Bridge Building Dialogue, Finalising Conference:
"Globalization: Challenges and Opportunities for Religion".
Yogyakarta 30th June - 3rd July 2008
Summary of Conference
The conference took place over three and a half days, and was attended by more than 200 earlier participants of the workshop series, international experts, religious leaders, NGOs and academia. It successfully brought together a wide spectrum of people representing many different religions (achieving also wide representation within each main religion), academia and NGOs. Each session was devoted to one of the topics discussed in the preceding workshops in a series of 2 - 3 sessions per day, with plenary sessions alternating with working group sessions. The plenary sessions were devoted to presentations, comments and open debate.Given that the main objective of this project was to bring together people who would never normally have a chance to hear each others' viewpoints, and that one of the criterias for success was that participants should want to return and continue to exchange ideas with each other, the workshop attendance, and the popularity of the finalising conference was extremely encouraging, as was also the fact that the conference room was still as crowded on Thursday evening as it had been on Tuesday morning.
A full report, with the minutes of the sessions, will be published by the end of August.
The conference and preceding workshops were financed by the Oslo Coalition on Freedom of Religion and Belief and HIVOS.
The Conference Programme:
| Monday 30th June, Sogan village | |
| 17.30-18.30 | Registration and Introduction to Sogan Village |
| 18.30-18.50 | Welcoming Speech |
| 18.50-19.45 | Dinner |
| 19.45-20-30 | Keynote Speech by Sultan Hamengku Buwono X |
| Tuesday 1st July, Gadjah Mada University | |
| 8.30-10.00 | Plenary Session 1: Globalisation and Religion, Main Issues 1. Mark Woodward (Arizona State University, USA) 2. Dennis MacCann (Hongkong Baptist University, Hongkong) Respondent: Muhammad Machasin (Director of Islamic Education, Ministry of Religious Affairs, Indonesia) Moderator: Fatimah Hussen |
| 10.30-12.00 | Plenary Session 2: Globalisation, Religion and Media 1. Luthfi A. Tamimi (Sabili Magazine, Indonesia) 2. Melba Magay (Institute for Study of Asian Church and Culture, Philippines) Respondent: Eny Bayuni (the Jakarta Post, Indonesia) Moderator: Siti Syamsiyatun |
| 13.30-15.00 | Plenary Session 3: Globalisation, Youth and Education 1. Florian Pohl (University of Emory, USA) 2. Muhammad Haniff (An-Nahdhah Institute, Singapore) Respondent: Haidar Bagir (Mizan, Indonesia) Moderator: Siti Syamsiyatun |
| 15.30-17.00 | Discussion Groups |
| 17.00-17.15 | Summary for the day |
| Wednesday, 2nd July, Gadjah Mada University | |
| 8.30-9.30 | Report from Working Group Conveners |
| 9.30-11.00 | Plenary Session 4: Globalisation, Environment and Religion 1. Michael Northcott (University of Edinburgh, UK) 2. Fazlun Khalid (Islamic Foundation for Ecology and Environmental Studies, UK) Respondent: Aristides Katappo (Sinar Harapan Newspaper, Indonesia) Moderator: Maria Pakpahan |
| 11.30-13.00 | Plenary Session 5: Globalisation, Poverty and Religion 1. Reverent Ignatius Sandyawan Sumardi (Roman Catholic priest, Indonesia) 2. Ismail Yusanto (Hizbut Tahrir) Respondent: Lily Zakiah Munir (Centre for Pesantren and Democracy Studies, Indonesia) Moderator: Leonard C. Epafras |
| 15.30-17.00 | Discussion Groups |
| 17.00-17.15 | Summary for the day |
| Thursday 3rd July, Gadjah Mada University | |
| 8.30-9.30 | Report from Working Group Conveners |
| 9.30-11.00 | Plenary Session 6: Globalisation, Religious Symbols and Imagination 1. Bill Dyrness (Fuller Theological Seminary, USA) 2. Yasraf Amir Piliang (Faculty of Design and Architecture, ITB, Indonesia) Respondent: Farid Waijdi (Lembaga Kaijian Islam dan Sosial/LKiS, Indonesia) Moderator: Farsijana Risakotta |
| 11.30-13.00 | Plenary Session 7: Globalisation and Religious Identity 1. John Campbell Nelson (Artha Wacana, Kupang, Indonesia) 2. Habib Chirzan (AMAN Indonesia) Respondent: Lugina Setiawati (University of Indonesia) Moderator: Jeanny Dhewayani |
| 14.30-16.30 | Discussion Groups |
| 16.00-17.00 | Wrap up and Relfection by Bernard Adeney Risakotta and Sainal Abidin Bagir |
| 17.00-19.00 | Closing Dinner with Farewell Remarks by Prof. Ahmad Syafi'i Ma'arif (Ma'arif Institute) and Nelly Van Doorn (Oslo Coalition on Freedom of Religion or Belief) |
