The third and last session of the RAUN academic programme was organized January 15-20 2017 in Vienna, Austria. The event took place in the Vienna International Centre of the United Nations. Traditionally, the RAUN session was held and incorporated in the framework of the annual conference of the Academic Council on the United Nations System (ACUNS). The first day was dedicated to a special workshop and expert group meeting called ‘Youth Empowerment for Agenda 2030 Action through Social Entrepreneurship and Digital Social Currencies’, while the rest of the event was devoted to Expert Panels and Young Scholars Sessions. In the Young Scholars Sessions part the young internationalists of the RAUN were able to present their research projects specified since the first session of the Academy.
The core topic of the ACUNS Conference encompassed the possible ways to implement the 2030 Agenda searching ‘A New Vision for Development’. The Expert Panels were delivered by high-ranking UN officials and well-known experts. Presentations and expert roundtables touched upon the topics as follows: peaceful, just, inclusive and prosperous society; gender equality; innovative solutions to challenges in the 21st century; space technology; sustainable use of water resources; cleaner industrial production; energy for sustainable and inclusive economic growth and international migration.
Following the various informative and fascinating lectures held in different research fields, the presentations of the RAUN students came into light: they got the chance to present the results of their 9-months research in five panels. These panels embraced a 45-minute long presentation and discussion. Since May 2016, RAUN participants had been working on specific research topics in international groups with the coordination of a competent UN agency. The research activity of the students was evaluated by a jury made up of UN officers and international experts of the topic: on the basis of the submitted papers and the presentations three winner groups were announced this year.
The Faculty of Law of the University of Szeged was represented by a group of four students – Blanka Bartos, Zita Bódi, Melinda Marosi-Kiss and Gergely Szőry – while Orsolya Johanna Sziebig, assistant lecturer of the Department of International and European Law accompanied the group as an assistant national coordinator. The Hungarian delegation was completed by two more students: Lúcia Hörömpöli from the Corvinus University of Budapest and Lilla Nóra Kiss from the University of Miskolc. Out of the aforementioned three Best Research Papers of the Year, two of them has Hungarian co-authors: Zita Bódi from the University of Szeged collaborated actively to the paper describing the role of the criminal justice system in Italy and Austria, and Melinda Marosi-Kiss also from the University of Szeged who worked on a two-author environmental research paper regarding forest fires in the Carpathian mountain region. Moreover, on the basis of the opinion of the RAUN program coordinators, one student from each national team was selected as the Best Student of the Year. As to the Hungarian team, this award was given to Lilla Nóra Kiss from the University of Miskolc.
The 3rd and last session of the Regional Academy provided a great insight into the work of UN officials; what’s more, all the participants could prove themselves in international and multicultural research activities conducted in English. In addition to the professional programs, RAUN students and their coordinators were able to get to know each other better and make friends.
RAUN is not only about academics but also about sharing with like-minded people; in this way they were all invited to take part in receptions offered by the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna and the City of Wien. On behalf of every Hungarian RAUN student, I would like to say many thanks for the coordinators having allowed us to be present.
In this way, the team of Szeged would like to thank the support of Orsolya Johanna Sziebig from the Department of International and European Law and the financial support to the Dean’s Office of the Faculty of Law and to the International and Regional Studies Institute.
Report compiled by
Melinda Marosi-Kiss
