Scholarship Programs alumni from the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania gathered in Tallinn, Estonia for the first OSI Regional Alumni Conference.
The conference, which focused on issues concerning social responsibility, was the first in a series of alumni conferences to be held in different regions over the coming years with the goal of not only reconnecting NSP with alumni but also providing them the space and opportunity to network amongst themselves and to discuss issues affecting their region.
Alumni convened for two days of discussions, brainstorming and reconnecting. As one Lithuanian alumna noted, despite living in the same country as many of her fellow alumni, she hadn’t seen most of them since completing her scholarship program.
Guests
- Karen B. Decker, Chargé d'Affaires for the U.S. Embassy in Tallinn opened the conference, speaking on American volunteerism and her own experience in Afghanistan.
- Kristina Mänd, a former Muskie alumna, presented her ideas for a pan-Baltic foundation that would serve as an umbrella agency for the different not-for-profit organizations in the Baltics.
- Professor Tom Sorrell, Director of the Centre for the Study of Global Ethics at the University of Birmingham ended the conference with a rousing presentation on the social responsibilites of companies in regards to human rights.
Alumni Presenters
- Liisi Lembinen (UEP), Estonia; Elvina Zviruble (UEP), Latvia “Women’s Social Responsibility. Media and Women: What do Women Advertise?”
- Arunas Kuras (Muskie-FSA), Lithuania: “Women’s Social Responsibility. Media and Women: What do Women Advertise? From the male prospective”
- Dr. Laimute Jakavonyte (Cambridge Hospitality), Lithuania: “Mapping the new configurations of Lithuanian Culture: On the responsibility of intellectual”
- Kaarel Haav (OSI/FCO/Cambridge University), Estonia “The dilemma of individuals and society in Estonia textbooks”
- Ausra Jurgutiene (Oxford Hospitality), Lithuania: “Publishing serial books of literary theory to philology students”
- Ojars Balcers (OSI/FCO/Oxford University), Latvia and Kadri Sirg (OSI/FCO/Oxford University): “Estonia.Ecological Footprint of Civic Society. Values and Networks for a Social Responsibility of the Corporate and Non-Governmental Sector”
- Irena Alperyte (Muskie-FSA), Lithuania: “The echo will come back in ten years. Portrayals of social responsibility through art”
- Kadri Suni (UEP), Estonia, chaired the discussion on “OSI Alumni in small towns”