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| The Fourth International Conference on Federalism |
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Unity in Diversity – learning from each other
New Delhi, 5-7 November 2007 |
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FACTSHEET
India announced its intention to host the next International Conference
on Federalism at the Third Conference in Brussels in March 2005. The
Inter-State Council Secretariat, Government of India, was identified as
the nodal agency to organize the 2007 conference in India, and the Forum
of Federations was invited to cooperate with ISCS in the latter's
capacity as the permanent secretariat to the International Conferences
on Federalism. This conference is the fourth in a series organized in
partnership between host governments and the Forum of Federations. The
earlier conferences were held in Canada 1999, Switzerland 2002 and
Belgium 2005.
The objective of the Fourth International Conference on Federalism is to
promote dialogue on the renewal and development of federalism and
greater cooperation among practitioners in pursuit of better or good
governance. The working title for the conference is “Unity in Diversity
– learning from each other”.
About the International Conferences on Federalism – The Difference
These triennial Conferences are unique. They are a step towards
establishing an exciting and vibrant ‘community of practice’ – i.e.
people who come together to engage in a process of collective learning
in a shared domain of human endeavour – in this case the domain of
federalism.
What makes these Conferences different? For one the character of the
participation. The principal actors here are practitioners of federal
democracy – at all levels – including those heading Federal Governments
– Presidents, Prime Ministers, Chancellors; to those heading constituent
units – Premiers, Chief Ministers; and those representing federal
practice at the grassroots – leaders of village or town governments.
There are also scholars, experts, administrators and social activists
dedicated to federalism. All participants collectively engage in the
process of sharing ideas, experiences and drawing inspiration from one
another. All participants are treated equal, as learners who have been
provided an environment conducive to a free and frank dialogue. There
are no occasions for grandstanding orations, or ‘official’ statements of
Government positions. There are no treaties or protocols to be
negotiated. There are no presentations of learned academic papers. No
exegetical or scholastic debates. No ‘business’ to be transacted. No
‘Commerce’, except the commerce of ideas.
Yet there is a structure. A structure to facilitate and stimulate
learning. A set of thematic work sessions constitute the core of the
Conference. Comprehensively and intensively researched background papers
on carefully chosen themes and sub-themes are commissioned for
preparation by leading domain/theme experts. These papers are not
presented at the Conference but made available to practitioners
sufficiently in advance to serve as an input for informed discussions.
These papers influence the selection of issues and case studies, which
inform discussions at the conference work sessions. Also unlike
inter-governmental conferences, senior officials and ministers are not
provided an opportunity to present existing government positions from
prepared texts. Rather, senior practitioners are expected to actively
participate in the interactive work sessions, where colleagues from
around the world are exposed to diverse points of view and new insights
as resulting from dialogue. Such a format allows for maximum active
participation, while providing an opportunity for peers to draw
inspiration from each others’ experiences. The work sessions feed their
conclusion to the topical theme based dialogue at session on each day of
the conference. The working days of the conference are capped by plenary
sessions where participating heads of state are invited to share their
observations on issues of federalism.
The Fourth International Conference on Federalism – ‘Unity in Diversity – learning from each other’
The Fourth International Conference on Federalism will be a two and a
half day event to be held at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi. The conference is
based on four broad themes and twelve sub-themes. Each of these is
developed by a panel of Indian and international experts. These experts
represent constitute some of the leading authorities on different
aspects of federalism worldwide. These papers have been peer reviewed at
a Pre-Conference from 21st to 23rd February 2007, before being published
as background reading for the conference.
The theme papers are expected to provide a state of the art overview of
each theme, identify three policy relevant sub-themes and provide a
rationale for the selection of specific sub-themes. The sub-theme papers
are expected to provide an overview of the sub-theme and identify three
generic questions that provide a framework for discussions at the work
sessions.
The twelve sub-themes form the basis of work sessions, which are at the
heart of the conference. The Pre-Conference provided an opportunity for
the selection of cases and issues that will be used to stimulate
discussion at the conference work sessions. These cases are presented by
more than one person so as to capture the diversity of perspectives. The
work sessions are designed to be meaningful and inclusive such that they
reflect the views of politicians, civil servants, academics, young
professionals and other members of civil society. This is all the more
important because the conference is designed to be practitioner
oriented. The conferences provide a forum for the sharing of federalism
best practices that ultimately contribute to better governance.
A young professionals’ component has also been built into the main
conference in order to provide an additional international facet to the
Conference and also to allow the Forum to expand its network by
involving the next generation of experts and practitioners in its work.
With a likely participation of 50 young professionals the programme
provides them with a platform to interact with leading experts and
practitioners from around the world earlier on in their careers.
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