The Economic Diplomacy Seminar 2009 gathered 30 young people (both in leadership and as participants) from 11 countries and lasted from July 19 through August 2. The participants arrived on July 19, starting the adventurous and challenging two weeks of learning, discussing and exchanging knowledge, skills and experience in the fields of economics, diplomacy, business, politics and life in general. The number of participants this year brought additional value and benefit for the participants themselves and the seminar, because it enabled greater cohesion relations between the people to develop over the period of 2 weeks, which brought their readiness to open up and speak frankly about all the issues that arised out of the lectures, small group dissucssios, round-tables, and thematic movies with a message. We noticed that participants were willing to share and to express their sincere opinions toward themes that were set up officially during sessions, which brought to the fore new related themes and put participants into situations to think, connect, understand and conclude together including valuating and revising their conclusion in a group of people, comparing their thoughts, attitudes and conclusions with the thoughts and attitudes of the other people and passing through the process of learning from others’s experiences as well.
As Economic Diplomacy Seminar is based on the principles of Jesus, we all were satisfied that we could make a conclusion that EDS 2009 made a great influence in participants’s lives, involving principles of Jesus in their set of values and motivating them to think about what they learned through the other set of lenses that Jesus offers for looking at economics, business and diplomacy and at the life and world reality in general.
The Seminar challenged participants to go out from their usual mode of thinking, challenging their mindsets and perception, offering new approaches and aspects of analysis of themes and subjects offered, taken from the reality and complexity of life situations that everyone can find themselves in. That allowed the participants to get a sense of how conclusions on discussed topics, cases and situations would work in real life and how they can apply what they learned in their environments and communities, to their countries or anywhere in the world. Therefore the whole set of offered material was put in the intercultural frame and impacted participants to accept the atmosphere of intercultural diversity and open mind as one of the basic pre-conditions and tools for successful communication and learning over those two weeks. The first speech at the start of the Seminar about “Intercultural communication as a tool for life and work“ ensured to become clear and understandable for participants that accepting the fruits of offered intercultural setting and frame in which seminar was happening would bring great benefits and great added value to them and excellent possibility for unique experience in their lives, in terms of learning and acquiring additional quality of excellence, for the future and for the whole life, where ever they go after. They were encouraged to be brave and to accept the challenge that was offered to them and we were glad to conclude that they were following this challenge through the whole seminar, until the very end of it. We were also glad to see that many of leadership team members noticed the same.
The speakers at the Seminar were Dražen Glavaš, Leo Van Doesburg, Jack Fallow, Melita Marčeta, Željko Puja, Tihomir Kukolja, Justin Kagin, and Milan Pavlović.
The following themes were delivered by speakers during speaking sessions :
- Introduction to Economic Diplomacy – speaker Leo van Doesburg
- How the EU functions – speaker Leo van Doesburg
- Global Terrorism and Economic Diplomacy – speaker Dražen Glavaš
- Is there an Answer? Surprised by Hope – speaker Dražen Glavaš
- Trinity Forum (Enterpreneur for Life) – speaker Jack Fallow
- Trinity Forum (Doing Well and Doing Good) – speaker Jack Fallow
- Building Insitutions – speaker Jack Fallow
- Capital Markets and Investments – speaker Melita Marčeta
- Challenges in Management – speaker Melita Marčeta
- Team Building and My Role in it – speaker Željko Puja
- Business Ethics – speaker Andrew Nedelchev
- Law and Business – speaker Boriana Staikova
- Negotiations – Katrin Nedelchev and Leo van Doesburg
- From ROM to EDS and Jesus – speaker Tihomir Kukolja
- Roma – The Effects of Discrimination – speaker Mihaela Kovacs
- Jesus and Banking – speaker Justin Kagin
- Another Way – speaker Justin Kagin
- Intercultural Communication – speaker Milan Pavlović
- DISC – speaker Nolan Sharp
Participants, leadership team members and speakers were from the following countries: Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia&Herzegovina, Macedonia, Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Cyprus, UK, USA, and the Netherlands.
Participants were organized in small groups where international and intercultural diversity was ensured within the groups as a fruitful frame for discussions that were following lectures. Each speaker defined few questions out from the lectures that participants were discussing during their time in the small groups.
Also, various workshops were offered, presenting and discussing practical applications of concrete methods and techniques in work. Two sets of workshops were delivered, with following topics:
- Carrer Planning, Profession and Life (Dražen Glavaš)
- Communication, Conflict Management and Negotiations (Leo Van Doesburg)
- Lisbon Treaty (Leo van Doesburg)
- Practical Leadership (Jack Fallow)
- Using Psychology in Business (Željko Puja)
- Restful Work (Katrin Nedelchev)
- Bribery and Corruption a Biblical Perspective (Andrew Nedelchev)
Each participant had the possibility to choose four out of seven workshops offered.
Participants also used the possibility to spend more time with person from the leadership team during “friendship and meet the team“ time when meetings with relaxing time were made with chat, walk or coffee.
EDS organized also different activities for team building and creating of friendships that enabled participants and leadership team to enjoy games, sport and nature together. They were practicing and enjoying rowing on the beatiful lake in Fužine, followed with team games where they were organized in groups training the team building. They also spent the day tour on the Croatian islands of Krk and Košljun and time in Punat, visiting the museum on the island of Košljun and enjoying the natural buties of Croatian sea coast, spending the swimming afternoon at the beach in Punat.
Exursion in Crikvenica, beatiful town on the sea coast gave them another opportunity for enjoying the fun at the beach and swimming in the Adriatic sea.
Participants had opportunity to spend one day in Zagreb, capital of Croatia, were the meeting and roundatble in the City Hall in Zagreb was organized. This meeting was hosted by the official of the City of Zagreb responsible for city development. After the meeting in the Town Hall, participants took part in the Business and Diplomatic Forum that was organized in the hotel Arcotel. Speakers at Business and Diplomatic Forum were economic diplomat from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Republic of Croatia, executive director of Privredna Banka Zagreb and the professor of Business Ethics from one of the universities in Zagreb. Participants had very goods opportunity to ask questions and they utilized this opportunity very well.
Beside speaking sessions, small groups discussions, workshops and different team activities, participants and leadership team had two Dialogue Cafes, moderated by Tihomir Kukolja, where certain questions were analysed and discussed within groups. Conclusions were drawn from the summaries of the expressed thoughts and ideas during their exchanging in the groups. Groups were composed in the way to include different people in the group arround the table for each of those questions.
Each of the evenings at the Seminar brought interesting events like thematic movies (Bordertown, Amazing Grace), Evening of Sharing and Presentations of projects and organizations that are making positive changes in the region, Talent Night with skits, music and entertaining, Food Experiment followed by discussion and reflections, Fun Night (Karaoke Party), Evening with spiritual Emphasis.
Two Summaries of the Week were given by Milan Pavlović and Justin Kagin, Seminar Co-Directors, reminding participants on activities that they passed through, learning outcomes, virtues of the whole event and benefits they were gaining from being at the Seminar.
Seminar ended with the Banquet followed with acknowledgments and Evening of Sharing and Inspiration. At the end of that eveing participants had the nice time with bonfire and music.
Before the departure, each of the participants and leadership team members got the CD with the audio and video materials and photos from the speaking sessions, workshops and other activities during the Seminar.
Economic Diplomacy Seminar was conducted and managed by Milan Pavlović and Justin Kagin, EDS co-directors and international leadership team that involved leaders from nine (9) countries (Croatia, Serbia, Macedonia, Bosnia&Herzegovina, Romania, Bulgaria, UK, USA, and Netherlands).
In conclusion we would like to present just a few of the positive comments we received from participants.
In response to the question, did EDS meet your expectations some participants wrote:
„Not at all, it's far beyond them. I'm very impressed and amazed at how great it was.“
„No, its better.“
„Yes and much more!“
In response to additional comments at the end of the feedback questionare participants wrote:
„thank you so much for this great experience!“
„I think that EDS is a great opportunity for each person for open our mind and I really like the idea, thinking what I can do, change in my community. This seminar made me think more about this and I really like to not forget when I will get home all things that I heard here and after all the investments that EDS made in me after these two weeks, to just try to act, to pass to facts from theory. So, I just want you -EDS- to thank you for giving me this opportunity and I hope that we will keep in touch! :)“
„I know you are all probably exhausted but know that you did a wonderful job and have encouraged me so much with your examples and your passion and courage.“
„I really appreciated the performance of the team. As soon as they realise there was a problem they act and tried to solve the problems.“
„The speakers definitely [I was impressed by the most]-their expertise, their approach and their passion! Especially Tihomir and Drazen - words just flow out of them, it's amazing! Also how kind and friendly everyone is. And the Trinity Forum material is excellent.“
„Many thanks for personal talks with a couple of very warm, friendly and supportive people :)“
Milan Pavlović and Justin Kagin
