of sociology, supervised by Prof. Rafael Wittek.

February 1, 2018

Meeting of the SEA ASEAN research team in the Academy Building of the University of Groningen, to discuss the peer reviews of the book chapters for our upcoming book 'Challenges of Governance in Southeast Asia.' We also discussed our fall conference, study trip, and book launch to take place in Brussels from October 30-November 1. Afterwards, we gathered at the residence of the Director, Ronald Holzhacker, to celebrate the New Year and the book proposal acceptance from our publisher Springer in New York City. We also welcomed special guests this evening, Young Ok from a South Korea ministry, conducting comparative research on family policies in the Netherlands and Korea, and Indri Apiliyanti, an Indonesian PhD candidate in Norway conducting research on corporate governance, visiting the University of Groningen faculty of economics and our SEA ASEAN centre.

January 16, 2018

Ronald Holzhacker and SEA ASEAN Associate Director Wendy Tan were cordially invited by the Indonesian Ambassador to the Netherlands, H.E. Gusto Agung Wesake Puja, to an event at the embassy. This event included Ambassadors from each of the ASEAN member states and dialogue partners, on the evening before they would meet the King of the Netherlands for the opening of the diplomatic year. The speeches and presentations celebrated the hand off of the chairmanship of ASEAN from the Philippines to Singapore. Ron and Wendy were pleased to also speak to the Singaporean Ambassador to the Netherlands, and hear about the nation’s priority areas within ASEAN this year, urbanism and resiliency.

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