IASIA Annual Conference, 3-8 August 2009, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

It was with a packed room that the IASIA Conference on the theme “Governance for Sustainable Development: implications for public administration education and practice” opened its doors.

After the traditionnal welcome by Prof. Bianor Cavalcanti, and the President Carlos Ivan Simonsen Leal, President of the Fundaçao Getulio Vargas, the Brazilian Minister of Toursim, Luiz Barretto Filho, gave a short speech followed by the keynote address by Minister of Planning, Budget and Management, Paulo Bernardo Silva. Finally, the welcome speeche Rolet Loretan, Director General of IIAS lead the way for Allan Rosenbaum, President of IASIA, to declare the IASIA Conference officialy open. But before, Minister Silva received, on behalf of the Brazilian President, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the O.P. Dwivedi Award for his leadership in working for government transparency and accountabilty.

The General Rapporteur, Valeria Termini, Dean of the Italian School of Public Administration then introduced the theme of the Conference.

After these formalities, a coffee break was well needed. The opening day is always something quite special as old friends are meeting each others again and the opportunity to discuss many issues around a glass of watermelon juice or a slice of cake is indeed sweet. The first of many occasions for you all to meet, greet, discuss and network.

And it's in in a joyful mood that the plenary session and the workshops began.

Because a IASIA Conference is not all about working hard, the Welcome cocktail kick started th evening. A quick enquiry during the the evening's welcome reception found out that most participants are satisfied with the quality of the papers and the presentations. You could pickout the attendees who presented their papers already by looking at those who seemed particulaly more relaxed than the others. We even met the youngest participant of the conference: the 3 year-old son of Mr. Hugo Silvestre.

The future of IASIA is already with us!  

Have all a good and fruitful conference!

While the Board of Management was conveneing at the Fundaçao Getulia Vargas, participants participants were attending the panel of the Division for Public Administration and Development Management of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs

The Panel was chaired by Dr. John-Maru Kauzia, Adviser in Goverance Systems and Institutions at UNDESA 

Tomorrow, the opening ceremony starts at 9.30 am and we hope to see you there! 

 

After a long trip, the IIAS-ISAIA team, composed of Director General Rolet Loretan, Executive Secretary Johannes Irchik, Finance and Marketing Director Roxane Debus and Webmaster Mélissa Monaco, have arrived in beautiful Rio. The Windsor Barra Hotel will be our home away from home for the week to come. The team had the chance to enjoy their first taste of the Carioca life by strolling along Copacabana Beach before having their first meetings with the Local Organising team from the Fundaçao Getulio Vargas. We already had a chance to see all the rooms that will be used for the conference and the convenience of having them all on the same floor will probably make things smooth for participants and staff alike. This morning, we had the pleasure to meet some you yesterday and this morning and it already feels like the Conference is getting started as we are finalising the last details and working some kinks. From the looks of things and some happy faces, it seems that this Conference is off to a good start.

On behalf of Allan Rosenbaum, President of IASIA and Bianor Cavalcanti, FGV International Director and Head of the Organizing Committee:  

Bem-vindos ao Rio de Janeiro!

From left to right: Ariane Ladeira Vidal (FGV), Fabiana Goncalves Mayrinck (FGV), Roxane Debus (IIAS), Mélissa Monaco (IIAS), Rolet Loretan (IIAS), Johannes Irchik (IASIA-IIAS) and Eduardo Marques (Sub Director of International Relations and Professor of FGV/EBAPE)