Exciting times are ahead as the Bridges project kicks off, bringing Nobel laureates and celebrities such as Jackie Chan to Cambodia. Words by Nora Lindstrom.
Cambodia is in for a novel experience as the International Peace Foundation’s Bridges project begins in the capital on October 30th. Bringing six Nobel laureates as well as three other keynote speakers to Cambodia over a period of 6 months, Bridges aims to promote peace through strengthening dialogue and communication across both physical and mental borders in Southeast Asia and beyond.
The project is part of a series of hundreds of events facilitated by the Vienna-based foundation in all ASEAN countries apart from Burma. Since its inception in Thailand in 2003, events have been also been organised in Malaysia and the Philippines. After this year’s event in Cambodia, the project will travel to Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia, Laos and Brunei.
Building Bridges
Uwe Morawetz, the foundation’s Chairman, has played a key role over the past two years in bringing the event to Cambodia. He says the project seeks to build bridges between Nobel Laureates and local educational institutions in Southeast Asia, that hopefully result in common research programs and other forms of collaboration in the future.
“We also hope to inspire these Nobel Laureates, who will all visit Cambodia for their first time, to experience a country which is far more than what Cambodia is associated with by many who live far away,” he says. “We want them to listen and learn more about the needs of Cambodia’s society today, and to see how they can be of use for the country’s development in the long run”.
Designed as a six-month series of free public lectures at local universities, the focus is thus on kick-starting a dialogue. “We have chosen Nobel Laureates and keynote speakers who can easily connect with people in all parts of society, but mainly with young students,” Morawetz explains. “They speak a language which is easy to understand, and they have the ability to engage in dialogues and extended question and answer sessions with their audiences,” he says, adding that even the lectures given by top scientists such as physicist David J. Gross will be comprehensible to all.
Peace through Education
A key aspect of the project is to give young Cambodians in particular a chance to engage with the distinguished speakers. Morawetz hopes such interaction will inspire them to become actively involved in shaping their country’s future. “Peace begins with education,” he says, explaining that the International Peace Foundation cooperates with major schools and universities in realising the project. “The seeds of peace need to be planted in schools, in universities, in the new generation,” he says.
By supporting and enhancing the educational system in the countries where the project takes place, Bridges is thus claims to create the basis for peace. “Peace is not a given good. It has to be constantly learned, experienced and created anew. Peace is also not a passive state, it is a process which needs time, attention and the participation of all of us,” Morawetz explains.
More tangibly, he says students participating in past events have later had the opportunity to work in laboratories associated with speakers at the events, and participating institutions have also launched their own research programmes thanks to links established during the project’s events. Arts collaborations have also resulted, and keynote speakers have engaged in political advocacy during their visits.
Though King Sihamoni is the Honorary Chairman of the project, and Prime Minister Hun Sen acts as Chairman, the project itself is according to Morawetz apolitical, focusing instead on involving as many actors as possible. “Bridges is an independent platform for dialogue, which is the first step towards peace and cooperation not possible without it,” he says. The foundation does however not follow-up on any links established during the visits of the dignitaries. “We are an independent facilitator who helps to start a process, but it’s up to each country to continue it”.
Whether or not future collaboration will result from the upcoming visits by Oliver Stone, East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta and virologist Barre-Sinoussi (who among other things discovered AIDS), what is certain is that the next 6 months will offer a series of lectures by distinguished individuals, the likes of which are seldom seen in Cambodia. And if that promotes peace, so much the better.
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