International Workshop

Milan

8 July 2015

Aspen at Expo – The role of nutrition in future health: the gender challenge

The intersection between women, nutrition and health is undeniable. Women are the food matrons of the world as in most cases they are the ones who purchase and prepare what families eat. They are also the world’s caregivers, meaning they are typically the ones who look after children, the elderly and the sick. Despite this women are also the most food insecure and make up the majority of the world’s patient population, though they have the least access to healthcare.

Milan

9 July 2015

Aspen at Expo – The case for TTIP: how, when, what?

Trade agreements, particularly those between Europe and the US (TTIP: The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership), provide a huge opportunity for development and growth and are therefore so much more than a potential risk. The European Commission’s agenda is very ambitious.

Milan

8 July 2015

Aspen at Expo – A conversation on human mind and innovation

By way of setting the tone for this International Workshop, figures were cited showing that, in 2014, 350 million PCs and 320 million tablets were sold, and that, in the next five years, there will be some 200 billion web-connected devices. The latest devices – it was observed – are able to learn our needs and preferences, enabling increasingly personalized feedback, with artificial intelligence continuing to make great leaps forward. It was stressed, however, that it is not just machines that are learning from people – humans too have ended up being shaped by their devices.

Milan

9 July 2015

Aspen at Expo – Agribusiness and trade: friends or foes?

Kicking off proceedings at this international workshop was the observation that agricultural market growth is once again the focus of world attention. Consumer prices for food products are rising, and sudden fluctuations in the cost of agricultural commodities are set to become more frequent in the short term. After a period of abundance, the world risks an era of food shortages, due to factors such as demographic shifts, climate change, growing global health problems, and an inadequate distribution of wealth.

Rome

20 January 2015

Rethinking energy security: economics and geopolitics

Kick-starting the debate at this third workshop of the Aspen Energy Forum was the observation that low oil prices and the consequent volatility are causing instability in energy markets, with the situation unlikely to change at least for a while.

Pavia

9 July 2015

Aspen at Expo – Science and individual health

These days, the world of health is facing a revolution that does not only concern medicine but also includes a broad range of disciplines and many aspects of daily life. Demographic tendencies, the evolution of research and the strategic use of “big data” are bringing about a sea change in the existing model of individual care.

Washington DC

8 February 2015

How development can be sustainable. Food security, nutrition and health: the transatlantic link

Headlining this international workshop was the observation that EXPO 2015 is not only a major global event in which 148 nations will participate, nor is it just an attraction expected to draw in around 20 million visitors. It was characterized, rather, as primarily an opportunity of great political significance, the success of which will be gauged by its ability to put across and put back on the global agenda strategic issues such as food security and wastage, poverty reduction, health protection, and the fight against inequality, including between genders.

Milan

8 July 2015

Aspen at Expo – Clean cooking solutions for health and sustainability

Everyone likes to eat food cooked on the barbecue, but whilst in the western world, it is part and parcel of a convivial habit, often linked to a celebration of some sort, in Africa and Asia it is one of the main causes of death. It is also a sign of inequality and the cause of environmental damage, and yet is a problem that few have heard of.

Brussels

30 November 2015

Energy Security as a Priority for Europe’s Foreign Policy

This International Workshop was organized jointly with the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), in cooperation with the European Union Institute for Security Studies (EUISS) and with the support of the European External Action Service (EEAS). The discussions were structured so as to contribute to the development in progress of a “Global Strategy” for the European Union, which will be officially presented by the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, in June 2016.

Rome

25 June 2015

Building the Energy Union

The ongoing efforts to build a well functioning Energy Union in Europe should be seen in the context of major global changes related in various ways to the energy sector – possibly a whole new phase of globalization, featuring new actors, new forms of balance of power, new conflicts (actual or potential).

Milan

8 July 2015

Aspen at Expo – Women, science and sustainable development

The key to sustainable development is not only an effective partnership between government, civil society and the private sector, but also a scientific approach. Science and technology are fundamental in generating the knowledge necessary to sustainably resolve today’s most pressing problems. And they are especially important when seen from a global viewpoint, as today’s problems are global problems, as well as from a gender perspective.

Rome

5 February 2014

Second dialogue of the Aspen Institute Food Security Strategy Group

The second meeting of The Aspen Institute “Food Security Strategy Group” was held in Rome between February 5-7, 2014, and saw the participation of entrepreneurs from the agro-food sector, experts, development practitioners, representatives from international organizations, and political leaders.

Berlin

28 September 2012

The Eurozone’s path: the Union between reality and aspiration

The current financial crisis has thrown into sharp relief the close links that exist between monetary policy, the banking sector, sovereign debt, and serious imbalances within the Eurozone. The vehemence and longevity of the crisis have called into question the very political structure of the European Union as well as its institutional architecture, both in need of modification through a more rigorous application of existing rules, but also by means of the assignment of new responsibilities and the creation of new mechanisms.

Rome

19 October 2012

The rising economic powerhouses: Latin America’s role in the global rebalancing

One of the opening observations at this International Workshop was that the shape of transatlantic relations is gradually changing with the emergence of a new global order, and that an upshot of this process is the opportunity to create a “Southern Atlanticism”, which hinges on extending traditional North Atlantic ties to Latin America (and potentially to some areas of the African continent).

Rome

30 November 2012

China, Europe, United States: the global adjustment

Opening proceedings at this International Workshop was the observation that complex challenges lie ahead for the world’s three major economic engines, namely China, Europe, and the United States. These challenges stem from the slowdown in global growth and the partial readjustment that this has entailed, but they are also the result of the various internal contradictions or inefficiencies from which each of these players suffers. Indeed, it was stressed that their main policy and institutional choices cannot be separated from those of an economic nature.

Rome

14 January 2010

Beyond GDP: quantity and quality of growth

Proceedings at this roundtable discussion got underway with the acknowledgement that, in recent years, consideration of the question of how to measure economic performance and social progress has gone far beyond the concept of Gross Domestic Product. This is true of the efforts of national statistical institutes, major international organizations, as well as the academic and research sphere. Today, there is a vast array of knowledge and statistical data available, enabling a much more comprehensive grasp of economic activities and their actual value.

Rome

12 February 2009

Ageing societies and sustainable health systems

This international workshop, dedicated to the issue of the sustainability of health systems in the face of an ageing population, highlighted the fact that the phenomenon affects all countries, whether developed or developing. Since the middle of the 19th century, life expectancy at birth in all industrialized nations has doubled and, in some cases, more than doubled. At the same time, birth rates and fertility rates have fallen and, in Western countries, have dropped to a quarter of their levels at the beginning of the 20th century.

Rome

1 July 2009

The 2009 G8’s sustainable development challenge: initiative and implementation

On the eve of the G8 summit in L’Aquila, this workshop examined the various aspects of sustainable development in light of the commitments made by the major economic powers in recent years and current priorities.

The participants took note of the serious overall lack of effective governance, which has been particularly highlighted over the past two decades by the profound transformations that have taken place in the international order – starting with economic growth and demographic trends.

Rome

23 September 2008

A human security approach in Afghanistan: can the Euro-American community benefit?

The concept of “human security” revolves around bettering overall conditions – not just security but economic conditions – for people in a crisis or post-conflict area. It demands, therefore, the setting of different priorities as regards more traditional concepts of national security, state building and nation building.