ECSS2014

“Individual, Community & Society: Conflict, Resolution & Synergy”

July 9–13, 2014 | Thistle Brighton, Brighton, UK

Conference Report

July of this year saw a return to Brighton, United Kingdom for ECSEE and ECSS. In 2014 the program was extended to include ECPEL and EBMC, conferences that were not available in our inaugural 2013 series.

The first weekend in Brighton of our second annual European Conference series was held between July 3, to July 6, 2014 at the Thistle Hotel. The European Conference on Sustainability, Energy and the Environment (ECSEE), The European Conference on the Social Sciences (ECSS), The Inaugural European Business and Management Conference (EBMC), and The European Conference on Politics, Economics and Law (ECPEL), were joint events that drew over 200 delegates from over 35 countries who came together under the conference theme of “Individual, Community & Society: Conflict, Resolution & Synergy,” to present research, build networks, discuss and share views surrounding the interplay between individuals, communities, and societies, as in an unstable world we look to work together in the interdisciplinary creation of a sustainable future.

IAFOR was honoured to have as our ECPEL 2014 Keynote Speaker, Professor Arthur Stockwin, Emeritus Professor at The University of Oxford, who from his British perspective spoke on the changing constitutional and security environment facing Japan during this time of the Shinzo Abe administration. We were also honoured to have with us as our EBMC 2014 Keynote Speaker, Mr Jun Arima from the London office of the Japan External Trade Organisation, who gave the delegates an insightful look at the restructuring underway within the Japanese political economy. The plenary session was completed by a special panel on the current direction of Japanese politics lead by the ECSS/ECSEE 2014 Featured Speaker and Chair of the IAFOR Advisory Board, Professor Stuart D. B. Picken, who was joined by Mr Arima and Professor Stockwin for a fascinating and spirited discussion which enable delegates to further understand not just political complexity in Japan, but also the repercussions for the wider Asian region.

We were also pleased to have a full program of high-level spotlight speakers as part of our joint conference program. IAFOR wishes to thank Akira Yonekura (Heriot-Watt University, UK), Hannes R. Stephan, (University of Stirling, UK), Jeffrey D. Hockett, (University of Tulsa, USA), John Kane, (Griffith University, Australia), and Ruth Johnson Carter, (Georgia College State University, USA). We were also pleased to spotlight three youth delegates from Toynbee Hall in London who with their mentor Rys Farthing (The University of Oxford, UK), presented the findings of their research project “Children and Young People’s Political Agency in 2014: The View from Young Women from the East End”. IAFOR also wishes to thank its co-conference chairs Professor Jerry Platt (EBMC/ECPEL), and Professor Stuart D. B. Picken (ECSEE/ECSS) for their work in making the conference an engaging event and look forward to seeing you once again in Brighton in 2015.