An International Conference on Yugoslavia

held on the anniversary of NATO's attack

presented by

the Research Unit in South East European Studies, University of Bradford
(formerly the Research Unit in Yugoslav Studies)
and
the West Yorkshire Committee for Peace in the Balkans
in association with
City of Bradford Metropolitan Council

The Yugoslav Crisis: International Responses and the Way Forward

Friday March 24th - Sunday March 26th 2000

Richmond Building, University of Bradford, UK

Supported by: Refugee Action - Northern Refugee Centre - National Peace Council - CND - International Voluntary Service - Pax Christi - United Nations Association - ECRE/ICVA Reference Group on Former Yugoslavia, led by the UK Refugee Council - Anglican Pacifist Fellowship

Poster/Flyer for download (Adobe Acrobat - pdf) - please print, photocopy and distribute widely!

The first European war for over 50 years...

On March 24th 1999 NATO launched the first European war since WWII - against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia - ostensibly in response to the failure of the Serbian government to sign the Rambouillet accords.

This conference aims to address some of the issues that have arisen from that conflict, to study why Yugoslavia fell apart in 1991 and how the sotuation developed to the point where European cities were under air attack for the first time in over 50 years.

It also aims to ask what can be done now to further peace in the region - to ask what role aid organisations, charities, protest movements, pressure groups and 'ordinary' people can play in bringing peace. What difference can the relatively powerless do to 'make a difference' - however small....

Background image: bombed train at Grdjelica, Yugoslavia, Spring 1999

Objectives

Seminars/Workshops

Keynote Speakers

Cultural Events

Food/Accomodation

Tickets/Booking

Mailing list

Contact

Keynote Speakers

Rev Dr Paul Oestreicher, International Consultant to Coventry Cathedral

Paul Oestreicher, apart from his religious role, is a political scientist specialising in eastern Europe and southern African affairs. He recently spent a month in Belgrade for the Church of England.

Larry Hollingsworth

Larry Hollingsworth is the former (and controversial!) head of the UNHCR in Bosnia... he is now an advisor to Christian Aid and a freelance consultant

Paul Watson

Paul Watson is the Balkans Bureau Chief of the Los Angeles Times. He was one of the few journalists to remain in Yugoslavia during the NATO bombing - making fiercely independent reports from Kosovo often at considerable risk to himself. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for journalism in 1995 for his reporting from the conflict in Somalia.

Felicity Arbuthnot

Felicity Arbuthnot is is a freelance journalist specialising in social and environmental issues. She has done much to highlight the environmental destruction during the Gulf War (in particular with Depleted Uranium - which NATO has now admitted it used in Yugoslavia). She is a regular contributor to publications such as the Daily Herald and New Internationalist

Aims and Objectives of the Conference

The purpose of the conference is to provide an educational forum for academic specialists, peace activists, aid workers and the 'general public' within which the following can be achieved:

to explore some of the issues arising from NATO's Balkan War and to seek to understand this within a wider historical framework than is typically presented

to evaluate past and current peace-building strategies in the region

to enable those NGOs and agencies active in the region of former Yugoslavia to share their activities with conference participants.

Other desired outcomes are improved links with former Yugoslavia, collaborative projects, cultural and political exchanges and support for refugees and asylum seekers in Britain.

Further it is hoped that the conference will enable and enthuse people to engage with peace-work at whatever level they feel is appropriate to their circumstances. The conference will allow specialists, activists and NGO staff to share ideas and perspectives in a constructive fashion. From analysis flows understanding leading to policy and action. The focus is on 'rump' Yugoslavia within a wider framework.

Seminars and Workshops

Organizations invited to send representatives include Pax Christi, Quaker Peace and Service, IVS/SAVA, WWF, Anglo-Yugoslav Medical Aid, the Balkan Communities Initiatives Fund and others. The workshops/seminars will be primarily staffed by recognized experts, practitioners and academics .

International and Strategic Issues

The Aid and NGO Response

Challenging Nationalism

The Economic Dimension of War and Dissolution

Environmental Destruction

Culture and the Yugoslav Wars

Direct Aid and Community Development

Voluntary Work Abroad

Conflict Prevention and Resolution

Peace Activism

Local Government, Town Twinning and Peace Building

Refugees in Britain and Yugoslavia

Peacework in Political Parties

Cultural Events

On Friday evening we hope to offer a screening in the National Museum of Film and Photography of Srdjan Dragojevic's much acclaimed anti-war film 'Pretty Village Pretty Flame'(Lepa Sela Lepo Gore). Details will follow...

Theatre Production Saturday Evening

'...is normal' Bradford Alhambra Studio 8.00pm

...a play by Ray Brown about his friends in former Yugoslavia

Additionally it is planned that an exhibition of Yugoslav art by various artists, photographers and sculptors will take in the university over the weekend. It is further intended that one workshop session be given over to a discussion of Yugoslav arts and we very much hope to invite Bojan Bem (the painter featured in '...is normal!').

Food and Accommodation

Accommodation for 60 people has been arranged in university residences (Unity Hall) and details will be made available of other reasonably priced accommodation in the area. The university is 10 minutes walk from the city center and the transport interchange. Transport links are good with frequent trains to Leeds and Manchester, a connection to the M62 and Leeds/Bradford Airport is 30 minutes by taxi. Food during the day will be buffet style (provided by university catering) - the university is set in an area abundant with restaurants and takeaways of varying styles and prices - mostly offering good value. Negotiations are currently underway with the Kashmir Restaurant (near the university) to provide discounts on Saturday evening.

Pricing

Booking forms for conference registration and most events can be downloaded from here. The form is available in three formats - WordPerfect 6.0 (wpd) - (13Kb), Postscript (ps) - (114Kb) and Adobe Acrobat (pdf) - (70Kb).
Please print out and send by snailmail (sorry no online booking!) to the address on the form.

Please subscribe to the list for major announcements of programming and ticket pricing. A maximum of 10 messages will be sent before the conference and no posting by subscribers is allowed. The list is merely for announcements and will be shut down after the conference.

Contact:

Bob Jiggins

Research Unit in South East European Studies
Department of Interdisciplinary Human Studies
University of Bradford
Richmond Road
Bradford
West Yorkshire
BD7 1DP
UK

Tel: University: +44 (0) 1274 233834

Home +44 (0) 1484 329203

Mobile: +44 (0) 7050 615511

Fax: +44 (0) 7050 644569

Email: r.jiggins@bradford.ac.uk

January 22, 2000

/home/rjiggins/docs/balkans/admin/conference_yugoslavia_2000/Conference_Guide.wpd

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