Paradiplomacy has become a strategy for autonomous regions to get their voices heard in international contexts. Paradiplomacy means that the autonomous regions have their own representatives abroad and conduct their own foreign policy although they are subordinated to the countries they belong to. Occasionally some regions like the Faroe Islands and Greenland can have the right to participate as independent members in international organizations that do not only have states as their members. In the seminar the strategies within paradiplomacy of the Faroe Islands and Greenland are compared.

Maria Ackrén is a Doctor of Political Science from Åbo Akademi University and she works as a lecturer in Political Science at Ilisimatusarfik/University of Greenland. The seminar is based on recently implemented research in the field of paradiplomacy.

The President of the Republic of Finland has appointed the Director of the Åland Islands Peace Institute, Associate Professor of International Law Sia Spiliopoulou Åkermark, conciliator to the Court of Conciliation and Arbitration within the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), upon nomination by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Sia Spiliopoulou Åkermark was appointed together with Kimmo Kiljunen (conciliator), Erkki Kourula (arbitrator) and Jan Klabbers (alternate arbitrator) for a term of six years, beginning in 2019.

The court works with conciliation and arbitration as working methods for various intergovernmental disputes and provides a mechanism for peaceful settlement of disputes between States. The OSCE conciliation and arbitration proceedings have not yet been activated by any of the 33 States which have signed the Convention, but it remain an option for the peaceful settlement of disputes in Europe.

More information about recent appointments to the Court can be found here.

The Journal of Autonomy and Security Studies (JASS) is a peer-reviewed, open access e-journal published by the Åland Islands Peace Institute (AIPI), Mariehamn, Åland, Finland. The journal addresses its overarching theme of peace and security from the perspectives of autonomy, demilitarisation, and minority protection. 

The latest issue of JASS covers areas of security and autonomy among groups and individuals with very different but constitutionally regulated relations to their respective societies. It is a palette of issues that demand to be addressed, that come to the reader from within very different material situations, but with clearly comparable theoretical and practical implications. 

The Vol. 3 Issue 1 of JASS includes the following materials:

Autonomy, Indigenous Peoples, and Afro-Descendants in Colombia
Mauricio Romero Vidal and Juan David Niño

Can a True Finn Speak Swedish? The Swedish Language in the Finns Party Discourse
Hasan Akintug

The issue can be found at www.jass.ax, where you can also register to subscribe to coming issues.

The Åland Islands Peace Institute offers an opportunity for one or two trainees to experience a dynamic and flexible internship during the autumn semester of 2019.

Are you interested in issues about peace, security, minorities and autonomy? Do you like arranging seminars, writing information texts, layout and publishing information online? Then maybe we have the internship for you!

Submit your application before 27 May 2019. (NB Extended deadline.)

Mirjam Granström has been a research intern at the Åland Islands Peace Institute from March to May 2019. Here are her reflections on the internship period:

The core reason for my interest in an internship at the Åland Peace Institute was that I wanted to become better acquainted with research and with issues that the Institute is working on in the field of peace, security and minorities. When I think back on my internship, I realise that in addition to gaining an insight into how the Institute works with research, I have really become aware of what Åland's special status entails.

As a Swedish-speaking Finn I have read about the "Åland example" in history class, but it was only during the internship period that I really understood what this special position entails and how Åland can serve as an example of a peaceful solution of a minority conflict.

In practice, I have had the opportunity to work on the development of the e-course "Territorial Autonomy as a Tool for Diversity Management: Lessons from the Åland Example", I have participated in the Kastelholm talks and in various seminars concerning questions about the special position of Åland, the position of the Swedish language, sustainable development and other relevant issues. Besides this, I have also had the opportunity to familiarise myself with another form of peaceful conflict resolution, that is, mediation activities at the Åland Mediation Office. In my studies, I have read about examples of how various international actors strive to solve conflicts internationally, and it has been extremely interesting and instructive to see how the Mediation Office on Åland is working to develop peaceful solutions to conflicts that occur in the Åland society. The discussions with the staff and with volunteer mediators have made me realise how important it is that peace work is also carried out locally.

Overall, during the internship period, I have had the opportunity to try a variety of tasks as well as to participate in educational discussions and lectures. I have also had the opportunity to present and discuss issues that I am passionate about and I have met people who believe in what they work with and who have inspired me.

Mirjam Granström with Mediation Officer Petra Granholm and Organisation Secretary as well as Mediation Supervisor Mirjam Lukola.

Link to / Länk till Nyhetsbrev / Newsletter 2/2019

CONTENTS

• Upcoming lunch seminar 8.5.2019:
• Jonny Andersen - On the Swedish Language in Finland and The Swedish Assembly of Finland
• Call for Interns at the Åland Islands Peace Institute in the autumn of 2019
• Three new Members of the Board
• Night of Knowledge 10.6 at Alandica Debatt Event
  and more

INNEHÅLL

• Kommande lunchseminarium 8.5.2019:
• Jonny Andersen - Hur står det till med svenskan i Finland? Om Folktinget och dess arbete
• Praktik vid Ålands fredsinstitut hösten 2019
• Tre nya ledamöter i fredsinstitutets styrelse
• Kunskapens kväll 10.6 på Alandica Debatt
  m.m.

At the annual meeting of the Åland Islands Peace Institute Foundation on 9 April, a new Board of Directors was elected for the next mandate period. Three new members were elected:

Mr Marcus Koskinen-Hagman, is the Rector of Ålands lyceum, with vast interest in youth and societal issues. He defended his doctoral thesis in 1999 at the Center for Theology and Religious Studies at Lund University, with the dissertation "Latent Trait Models of Intrinsic, Extrinsic and Quest Religious Orientations".

Ms Hanna Ojanen, is an Associate Professor in International Politics at the University of Helsinki. She has previously worked at the Institute of International Affairs in Helsinki as well as in Stockholm and has been Jean Monnet Professor at the University of Tampere. Ojanen has had several assignments as editor and editorial member of international journals on European issues, peace issues, political science and Nordic integration. She was a speaker at the Kastelholm Talks on Peace 2016 on Åland.

Mr Anders Lidén, is a former Ambassador and Senior Official at the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Lidén has been Permanent Representative of Sweden to the United Nations in New York and Ambassador in, among others, Helsinki. He has studied history and political science and has, over the years, accumulated extensive knowledge of Middle East issues and experience from peace negotiations and the UN Security Council. 

Chairman Roger Nordlund and members Katarina Fellman, Nina Fellman, Göran Lindholm and Lia Markelin were re-elected. Deputy Chairman Ulla Backlund and member Kenneth Gustavsson completed their term and were thanked for their important contributions to the Board. Member Christian Pleijel resigned at his own request during the term of office.

The Board of Directors is appointed every two years with a mandate period of two years, in accordance with the statutes.

At the annual meeting, the Peace Institute's Research Council was also appointed for the next two years. All members were re-elected. The Research Council consists of Dr. Gunilla Herolf, Professor Kjell-Åke Nordquist and Associate Professor Mikael Wigell. The Peace Institute's Director, Associate Professor, Sia Spiliopoulou Åkermark serves as the secretary of the Council.

This year's Kastelholm talks on peace were held on 28 March with the theme "Democracy, Participation and the Role of Civil Society". The Kastelholm talks began with a panel discussion in Kastelholm Castle where the patron of the talks President Tarja Halonen discussed with a panel consisting of Ms. Maud Olofsson, former Minister for Enterprise, former Member of Parliament and Deputy Prime Minister of the Swedish Government; Mr. Pär Stenbäck, former Minister of the Finnish Government, former Member of Parliament and Party Chairperson of the Swedish People's Party; Ms. Li Bennich-Björkman, Johan Skytte Professor of Eloquence and Political Science, affiliated with the Institute for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Uppsala University and Mr. Göran Djupsund, Professor of Political Science, election commentator in Finnish-Swedish television and former Principal of Åbo Akademi University in Vaasa. The discussion was moderated by the Peace Institute's Director, Associate Professor Sia Spiliopoulou Åkermark.

The conversation was livestreamed in collaboration with NIPÅ and can be watched (in Swedish) here.