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Straniak Academy for Democracy and Human Rights

Deadline: 10 July 2018
Open to: advanced students and new graduates with different academic backgrounds who are especially interested in democracy, the rule of law and human rights
Venue: Summer Academy, 2 to 15 September 2018 in Saranda, Albania

Description

The Academy was established in 2013 by the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Human Rights – Research Association (BIM-FV) based in Vienna. Cooperation partners of the Academy are the Faculty of Law of the University of Vienna and Universities from the Western Balkan region, this year the Faculty of Law of the University of Tirana.

The main facilitator of the Academy is the Straniak Foundation. The Foundation contributes to the promotion of the goals, ideas and values of the European Convention on Human Rights in particular in East and Southeast European countries. The Academy is also supported by the Central European Initiative (CEI), and various companies and law firms from Albania and Austria. The Austrian Embassies in Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina also provided their support.

Aim and concept of the Academy

The goal of the Academy is to promote academic education on democracy, the rule of law and human rights in the Western Balkans, which is the regional focus of the Academy. The Academy establishes a link connecting theory and practice, promoted through an interdisciplinary and interactive format. To keep up with political, legal and social changes and to ensure the Academy’s continuous relevance for future professionals, one part of the Programme sets its focus on current topics of European and international importance.

Who teaches?

Lecturers of the Straniak Academy are experienced professors, regional and international experts and practitioners with various academic backgrounds. Each lecture is held by two lecturers, one from an EU Member State and one from the Western Balkan region or other countries. Through this concept of “tandem teaching” the lecturers elaborate a topic from different perspectives and approaches, and this way provide a wider and differentiated understanding. The students will not only have the opportunity to listen to presentations, but also be actively involved in the lectures and invited to participate in discussions, working groups, round tables and a role play on an actual and challenging topic. In addition, the students will get insights into the every-day work of practitioners and experts, lawyers, diplomats and representatives of the civil society.

Programme and schedule

The intense two-weeks programme offers a wide range of lectures and workshops on the most important topics in the field of democracy, the rule of law and human rights. The first week concentrates on the core concepts and instruments to ensuring these fundamental principles and values. The second week deals with specific issues.

The programme consists of five parts:

Part 1: Fundamental principles and values

Part 2: United Nations (UN)

Part 3: Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)

Part 3: Council of Europe (CoE)

Part 4: European Union (EU)

Part 5: Selected human rights issues

In addition, one day will be dedicated to a role play on an actual challenging topic in order to come to convincing and satisfying agreements or decisions. Thereby, students will have to represent different international, domestic and/or private actors, to participate in negotiations and/or judicial decision-making and to work out position papers and/or judgements.

All lectures will be held in English. The Programme of the Academy 2018 will be uploaded during the month of Mai 2018 on the website of the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Human Rights:

http://bim.lbg.ac.at/en/straniak-academy-democracy-and-human-rights-0

The lectures will take place daily in the morning and in the afternoon. On some evenings, evening discussions will be organised with experts and practitioners.

Free time

During the lunchbreak, students will have the opportunity to relax on several beaches, which are very close to the Hotel, where all students and lecturers will be accommodated. Two afternoons will be partly free of lectures for studying and relaxing. An excursion is foreseen on the first Saturday in order to explore Albania. The excursion is optional and has to be covered by the students.

Certificates and credits

The Straniak Academy is an intense academic programme. At the end of the second week, the students take an obligatory final exam in order to receive a diploma. The preconditions for a positive evaluation are to reach more than 50% of the maximum points for the exam (multiple choice questions and short open questions) and to participate actively during the two weeks.

The ECTS points depend on the plan and programme of the students’ respective faculties and universities. Students will have to inform themselves on the necessary procedures and documents at their faculties. In Austria, the recognition of ECTS varies from faculty to faculty (from 6 to 11 ECTS). The Law Faculty in Vienna appoints 6 ECTS in the framework of elective subjects. The Straniak Academy team will provide all necessary support in organisational and administrative matters to the students.

Venue

Students will be accommodated in double bedrooms in one of the hotels located in Saranda, close to the sea. The exact name and address of the hotel will be announced on the website of the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Human Rights under the Straniak Academy page.

Eligibility

The Straniak Academy is open to advanced students and new graduates with different academic backgrounds who are especially interested in democracy, the rule of law and human rights. The target group are in particular students and new graduates from the Western Balkan region (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia), Slovenia and Austria. Students coming from other countries (in particular the Black Sea and the Caucasus region) and other EU States are also welcome to apply, however preference will be given to applicants from the above-mentioned focus region.

Costs

The registration fee for the Straniak Academy on Democracy and Human Rights is EUR 150 for participants from the Western Balkan region (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Kosovo) and economically comparable countries (Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Romania, Slovenia; others please explain in your application), and EUR 300 from all others EU and CoE Member States.

The Straniak Academy covers the costs for accommodation during the two weeks (half board including breakfast and lunch) and costs for the courses (including coffee breaks). Travel costs are not covered and have to be borne by the participants themselves.

How to apply?

Please visit the website http://bim.lbg.ac.at/en/straniak-academy-democracy-and-human-rights-0, where you will find all the relevant information and documents (Programme and Application form). Please download the documents and fill in the Application form_2018 . Send it via email, together with your CV and a motivation letter in one PDF document until 10 July  2018 to the Straniak Academy team to:

hannes.tretter@univie.ac.at and n.radovic@univie.ac.at

The Straniak Academy team will inform the candidates about the selection results in July 2018. The registration fee has to be payed not later than 31 July 2018 (day of payment will be considered), this way confirming your participation. Please note that due to organisational reasons and fairness, candidates who do not transfer the registration fee in due time, will be excluded from the list of participants without notice and a candidate from the waiting list will be contacted instead. The Straniak Academy team will inform the waiting list candidates until 10 August 2018 the latest. The selected candidates from the waiting list will have to pay the registration fee not later than 20 August 2018.

Selection criteria

The Selection Committee of the Straniak Academy will select 30 up to 35 participants after close consideration of the following criteria: motivation of the candidates, academic achievements and stage of the respective studies, academic background, practical experience, gender proportion, regional proportion.

Cancellation

The cancellation of the application has to be submitted in writing. The already paid participation fee can only be partially refunded:

  • Cancellation more than 4 weeks before the Academy (but not later than 5 August 2018): 70% of the registration fee will be refunded.
  • Cancellation 3 weeks before the Academy (but not later than 19 August 2018): 50% of the registration fee will be refunded.
  • Cancellation less than 2 weeks before the Academy (from 19 August 2018 on): no refunding possible.

 

For more information please visit the official website.