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Reshaping Europe
How to strengthen ASEAN - EU relations:

What are your ideas on what could be done to bring ASEAN and the EU closer together?
Working Youth

 

© Unsplashed |  Mimi Thian

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the international community has increasingly seen, on the one hand, a rise of authoritarianism and, on the other hand, a backslide of democratic principles and practices – especially in Southeast Asia. The 45 years of partnership between the EU and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has been challenged by these developments. The negotiation for deeper strategic and economic engagement between ASEAN and EU has been halted due to technical disagreements and diverging understandings of human rights and democratic values. Initiatives and mechanisms have to be developed in order to bridge these gaps, reinvigorate democratic norms and enable gains for both sides.

FNF, in partnership with Asia Centre, will organise a hackathon to allow young participants to initiate policies, projects or campaigns to improve the relationship between the two blocs. 

Sixteen teams (consisting of two youths) across Southeast and East Asia will develop and present their ideas in the hackathon to judges, and the public. The winning team of this regional hackathon will be invited to attend the FNF Annual Conference in Berlin, Germany to present their initiatives with distinguished political decision makers.

Our Objective

We want to encourage and support youth participation in strengthening the relationship between the EU and ASEAN.

Please Note: 

The Hackathon will take place in Bangkok, Thailand. Chosen participants from across Southeast and East Asia will be sponsored to join the event. FNF Southeast and East Asia will provide an economy round-trip flight and 3 nights’ accommodation for overseas participants. 

In addition, the winning team will also be sponsored to present their idea in Berlin, Germany. 

Requirements

  • Participants must be between 18-25 years and form a team of 2 individuals.
  • Participants must be from FNF project countries in Southeast and East Asia, Thailand, Myanmar, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Philippines, Korea and Taiwan. 
  • We encourage diversity of gender, race and religion 

Event Format

A three-day event to give participants knowledge of the EU’s global position and challenges in Southeast Asia and work on potential ways to move forward. 

  • Day 1 will provide orientation to all participants. They will be briefed about the relationship between the EU and ASEAN by experts in international affairs, academics, and journalists, among others. 
  • Day 2 will see participants work on their initiatives. The participants will have the opportunity to discuss their ideas with experts and mentors. 
  • Day 3 will allow participants to continue their work in the morning and be the hackathon – a public event – in the afternoon where participants will present their initiatives to judge and the public. The announcement of the winners will be made on the same day.
first poster

Read our Publication

Global Europe – Global Expectations

Global Europe – Global Expectations

Today, we are experiencing that the European Union and its model of democratic societies are losing their worldwide popularity. The growing global influence of actors with values, political systems, and worldviews that are diametrically opposing to those of the EU, as well as the renaissance of geopolitical blocs (as evidenced by the abstention of some states in the UN in condemning Russia's war of aggression), further reinforce this trend. In the new era of geopolitics, characterized by strategic rivalry between authoritarian states on the one hand and liberal democracies on the other, these are alarming signs. In order to prevail against authoritarian regimes, the liberal model of EU democratic societies must regain its attractiveness in the world.



Wir erleben heute, dass die Europäische Union und ihr Modell der demokratischen Gesellschaften weltweit an Attraktivität verlieren. Der wachsende globale Einfluss von Akteuren mit Werten, politischen Systemen und Weltanschauungen, die denen der EU diametral entgegengesetzt sind, sowie die Renaissance geopolitischer Blockbildungen (wie die Stimmenthaltung einiger Staaten in der UNO bei der Verurteilung des russischen Angriffskrieges zeigt) verstärken diese Entwicklung noch. In der neuen Ära der Geopolitik, die durch die strategische Rivalität zwischen autoritären Staaten auf der einen und liberalen Demokratien auf der anderen Seite gekennzeichnet ist, sind dies alarmierende Zeichen. Um sich gegen autoritäre Regime durchzusetzen, muss das liberale Modell der demokratischen Gesellschaften der EU in der Welt wieder an Attraktivität gewinnen.

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