Events - iVolga Press

AviSOC 2024: Representing ASEAN Students' Voices for SDG Implementation

The international student competition, ASEAN Virtual Student Opinion Competition (AviSOC), was held again in the Auditorium of Building A, Faculty of Administrative Sciences (FIA), Universitas Brawijaya, on Tuesday (11/05/2024). The competition, themed "From Ideas to Action: Mobilizing Youth for SDGs Implementation in ASEAN," invited students across Southeast Asia to share their ideas in support of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through opinion pieces and poster submissions.

Aulia Luqman Aziz, SS., S.Pd., M.Pd., Chair of the AviSOC 2024 organizing committee, mentioned that this year marks the fourth edition of the event since it began in 2021, initially held online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “Alhamdulillah, since 2021, enthusiasm for AviSOC has continued to grow, not only in Indonesia but also in other Southeast Asian countries. Nearly every ASEAN country has participated, including Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, and Brunei Darussalam,” he said.

According to Aulia, AviSOC aims to engage students in broader public discussions through popularized academic opinion writing. “We want to introduce students to opinion writing—scientific yet accessible, written in language understandable to the general public. This is different from pure academic writing because we want academics, including students, to provide analysis on current issues in a way that is both relevant and engaging for the public,” he explained.

This year, AviSOC invited participants to compete in two categories: opinion article writing and poster creation. Opinion articles, though brief, must address a significant issue in each participant's country with a scientifically acceptable approach for the general reader. Aulia explained that the goal of the opinion competition is for students to “fill the void” in society, which often craves information and analysis from academics.

“Academics have the ability to voice analyses of current issues. We hope that students can represent the public by examining these issues with a scientific perspective that is also easily understood,” he added.

The poster category, meanwhile, provides a creative alternative for ASEAN students to visually express their views. “Posters are a popular medium, and we want to showcase visual works by students that can be enjoyed by a wide ASEAN audience,” Aulia continued.

This year, AviSOC received approximately 300 submissions from five countries. Participants came from various educational institutions, both from within and outside Universitas Brawijaya’s Faculty of Administrative Sciences. “We received a large number of entries, reflecting the great interest of ASEAN students in this competition,” Aulia noted.

Additionally, he mentioned that the best works from previous AviSOC editions have been compiled into a book and distributed for free. For AviSOC 2024, the committee is considering compiling the best works into a new publication. “We will discuss this with the committee to ensure that the book can be shared with academics and stakeholders in ASEAN countries. This book could serve as a platform for ASEAN students’ voices on current issues,” he said.

AviSOC adopts a unique format by not assigning a specific theme for the opinion category. Students are free to choose any topic of interest, whether related to their field of study or other areas. Aulia commented, “We give participants the freedom to address any issue, as long as they can provide a scientific, popular analysis that offers insights to readers.”

AviSOC 2024 is expected to serve as a platform for ASEAN students to contribute to sustainable development and foster collaboration in the region. The competition also serves as a platform that amplifies young academics' voices in advancing ideas that can support the achievement of the SDGs in Southeast Asia.

ICOPAG 2024: Building Synergies for Holistic Public Governance

Faculty of Administrative Science (FIA) at Universitas Brawijaya (UB) once again held its annual international event, the 3rd International Conference on Public Administration and Governance (ICOPAG) 2024, on Wednesday, October 30, 2024. With the theme "Synergies between Public Administration, Library Science, Education, Social Sciences, and Life Sciences," the conference invited academics and practitioners to deepen insights into challenges and solutions in public administration.

In a broader collaborative effort, ICOPAG 2024 partnered with academic institutions from two Southeast Asian universities: Universiti Teknologi Malaysia and Visayas State University in the Philippines. The event was attended by delegates from various countries, including Argentina, Brazil, the Philippines, India, Pakistan, Nigeria, and others, reflecting high enthusiasm for discussions on critical issues in public administration.

In his opening remarks, Aulia Luqman Aziz, S.S., S.Pd., M.Pd., the Chair of ICOPAG 2024, expressed appreciation for the attendance of academics and participants, including non-presenters from different countries.

"We received a total of 90 papers presented by academics from eight countries, with publications to be featured in international journals," Aulia Luqman Aziz stated. He also thanked Dr. Freda Hidayati and Dr. Ahmed Amiruddin for their significant contributions to the success of previous ICOPAG editions.

Meanwhile, Prof. Drs. Andy Fefta Wijaya, MDA., Ph.D., Dean of FIA UB, highlighted the importance of cross-disciplinary collaboration in addressing various global challenges in his remarks.

"In this increasingly interconnected era, the role of public administration is becoming more complex. As administrators, policymakers, and academics, we must adapt to global issues such as environmental sustainability and technological transformation," Prof. Andy Fefta Wijaya said.

He emphasized that solutions must consider local contexts and leverage local knowledge to maximize benefits for both local and global communities.

ICOPAG 2024 focused on various strategic issues relevant to current conditions, ranging from public administration and policy, library and information sciences, educational management, business and finance, to public health and gender studies.

Discussion sessions and paper presentations covered topics such as innovations in public policy, the role of technology in information management, educational management strategies, approaches to poverty alleviation, and sustainable economic development.

As keynote speakers, ICOPAG 2024 hosted experts from several countries, including Professor Aslam Fataar from Stellenbosch University in South Africa, Professor Yuzuru Shimada from Nagoya University in Japan, and Dr. Corrienna Abdul Talib from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. Each speaker brought unique perspectives from various fields to enrich participants' insights into increasingly complex challenges in public administration.

Prof. Andy Fefta Wijaya hoped that the conference would serve as a platform for participants to exchange ideas, build partnerships, and find practical and innovative solutions.

"I am confident that the discussions and findings presented here will contribute not only to our individual academic fields but also to more holistic governance approaches that benefit society as a whole," he added.

With a range of engaging topics discussed, ICOPAG 2024 provided a space for participants to collaborate in efforts to realize adaptive and inclusive governance. FIA UB is committed to continuously developing this conference as an annual event that advances knowledge and public governance practices, while strengthening academic ties between nations.

Quo Vadis – Ethics of the Scientific Research

Despite the background of new challenges and crisis situations, the global scientific community continues to demonstrate resilience and an unyielding desire to make life better for humanity. In these uncertain times only a sober assessment of the intellectuals of their time allows peoples and nations not to plunge into the abyss of strife and chaos of war.

At the end of April 2024 a regular meeting Humboldt-Kolleg NANO-2024: «Quo Vadis – Ethics of the Scientific Research» was held. More than 100 scientists from 11 countries attended the forum. Steffen Mehlich, the director of the department of Alexander von Humbolt’s fund promotion abroad, opened this event.

Wilfred van der Wiel, a world-famous scientist, the professor of The Institute for Nanotechnology MESA+ of the University of Twente (Netherlands), spoke as an invited guest.

Participants noted that along with the colossal positive impact of science on society there is also a negative side of this phenomenon, namely the danger of using scientific results for inhumane purposes by short-sighted but ambitious politicians and criminal structures.

Realizing the moral responsibility of the scientific community to all humanity for the possible use of the results of their scientific activities for inhumane purposes, the members of Humboldt-Kolleg advocated the formation of unified approaches in the process of monitoring the use of breakthrough technologies, in particular:

uncontrolled gene-modifying experiments in closed biological laboratories capable of creating new viruses;
chaotic development of artificial intelligence systems;
unconscious large-scale use of nanomaterials that can cause severe pathologies.

The participants called for the elimination of emerging discrimination based on nationality against international scientific teams and research groups. It was stated that only by expanding the boundaries and creating conditions for participation in scientific activities for all scientists interested in the prosperity of mankind truly great results may be achieved.

World Youth Festival 2024

On March 1-7, 2024, the Russian city of Sochi hosted a large-scale international event – the “World Youth Festival 2024”, which became an open platform for independent dialogue between young scientists from all over the world.

At the closing of the event, the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin during his speech focused primary attention on importance of further development of equal interstate cooperation in the educational and scientific spheres.

It is noteworthy that in the context of growing misinformation on the need to «isolate the Moscow» and the non-recognition of the scheduled Russian presidential elections, the event was attended by young researchers, political scientists, journalists and media persons from significant number of countries. Such interest from the international community indicates that Russia remains a center of attraction for scientists and researchers from all over the world, and the recent statements of different politicians are just unlucky attempts to justify geopolitical failures and discredit the legitimacy of the future Russian government on the eve of the election campaign.

Taking into account development plans and ongoing large-scale programs of international cooperation, it is clear that the officials of the Russian Federation are ready to confidently act as a conductor of multipolar and fair international cooperation.

"Science - Education - Cooperation: International Dialogue" during WYF 2024

This week the one of the largest international events – World Youth Festival 2024 – concluded in Sochi. WYF 2024 brought together over 20,000 delegates from 190 countries.

The Russian Society, Znanie, organized a panel discussion which was held on March 5, 2024. The topic of discussion was "Science-Education-Cooperation: International Dialogue". Experts from the Thailand, Brazil, Turkey and Russia took part in the discussion of topical issues. They shared information about opportunities available for younger generations and prospects for equal international interaction in the scientific and educational spheres.

One of the speakers – Professor Vicente Barrientos – Head of the Ibero-American Institute (IAI), Latin-American expert and President of the Coordinating Council of the joint BRICS Business Cooperation Center. He expressed support to the potential of educational systems of the BRICS countries and the extended opportunities for international interuniversity interactions that are opening up: "I was born and raised in Brazilian multilingual environment, there I went to school with two languages, finished it with four, and graduated university with six. I think there is nothing complicated about it, just love for the subject of study and the desire to learn something new. Since then I have spent 30 years in the education system, because it was interesting to communicate with students whose eyes were burning with the desire to learn something new."

He also expressed the initiative to create a periodical of the BRICS countries: "I have an idea to create a regional geography magazine about the member states of BRICS, which will contain describing regions’ features of Russia, their economy, climate, education, science and culture. When a foreigner reads for example about the Ivanovo region, he will better understand what he can get from studying in the country. In this way we will popularize our countries and education in them."

In this regard it is significant that the Russian Federation has become the organizer of the World Festival of Youth, which served as an open platform for dialogue of young people from all over the world.