| Local
government and civil society - 2006.01.22~01.29
Tae-Hune, Park
(Hanyang University Graduate school. in doctor's
course in public administration. )
On January 22~29, 2006 the Friedrich Naumann
Foundation hosted a seminar on Local Government
and Civil Society at the Theodor-Heuss Akademie
in Gummersbach located in the northwestern
part of Germany.
The seminar was very interesting and instructive.
I am very happy that I had the opportunity
to participate in this meeting and the discussions
and to meet 26 colleagues from all over the
world: Europe, Asia, South-America and Africa.
To me, the seminar was a very valuable experience.
The formal languages were English, Spanish
and Russian. Communication was sometimes an
obstacle to us.
The seminar focused on the evolution, development
and functioning of the local government and
civil society aimed at bringing together participants
to discuss current and future research efforts
to understand all aspects of local administration.
The seminar included the following subjects:
1. Decentralization and preconditions of local
administration
2. Distribution of tasks between the different
tiers
3. Models of financing at the local level
4. Possibilities of citizens' participation
at the local level
5. Forms of organization in civil society
6. Principles of liberal local politics
7. The importance of local government and
civil society for development
I am very much convinced that local democracy
is one of the cornerstones of democracy in
all countries and that its reinforcement is
a factor for stability. Local democracy has
to operate in a new challenging context resulting
not only from structural and functional changes
in local government organization, but also
from the radical political, economic and social
developments that have occurred in a country
and the process of globalization. The participation
of citizens is at the very heart of the idea
of democracy and citizens committed to democratic
values, mindful of their civic duties who
become involved in political activity are
the lifeblood of any democratic system. There
are public expectations that local politics
is changing and this requires more direct,
flexible and ad hoc methods of participation.
It was very happy and it was an exciting
experience to me. The facilities and staff's
service were perfect. I would like to thank
the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for inviting
me to this seminar. I am also very grateful
to the Seoul Office for supporting my trip
to Germany. Without their support I would
not have gained this very valuable experience.
Local government and civil society-2005.10.28~11.04
Koh, You-mee (Seocho District Office)
I made a flight for Frankfurt in the afternoon
on 27 Oct. Time difference between South Korea
and Germany is 8 hours. I arrived at the Theodor-Heuss
Akademie late at night with a facilitator
who picked me up at the airport. The Akademie
in which the seminar would be held was located
in Gummersbach city. I got up at 7 am in the
morning, listening a bell from a church in
the city. It was a calm and small city in
appropriate to small gathering.
The subject was ¡°Local government and Civil
society¡±. It made me somewhat feel difficult,
but I¡¯d like to have the opportunity to participate
in the seminar in order to perceive the basic
idea of the subject which was difficult to
capture in real working place. I also wanted
to know the society in other countries and
especially the municipality in Germany.
This seminar language was English, Spanish,
Russian. The participants were mostly composed
of members in NGO and parties, a few in local
governments. The Municipality is grass-roots
democracy and it contains freedom, impartiality,
participation and responsibility for their
decision. The participants in citizens group
who were well-educated about the subject and
much experienced were the more central figures
in this seminar than the participants in local
governments who might concentrate on administration.
The participants in Latin America were anxious
to democratize their society by dissoluting
corruption and political apathy. The African
participants who struggled with poverty had
an ambition for the development by Nepad.
The Tibetan participant tried to inform the
circumstances of the exile government of Tibet
in India and it was impressive to me. They
were all patriots and friends who investigated
the means for development of their society
and tried to act . It was a pity that I would
more understand the seminar if I had opened
the mind more widely, and if I had prepared
documents more sufficienty and accurately
for the subject. The passion and professional
attitudes of the participants made me feel
as overpowered as the contents of the seminar.
The role play program, ¡°Meeting of the municipal
council of Jacksonville¡± which was introduced
as the first trial of the seminar, was one
of the most educational and interesting programs.
We were divided into four teams as the chamber,
the liberal Democrat party, the conservative
center party, and the red party. Each parliamentary
group tried to make their policies adopted
in the meeting of municipal council by expressing
and arguing their opinions. It was impressive
to me in that it could be a means of education
for youths or citizen to enhance participation
and responsibility of their society by arousing
an interest in their municipality,.
We also had an excursion to Wetzlar city
in Germany. The municipality here was historic
and grown. These days they concentrated on
attracting investments in their municipality
and on creating jobs. It might be the difference
from our society in which we were lined up
for the start.
Eight days and seven nights flew so fast
and I already missed them. I appreciate the
valuable opportunity to meet people in other
countries communicate with them. I was also
deeply thankful to Naumann Foundation for
providing the opportunity for me.
'There is where the future of free democracy lies in the Asian region.'
-Five days of hard training, passionate friends & vicious flu
Shim, Sang-Dae (Director General, Public Relations Bureau of the Uri Party)
On the morning of September 7, I hopped on a plane o Phnom Penh, Cambodia at Incheon International Airport to attend the CALD Communications Workshop. When I arrived, the city was pitch dark. Since the Immigration Interview took a while, I had to rush outside, grab a cab and arrived at the Juliana Hotel where the Workshop was held. But when I got there, the welcoming dinner had already begun. Dr. Ronald Meinardus who is an interested party of CALD, related officials of the Workshop, participants from Asia and members of the Sam Rainsy Party (Cambodia's Free Democracy Party) were present.
I quickly exchanged greetings and engaged in conversations with the participants while having dinner. Suddenly, I felt both relief and fear rushing in at once. Relief (and a sense of homogeneity) came from the fact that all of the participants were Asians, with the exception of Dr. Meinardus. The fear was that although I prepared well for the conference, I was dubious as to whether I could accurately convey my message with my not-so-fluent English skill.
The reason for applying to participate in this Workshop was the envy I felt in watching the activities pursued by the Naumann Foundation, several trips overseas and training/education abroad, and being in charge of public relations within the Uri Party. I was so thrilled to hear I was chosen as one of the participants. Little did I know that it was reckless thinking on my part when I attended the Workshop the following morning!
The 'Election Campaign to the Media' Workshop began every morning at nine sharp and ended with dinner, giving us barely the time to catch our breath. It was a continuation of hard training, unlike the previous ones in which interested parties from each country gave their presentation and held Q/A sessions. Here, several success and failure stories were presented on election campaigns under the policy circumstances faced by each nation and lots of questions were asked. Through it, we were able to identify the common values shared in the Asian region.
Despite my lacking English skills, I managed well with the help of my Asian counterparts (participants). On the third day after visiting the Toul Sleng Genocide Museum, I felt I was coming down with the flu. I experienced firsthand the barbaric massacres that I only saw in movies and familiarized it with Korea's Gwangju Massacre. The participants all shared the pain of Asia. And I think this led to my coming down with the flu. Of course, having more than I could drink with my new acquainted friends was partly the cause.
During the tight five-day Workshop, I fully realized my purpose in participating through dinner receptions and unofficial social gatherings. I mentioned my objective in participating at the Workshop-'Making Friends in Asia', 'Sharing Experience on the Asian Region' and 'Sharing Values of Already Acquired Free Democracy'-and this was fully realized. I miss my friends whom with teary eyes said goodbyes and we committed to do the utmost in our work. I can still hear the melancholy but beautiful singing of my Indonesian friend 'Aji' who I met tonight.
I am utterly grateful to the Naumann Foundation and CALD for the opportunity to enjoy this valuable experience. We all should make concerted efforts to overcoming the hardships facing the Asian region.
Gummersbach Seminar Report 2004.04.16.~2004.4.23.
Kim, Se-Jin (Assistant Official of
Gangnam District of Seoul in Korea)
This seminar gave me a meaningful
opportunity to reflect upon the actual
circumstances of the field of administration
that would have been difficult to capture
in reality. The theme for this seminar,
entitled¡°¡±New Public Management,"
was a theoretical basis for the Gangnam-gu
district¡¯s administration to achieve
a transparent administration through
measures such as outsourcing, so I was
personally very interested and motivated
to participate in the seminar.
Unfortunately, the very tight schedule
of the seminar gave little chance for
the participants to really feel the
German atmosphere but I can still vividly
feel the kind of friendship that I was
able to share with all the participants
from different countries.
Gummersbach, a one-hour ride from Koln,
is a quiet and small city with a population
of 50,000. There were participants from
European countries such as Croatia,
Serbia, Poland; African countries such
as Zimbabwe, Ghana; and Latin American
countries such as Argentina, Mexico
and Uruguay. Twenty-five participants
from 22 countries altogether, with different
experiences and backgrounds, talked
about the actual circumstances in their
countries and shared their opinion on
how to apply in practice the idea of
"new public management" and
how to accomplish an advanced administration.
There were countries that already adapted
this kind of policies as administrative
goals as well as countries whose administration
was highly bureaucratic. They had a
heated debate together and finally everybody
agreed that now is the time to pursue
a customer-centered, people-centered
administration.
A session called Regional Presentation
gave all participants an opportunity
to introduce their cultures to each
other. This activity helped make everyone
forget that they are tired during the
middle portion of the tight seminar
schedule. One action was far more effective
than a thousand words: Latin America's
passionate excitement, Africa's folk
ways and the Asian region's calmness.
In many regions, ideological and religious
differences cause wars and disputes,
but I was moved at the thought that
if we can respect each other¡¯s cultures
we can all become friends and neighbors.
The memory of a participant from Zimbabwe
who disguised himself as Tarzan to express
the passionate aspect of Africa never
fails to make me smile.
The proverb ¡°The world is as you know
it" brought to mind many things.
These days, the Gangnam-gu district
has been implementing administrative
practices such as e-government and administrative
reforms. The district takes pride in
its achievements that are comparable
to those of other countries. However,
I must admit I had some doubts as to
whether the quality of administration
could really be compared with what is
practiced in the rest of the world.
Korea was a good example in that all
knew Korea, but many of the participants
did not know what is it exactly good
at.
The week in Gummersbach was a good opportunity
to expand my knowledge.
I realized that we are all basically
the same as human beings. All the participants
from 22 countries, although coming from
ethnically and culturally diverse background,
finally agreed that the core of administration
is ensuring and supporting a comfortable
life for its people.
I thank the Naumann Foundation for giving
me this opportunity to expand my world
view.
KIM, SANG-HO 
Liberal Youth Meeting Political Youth
Organization: Significance, Influence and
Improvement in performance, 2003
By the invitation of the Naumann Foundation, I attended the 8th Liberal Youth Meeting as a Korean representative. The meeting was held in the Villa Lessing Training Institute in Saarbrucken, Germany.
Three major activities of Nauman Foundation are Political education, Political dialogue and Political consulting. Among these, I participated in a political dialogue program, which was successfully performed within a short period.
Twenty-one people who came from 20 different countries were gathered to debate on the main subject, "Youth Organization : significance, influence and improvement in performance."
The participants had small group discussions with various political issues from 9 a.m. - 7 p.m. each day for a week. The ideas and suggestions proposed during the six days discussion were very unique and practical.
Especially, the meeting itself was an eye opener to me. The different eating habits and religious styles of my friends, was an experience in itself, and opened my eyes to the diverse ways people of various nationalities perceive problems and handle anxiety.
Villa Lessing Training Institute! Through this opportunity, I was able to meet and make good friends from all over the world. It was my privilege to meet the staffs of Nauman Foundation who are professionals in political education. I won't forget the people of the Villa Lessing Training Institute who were so kind and helpful.
Globalisation vs Regionalism (2002. 12. 8 ~ 12.20)
Lee, Yun-chung (Center for Local Autonomy, Hanyang University )
First day in Gummersbach, I met all participants from 20 different countries in Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Central and South America and Eastern Europe, the former communist countries. The next morning started the seminar, 'Globalization vs Regionalism'. I had considered the concept of Globalization as familiar. As the seminar was proceeded, However, I was aware that I had concentrated on just one side of it, economic part. We talked about the several part of it; political part, cultural part, social part, which have been affecting all of countries on the earth. We pondered on its negative effects as well as positive effects, also its measures to minimize the former and maximize the latter. Finally, we reached to the conclusion that all of countries should be connected with each other to solve it and be using the international institutes; IMF, IBRD, WTO etc.
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