http://www.forcingchange.org/files/1874178/uploaded/Volume%206,%20Issue%2012%20R.pdf

GLOBAL EVENTS 2013:
A Calendar of Events on World Change
By Carl Teichrib (www.forcingchange.org)
The purpose of this calendar is to help readers better grasp the
scope and extent of world change. This calendar lists dates and
places, and it provides contextual information that will help you
understand the movements and agendas put into play.
Upfront, it must be noted that this calendar provides only a brief
glimpse into what’s being planned. Each year, hundreds of other
meetings and events crop up throughout the international landscape
– in the United Nations system, the global security community,
regional entities like the European Union, the world economic
and banking architecture, and in the fields of technology, education,
and religion: 2013 will be no different. For example, the G20,
which will take place in September, has more than 40 pre-Summit
meetings taking place in 2013 within the Russian presidency program
alone.
Overall, this calendar will help you understand the agendas on
the immediate horizon. It’s a “heads-up” for 2013.


--2013: UN International Year of Water Cooperation.
Where: Global.
The United Nations has declared 2013 the International
Year of Water Cooperation. Therefore, an emphasis on
global water governance will be attached to relevant UN
meetings and forums on the environment, and global
educators will be directed to stress the importance of water
as an international concern. As part of this thematic
push, March 22 has been declared World Water Day.
Then, later in the summer, a week-long conference will
take place in Stockholm, Sweden regarding international
water cooperation.
January 7-11/May 5-9: Global Governance 2022.
Where: Beijing, China/Washington DC.
These two events – one held in Beijing and the other in Washington DC – are part of a larger
project known as Global Governance 2022, which seeks to identify players, factors, and scenarios
regarding international management in three core areas: global energy governance,
global cyber security governance, and global development governance. The purpose: To discover
the trends that will shape the creation of a new global order approximately 10 years into
the future.
Working to these events, and afterwards as the project continues, twenty-four participants –
eight from Germany, China, and the US – were selected by a steering committee of high-level
academics, think tank officers, and governmental personalities. These 24 “GG2022 Fellows”
also come from the ranks of academia, influential think tanks, and governmental agencies.
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January 8-10: International Annual UN-Water Conference.
Where: Zaragoza, Spain.
This United Nations conference is part of the International Year of Water Cooperation, and is
meant to set the thematic tone. One important aspect of this event is the stated correlation between
global water governance and the 1992 UN Earth Summit core document, Agenda 21.
January 10: Crux of Asia Conference.
Where: Washington, DC.
The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace is hosting a one-day conference on the
rise of Asia as it relates to “the changing global order.” As the Endowment explains it; “The rise
of China and India as major world powers promises to test the established global order in the
coming decades. If history is any indication, Beijing, New Delhi, and Washington may all have
different visions for this new international system.” Panel discussions will take place with this
broader theme in mind, along with panels on Regional Security, Space Security, and The
Search for Energy Security.
January 9-11: Have the United Nations Agencies Adapted to the 21st Century?
Where: Vienna, Austria.
Sponsored by the Academic Council on the United Nations System (ACUNS), this conference
will review a spectrum of United Nations concerns – including nuclear challenges, the
rise of the Global South, international knowledge management, and bringing youth into the UN
fold.
ACUNS is an academic support and research organization dedicated to enhancing global
governance through the family of United Nations agencies, offices, and programs.
January 14-15: Barcelona Workshop on Global Governance.
Where: Barcelona, Spain.
Participants in this two-day workshop will study how international governance “can be at their
most effective in solving global problems.” Questions to be exploreexplored are: “What is the performance
of global institutions?... How are the leaders of global governance institutions chosen?...
How are these organizations structured?”
Confirmed speakers include Javier Solana (former NATO Secretary General and EU High
Representative) and Narcis Serra (former Spanish Minister of Defense).
January 23-27: World Economic Forum Annual Meeting.
Where: Davos-Klosters, Switzerland.
According to the World Economic Forum (WEF), it is “the foremost global community of business,
political, intellectual and other leaders of society who are committed to improving the
state of the world.”
For years, the WEF has been a premier international event, drawing together top government
officials with CEOs from globally significant corporations, banking and financial leaders,
Forcing Change, Volume 6, Issue 12
December 2012
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and social visionaries. Hence, what happens at the World Economic Forum reverberates
throughout economic and political circles for months (and sometimes years) down the road.
The list of the 2013 strategic corporate partners for the World Economic Forum is extensive,
including Visa, Bank of America, Siemens, Barclays, Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse, JP Morgan,
Deutsche Bank, Google, Microsoft, Prudential, and Morgan Stanley.
Regional WEF events are planned for different parts of the world throughout 2013.
- April 23-25: WEF Latin America (Lima, Peru).
- May 8-10: WEF Africa (Cape Town, South Africa).
- May 24-26: WEF Middle East/North Africa (Dead Sea, Jordan).
- June 5-7: WEF East Asia (Nay Pyi Daw, Myanmar).
- November 6-8: WEF India (Gurgaon, India).
January 28-31: Earth System Governance.
Where: Tokyo, Japan.
To be held at the United Nations University Headquarters in Tokyo, this meeting is part of an
ongoing project on developing the political, scientific, and technological structures needed to
create and maintain “Earth System Governance.” To this end, six focal areas will be addressed:
1) Earth System Governance Architecture in the 21st Century: This includes global political
systems such as the “creation of a world environment organization,” regional governance, and
national-regional-global networks.
2) Climate and Energy Governance Architectures: How energy and climate issues can be
combined in “the next generation of climate governance architectures,” including carbon technology
transfers and global climate/energy security programs. Global carbon taxation schemes
will likely be included in this section.
3) The Nexus Between Architecture and the Other “A’s” in Earth System Governance: Five
“A’s” will be examined – Allocation and Access, Agency, Accountability, and Adaptiveness.
Here, the broader system of social norms and institutions, private partnerships, and socialecological
models will be looked at in relationship to Earth Systems Governance and its larger
implementation.
4) Political Dynamics: Participants will explore “emerging agents in earth system governance,”
including the role of regional political blocs and how scientific groups can influence the political
landscape.
5) Methodological Challenges: Three groups will be investigated – the social sciences community,
natural scientists, and engineers – with a focus on how technologies for global modeling
can be used to enable these three professions in developing a collaborative approach to global
management.
6) Nuclear Safety and Post-disaster Governance.
Started in 2009, the Earth System Governance Project is a joint effort between the International
Social Sciences Council, the International Council for Science, and the United Nations
University. In putting this Project together, four areas of activities have been identified for international
management: 1) Global Water System, 2) Global Food System, 3) Global Climate
System, 4) Global Economic System.
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