Event Highlights
Conference 'After Immense Disaster'
For over a year the AID-Projectgroup worked towards this one date: the 28th of November 2011. Taking in account all the work and effort put in the conference, it was no surprise that it turned out to be a great succes. Entitled 'After Immense Disaster' the conference took place in Het Kasteel, a location for conference which is becoming more familiar by the year. With lecturers as Cees Breederveld, CEO of the Dutch Red Cross, Leonie Barnes, Linda Polman, Thea Hilhorst, Oxfam Novib, the ministries of Defence and Foreign Affairs, Doctors Without Borders and Cordaid the arena was literally filled with experts on every aspect of emergency aid. The role of Honorary Chairman assigned to Frénk van der Linden, a journalist working for the NRC-Handelsbald and well-known for his Tv-appearances.
The day started with two general lectures by Cees Breederveld and Leonie Barnes, who laid down a very firm foundation for the rest of the day. After the lunch the day continued with several master classes in several shifts. You could for example think about what path to follow during emergency-aid during the master-class of the Red Cross, or think about the question marks that Linda Polman posed at the expense of the present-day form of this emergency-aid. Eventually the day ended with a concluding lecture of Joost Herman, head of the well-known NOHA master of the University of Groningen, followed by the opportunity to speak to the lecturers in person during a drink.
Vienna Trip
From the 7th to the 12th of November, the SIB has visited Vienna with a group of 16 people, for a week full of visits and activities. After traveling for 12 hours with train, another train, another train, a really short flight and yet another train, we arrived in Vienna at Monday evening really tired, but not too tired to have diner and our first Austrian beer – which didn’t taste as good as we’d hoped.
After that, there followed three days with lectures at 9 o’clock each morning – tough, but definitely interesting. We have visited the United Nations Headquarters, where we got lectures from among others the International Atom Energy Agency, the Office for Drugs and Crime, and the Organisation for Industrial Development. We also got to enjoy a taxfree lunch in between all the diplomats from all around the world, which was a small highlight of the week.
We have also visited the Dutch Embassy, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe where we could enjoy a bit of the plenary meeting, and the OPEC headquarters, where we ended up in a heated discussion about Sustainable Development and the future of oil.
Two evenings we spend with AFA Wien, the SIB in Austria. These evenings were filled with talks and drinks and learning about and from each other. One evening we entered into a debate with them, in which Wessel and Eva managed to keep safe the Dutch honor.
In the limited free time we enjoyed in between all this, we set out to discover Vienna. From Schloss Schönbrunn to the Stefansdom, everything was discovered and photographed, as is expected from good tourists. Everything considered it was an amazing week, with lots of new impressions and good stories to take home!
Dies Natalis 2011
After a difficult year for the organizing committee, the day of our 64th Dies Natalis finally arrived. Just as the tradition prescribes, was our Dies Natalis celebrated with the conference. This year's theme was Privacy. Even though the committee witnessed a tough year, the conference turned out to be a big success. With lecturers as Sophie in 't Veld, Brenno de Winter, Europol and Bits of Freedom every aspect of the debate concerning privacy was covered. Senior lecturer André de Hoogh had the difficult, but honourable, task of being the Honorary Chairman of the day.
In several master classes all the aspects concerning privacy were highlited. The day eventually ended with a plenary debate and a concluding drink, during which the discussion continued.
SIB-Trip 2011
Even though the SIB-trip took only 10 days, we experienced enough to write an entire book about it. In the cities of Stockholm, Tallinn and Riga we enjoyed lectures of for example SIPRI, SEI, the NATO Cyber Defence, IOM and UNESCO. Next to that we were privileged enough to be welcomed by the Dutch ambassador of Estonia at is home and have a bite to eat with the deputy ambassador in Riga.
MDG 2011
On the 17th of February 2011 the SIB organized a large conference on the Millennium Development Goals of the UN. Five years earlier the SIB hosted a similar conference on the same topic. The conference in 2011 therefore provided a great opportunity to catch up with what had happened in the meanwhile and to what extent there was any progress noticeable towards the final Goals. Would these Goals ever be realized? The conference turned out to be a very interactive one, consisting of lectures, master classes and country-groups. Christiaan Rebergen, special ambassador towards the Millennium Development Goals, lead the day with a short introduction and the progress that had been made. After the lunch there was the opportunity to participate in the master classes: geopolitics, Human Rights and the world economy. At the end of the day the main event took place, which was a live video-connection with Jeffrey Sachs, development economist and special advisor of the Secretary General of the United Nations. During this live connection he shared his vision on these Goals en the future of them with us. Eventually the day was closed by a debate with several lecturers of the country-groups and master classes.
Dies Natalis 2010
On the 8th of November, we celebrated our association's birthday with a very successful congress on 'Sovereignty vs Humanitarian Intervention.' With speakers such as Prince Jaime de Bourbon de Parme, Mayor of The Hague Jozias van Aartsen and NOS newscaster Herman van der Zandt, it was a highly educational day for all involved.
Drinks with the Prime Minister
On the 21st of May 2010 Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkende visited Groningen to set the mood for the upcoming elections. In collaboration with GSV and Yir' at 'Adonay, SIB created the oppurtunity for students to shoot their questions at premier while enjoying a drink. Piet Hein Donner, the former Minister of Social Affairs and Employment, also joined in. Conference on Europe's Security
The Conference on Europe's Security, held on the 17th of May 2010, was a day devoted to the Common Foreing and Security Policy of the EU. Keynote speakers such as the Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs, Maxime Verhagen, and Nick Witney highlighted several aspects of this policy and the effects it will have on the position of the EU in the world. In masterclasses by the NATO and Institue Clingendael, amongst others, the participants got a chance to shine their light on the policy and the realisation of an European army. SIB Trip 2010
In April 2010 a group of 25 SIB-members headed towards the Western isles of Europe. This ten day trip brought them to Medieval Edinburgh, divided Belfast and up-tempo Dublin. The program included visits to Scotland-Malawi Partnership, the Belfast police headquaters and the home of the Dutch Ambassador in Dublin. However, there was also pleny of room for social activities. The city of Edinburgh is now familiair with the phenomena of Queensnight and the participants have found their favorite English beer.
Fieldtrip Geneva 2009
In the fall of 2009 Projectgroup Geneva took a group of 15 SIB-members to NGO capital of Europe. The central theme of the trip was 'Energy', the numerous aspects of this theme were highlighted by visits to several of the international organisations based in Geneva. The NGO's visited during this week include the World Health Organisation, the World Trade Organisation, CERN and the Palace of Nations (HQ of the UN in Geneva). The insights gained during the trip, were used in a grand debate back in Groningen.
