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EAPC Conference 2008:
"Public Affairs in a
Changing Environment"
May 8-10, 2008
Copenhagen - Denmark
The change of our climate is on the top of the agenda. Green issues
are one of the main concerns for the public.
Industries, organizations, and governments all over the world are
greening their policies to show their environmental credentials.
In Europe companies and policymakers have already been taking action.
At 2008 EAPC Conference in Copenhagen we had the opportunity of
meeting some of the business leaders, experts, government officials,
and politicians who had had a huge impact on the public discourse
and change of political content.
The conference was called “Public Affairs in a Changing Environment”.
The conference Friday scrutinized the work on public affairs relating
to the climate change issue on May 9th. The conference focused on
the changes this discourse had undergone in recent years going from
questioning the climate change to environmental proactivism. The
conference asked:
- What were the key factors to this change?
- Which PA tools were used in order to change the agenda?
- Who changed the agenda and
- What possibilities and challenges does the change of discourse
offer?
Saturday May 10th included sessions on new tools and trends in political
campaigning as well as some case studies of recent campaigns in
Europe, including a case study of the Danish election in 2007. The
program also included a study of the US presidential election and
the Democratic battle between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.
Friday May 9th
Poul
Nyrup Rasmussen is Former Prime Minister of Denmark
and leader of the Danish Social Democratic Party for over a decade.
Today Poul
Nyrup Rasmussen is President of the Party of European Socialists
(PES) and Member of the European Parliament. Further to his Presidency
of the PES, Poul
Nyrup Rasmussen is also chairman of the Global Progressive Forum.
Lykke Friis is Pro Vice Chancellor at the University
of Copenhagen. Formerly, she was director of European affairs at
the Confederation of Danish Industries. Lykke Friis is a regular
columnist on EU affairs and international issues in the Danish media
and is frequently used as a television commentator on EU affairs,
globalization and climate policy. Lykke Friis is member of several
committees and councils, for instance the Board of Sport Event Denmark,
the Trilateral Commission, and the Council of the Danish Atlantic
Treaty Association. She is also responsible for organizing the Research
Congress on Climate Change in 2009. She has published several academic
publications.
Saturday May 10th
Kenneth
S. Christensen is a partner in Christensen & Associates,
Inc., a Democratic Washington DC based fundraising and political
consulting firm. He provides general consulting and fundraising
strategy advice to campaigns, candidates and political parties.
He specializes in campaign plan and strategy development, political
communication, campaign management, and political fundraising. Kenneth
S. Christensen has written articles on fundraising that have
appeared in Campaigns & Elections magazine and was featured
in an article in the November 2000 Reader's Digest issue.
Hans Anker is the managing director of Anker
Solutions which specializes in political-strategic research
and consultancy services, focusing on qualitative and quantitative
analysis and strategic advice. Anker Solutions is based in Amsterdam
and operates in over 45 countries in five different continents.
Hans Anker acted as a researcher and advisor to former Dutch Prime-Minister
Wim Kok in his 1998 'Strong and Social' campaign, former Danish
Prime Minister Poul Nyrup Rasmussen and was also involved in the
successful campaign of the opposition parties in Croatia and the
election campaign of President Clinton in 1996.
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