Our Twin Center project is aimed to support UGM in developing international research networks that could contribute to promoting peace and justice and reducing inequalities. Activities are centered on Focus Group Discussion (FGD), collaborative publication, and collaborative research.
On 4 July 2019 CPS hosted an FGD with its partner countries, which were represented by Prof. Dr. Jean-Christophe Merle from the University of Vechta, Germany; Prof. Dr. Azelarabe Lahkim Bennani from the University of Fes – Morocco; and Prof. Dr. Mounir Kchaou from the University of Tunis – Tunisia. The meeting started with discussion on plans and the implementation regarding our collaboration with these three countries to design activities and programs in more concrete forms, such as books, publications, modules, and syllabus. We brought up issues on unwritten laws in Indonesia including local rules, norms and values. Other topics included the legal system in Indonesia, especially how national law and local law can work and make contributions to the citizens, and issues on democracy, how it is operated and the role it plays in addressing social and economic inclusion challenges in the society.
In the first year of this project, we expect to disseminate the results of this brainstorming session through collaborative writing. The topics covered in our book will be on minority rights, social justice, and democratic practices in Germany, Morocco, and Tunisia; and the links between democracy, policy, and welfare. Additionally, this meeting encouraged studies which led to the discussion on inclusive policies to support SDGs. In the second year onwards, we hope to maintain research collaborations to enhance scientific productivity between institutions, in particular CPS UGM with its research partners and networks.
Our ongoing collaborative projects are research publications which will be published by Gadjah Mada University Press. The major topic we agreed upon is social justice, but we are open to other more specific topics such as issues on tolerance, democracy and minority rights, distributive justice, and justice and punishment.