The 2010 EU Study Tour has been announced and planning is underway to finalize tour programme and internship opportunities. In the meantime, visit the IES EU Study Tour page for more information and the 2010 EU Study Tour Information Handout.

Find out further details on the IES EU Study Tour page.

Twenty years after the Fall of the Wall

"The twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Wall gives us an opportunity to reflect on the meaning and the impact of one of the most spectacular and important events of the twentieth century.

In a series of video clips the GermanStudies.ca project invited scholars at Canadian universities to comment on the meaning and legacy of what happened twenty years ago in Germany and many other countries in Central Eastern Europe. The focus of their contributions is on how the fall of Wall changed Germany and how unified Germany has dealt with the challenges of the post-Communist transformation process. Focusing on the political, cultural, and economic dimension of Germany's development after 1989 the videos all contend that the effects of what started with the demonstrations in Leipzig and the collapse of the Wall still critically shape current German society."

To learn more, visit the online forum.

Robertson McIlwain and Julian M. Campisi under the direction of Dr. Kurt Hübner, recently submitted a policy paper to the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Foreign Policy eDiscussion series. "The Foreign Policy website is host to an ongoing series of policy eDiscussions. The goal of these eDiscussions is to provide Canadians the opportunity for discussion and input into policy development." This particular paper was submitted under the Canada-European Union Relations initiative.

Read the full eDiscussion Policy Paper online or download the pdf.

As part of the 2009 Goethe Writer in Residence program at the IES, Alexander Smoltczyk, one of Germany's leading reporters in print journalism, has been looking at how the environmental situation in Western Canada impacts the Pacific Salmon.

In an effort to raise awareness of the various issues surrounding this important topic, Smoltzcyk documented his research and made it available through his personal blog, which you can read here.

Event: Post-Kyoto Strategies Compared: European & North American Pathways to Carbon-Neutral Market Economies
Date: 30-31 October, 2009
Location: Room 120, C.K. Choi Building, UBC, 1855 West Mall, Vancouver, BC

Bringing together policy, government and academic leaders from across Europe and North America, the UBC Institute for European Studies will host an international conference on Post-Kyoto strategies from 30-31 October, 2009. The  event will feature notable speakers,  including the Former Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme, several European ambassadors and diplomats, as well as  prominent academics.

To view the full program information, click on the following link:

 Post-Kyoto Conference (363.43 kB)

Event: Twenty Years after the Fall of the Wall. Persistent Regional Inequalities or Catching Up?
Date: Wednesday, October 14 2009, 12:00 - 13:30
Location: CK Choi Building, Rm. 120

Dr. Frank Gerlach , a Visiting Scholar at the UBC Institute of European Studies,  is presenting a talk titled "Twenty Years after the Fall of the Wall. Persistent Regional Inequalities or Catching Up?" as part of the IES project "Twenty Years Later ".

This talk is co-sponsored by the IES and the Stifterverband der Deutschen Wissenschaft and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).

Contact: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
*Light refreshments will be served

A Working Policy Paper by a 2009 IES Graduate, Patricia Reid, has been featured as part of the Strategic Knowledge Cluster Canada-Europe Transatlantic Dialogue Policy Paper series. The paper, titled Opportunity in a Time of Crisis: Stimulus Packages and the Green New Deal, examines "the extent to which North American and European countries have used the opportunity offered by the economic crisis in order to introduce measures to combat climate change and to promote a “Green New Deal.”". The Policy Paper is available from the following link,  Reid - 2009 - New Green Deal (329.16 kB), or via the Strategic Knowledge Cluster Canada-Europe Transatlantic Dialogue website.

Strategic Knowledge Cluster Canada-Europe Transatlantic Dialogue Policy Papers "are research-based full scale analytical papers of around 20 pages."

IES Director, Prof. Kurt Huebner, provides, in the July 2009 Policy Brief published by the Strategic Knowledge Cluster Canada-Europe Transatlantic Dialogue,  a policy-level analysis of the new Canada-EU economic partnership. This critical overview is available directly from the following link,  Huebner - 2009 - Economic Partnership (204.9 kB), or via the Strategic Knowledge Cluster Canada-Europe Transatlantic Dialogue website.

Strategic Knowledge Cluster Canada-Europe Transatlantic Dialogue Policy Briefs "present concise, policy-oriented analyses of topical issues in European affairs, with the aim of bringing research findings to bear in a timely and direct fashion on public discussion of issues facing the public and decision-makers"