About Programs Fellowship News Calendar
The first topic in the multi-year series focussed on A Clean and Green Asia and envision an Asia that contributes to planetary health.
Environmental degradation and climate change are a defining global challenge for the 21st century. Millions of people in Asia are already suffering the consequences of climate-influenced extreme weather events, acute air pollution, water insecurity and other threats. These, in combination with other factors, are flashpoints for future instability and conflicts. While many Asian countries recognize the need to accelerate transition to low-carbon and climate resilient economies, stronger leadership and new alliances at various levels are imperative to drive transformation and deliver integrated and equitable solutions. It is important to tackle the divergence of policies among countries and the lack of regional coordination, which often weakens the impact of environmental and climate change policies and actions.
The first cohort of participants includes rising leaders from ASEAN+3 and India who are rooted in their communities, committed to inclusive progress, and work in fields related to energy and climate, environmental protection and governance, urban planning, technology,culture or media. Participants focussed on practical ways to scale up community action and cross-border cooperation to advance climate and environmental progress in line with the Sustainable Development Goals.
Asia is the world's most vibrant, populous, fast-urbanizing and rapidly changing continent. More than any other region, its development pathway will be the single largest factor influencing global prospects for growth and stability.
Upcoming Asian leaders have the potential to guide sustainable and equitable development for billions of their citizens and to shape the future of global cooperation and planetary health in the 21st century. However, they also face complex challenges to human, economic, and political security that could weaken their ability to fulfill this exceptional promise. A new generation of connected and informed leaders will therefore be critical to advance regional cohesion and cultivate a stronger sense of collaborative responsibility for peaceful global progress.
The Asia We Want: Building Community Through Regional Cooperation is a leadership development program of Salzburg Global Seminar that seeks to build a dynamic, gender-balanced cohort of 150 rising Asian leaders over the next four years (2017-2020). Rooted in their communities and committed to sharing their talent, knowledge, and experience, participating leaders will forge breakthrough collaborations and develop innovative projects and initiatives that advance Asia's regional cooperation and global engagement in the 21st century.
The multi-year series on The Asia We Want: Building Community Through Regional Cooperation program was jointly designed by an invited group of Asian experts at a strategy meeting in October 2016, supported by the Japan Foundation. It is envisaged that these three successive meetings will lead into a synthesis program convened in Asia in 2020. This would bring together the network, learning,and exchange catalyzed during the series' first three years.
The multi-year series The Asia We Want: Building Community Through Regional Cooperation has four concrete goals:
