ASEM Summits : ASEM 6

ASEM 6 Logo The 6th ASEM Summit (Asia-Europe Meeting, ASEM) at the level of Heads of State or Government took place in Helsinki on 10 and 11 September 2006. It was a historically significant event as it also marked the tenth anniversary of the ASEM cooperation forum. The ASEM 6 Summit was the largest ever meeting at the level of Heads of State or Government hosted by Finland.The overarching theme of the Summit was "10 Years of ASEM: Global Challenges - Joint Responses", reflecting both the joint objectives and global developments.

The priorities of the Helsinki Summit were:

Support for the multilateral international system
Addressing security threats (including global health threats such as the avian flu)
Questions related to energy security and climate change
Support for a conclusion of the negotiations on the WTO/DDA
Questions relating to globalisation, competitiveness and structural changes in the global economy
Intercultural dialogue

The ten years of ASEM cooperation was also be one of the meeting’s cross-cutting themes. The Summit submitted proposals for further development of the ASEM cooperation and to adopt a Helsinki declaration on the Future of ASEM.

The Finnish-Japanese joint research report, entitled "ASEM in its Tenth Year: Looking Back, Looking Forward", provided background for the discussion and decisions on the future of the process.

ASEF Projects in Support of ASEM 6

You could download this information as a pdf document under "Related Documents" at the bottom of this page

ASEF activities being prepared in support of the ASEM6 Summit (at the 10th Anniversary of ASEM) in Helsinki in September 2006 are:

Cultural Exchange

Project 1: “The Year of Asian Cultures” (conducted throughout 2006)
Description
ASEF is supporting the Finnish Ministry of Education to co-organise 9 selected cultural activities open to the public to support ASEM6 and to render visibility. These include exhibitions, visual and performing arts, and multimedia involving diverse Asian artists and groups.

Partners
Ministry of Education, Finland; Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Finland; Helsinki Film Festival; Riihimaki Art Museum; Tampere City Library and other Finnish libraries; Helsinki City Cultural Office; Vapriiki Museum; Tampere Theatre Festival; various Finnish theatres; Helsinki Festival, etc.

Project 2: 4th Asia-Europe Art Camp: “Hearing Helsinki” (12-20 June 2006)
Description
The yearly series of Asia-Europe Art Camp has been conceived since 2003 as a learning experience (artistic ideas and experiences from Asia and Europe) and also as an opening in terms of professional future (learn how to work with people from different cultures and backgrounds; how to develop and nurture artists’ networks in an international dimension, etc.)

The camp focuses on the creative process more than on the end “artistic product”, while trying to offer a platform for exchange of information, contextualisation of art practices and sharing of inspiration. Since 2004, ASEF has been placing an emphasis on new media art in the series of art camps.

The Fourth Asia-Europe Art Camp “Hearing Helsinki” focused on observing, analysing and documenting the shared sonic environment that surrounds us. What kind of meanings and emotions are conveyed through sound, and how do these sounds affect us? The programme provided a forum for sharing and discussing sonic experiences amongst a multi-disciplinary group of 20 students, guided by a team of artists and new media practitioners, coming from 19 ASEM member countries.

Two main outputs resulted from this event are: 1) A sound presentation is expected to be held at the ASEM6 premises on 10 & 11 Sep 2006; 2) A call for new projects will be launched at the end ofJuly 2006, only open to the alumni of art camp students (2003-2006).

Partners
University of Arts and Design (Media Lab), Ministry of Education, Finland

Project 3: Multimedia presentation “Borderless Me!” (10-11 September 2006)
Description
Borderless Me aims to present ASEF’s active involvement in civil society dialogue through a series of multi-media installations at the Helsingin Messukeskus during the ASEM 6 Summit in Helsinki, Finland on 7-11 September 2006.

On 7 & 8 September it is also shown at an outdoor space near the City of Helsinki Cultural Office (Yellow House) from 8 p.m. to midnight.

The multimedia presentation will consist of an installation (photo + video + sound) that would reflect the rich diversity of ASEM cultures, and experiment with new technologies that could be used to enrich the Asia-Europe cultural collaboration. The interactive multimedia installation will present an exclusive preview of the ASEMUS Virtual Collection of Masterpieces (VCM). A series of 400 photographs representing the collection of participating institutions will be made available through a video presentation, accompanied by a “sonic environment” created in Finland, by the students of the 4th Asia-Europe Art Camp.

The process of creation will take place between March to September 2006 in both sides of Asia and Europe where varied ASEF projects are conducted. Series of interviews, photo shoot, filming, editing and creative multi-media installation/presentation will be undertaken to complete the project with ASEF’s partners and artistic collaborators: University of Art, Helsinki, ASEMUS VCM consortium and Walkscreen.

Berlin-based artists Ruthe Zuntz and Michael Reitz are the artistic collaborators for the visual installation and the sonic sound is the collective creation resulting from the Asia-Europe Art Camp 2006.

Partners: ASEM6 Secretariat (Ministry of Foreign Affairs); University of Art and Design, Helsinki (Media lab), City of Helsinki Cultural Office and Walkscreen (Berlin based multimedia artists); with sponsorship from Apple.

Intellectual Exchange

Project: ASEM@10 - Connecting Civil Societies of Asia and Europe (7-8 September 2006)
Description
Two-day conference with 60 representatives from NGOs, the business sector, the academe, media, labour unions, cultural policy experts, the youth and research institutes to review the state of Asia-Europe relations with a focus on Civil Society partnerships and business links. The conference will feature a presentation of the research report reviewing the first ten years of ASEM, commissioned by the Japanese and Finnish governments, as well as comments on the state and future of ASEM from the NGO, Business, Youth and Academic perspectives.

Two workshops will discuss the topics of (1) Sustainable Development and Energy Security as well as (2) Information & Communication Technology and Cultural Diversity. The workshop themes are closely related to two key themes of the ASEM VI Summit: sustainable development and cultures and civilizations dialogue, respectively. The meeting seeks to generate civil society input in the form of recommendations to the ASEM process as well as concrete action plans for co-operation within civil society of Asia and Europe.

Partners
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Finland; International Institute for Asian Studies (the
Netherlands); Japan Center for International Exchange; and the European Institute for Asian
Studies (Belgium)

Public Affairs

Chief editors and senior journalists from prominent Asian and European media will be brought together to discuss issues that will preoccupy the Leaders at ASEM6. They will also be encouraged to follow and report on ASEM6 and its related events.

Description
The roundtable will comprise about 30 chief editors and senior journalists from some of the prominent media of the two regions, with even representation across the bi-regional ASEM community. The one-day programme will cover the following areas of common concern for Asia and Europe in the global context:

The participating journalists will be granted access to the main ASEM programme and to all official press briefings.