Final Report Summary - IDEAS (Integrating and Developing European Asian Studies)
Executive summary:
The present document is the Final report of the FP7-funded project 'Integrating and Developing European Asian Studies' (IDEAS). Launched on 1 January 2010, IDEAS, which is a 'Co-ordination and Support Action' in the Research and Innovation Directorate's SSH Programme, has promoted increased collaboration between Asian Studies researchers and institutions in Europe, and the development of links between policy-makers and the academic community in this field.
Working in close collaboration with the European Consortium for Asian Field Study (ECAF), which comprises 45 leading universities and third level institutions throughout the EU, IDEAS carried out an assessment of the network of 23 European-owned field centres in Asia with a view to optimizing their future use on the level of Europe. The ECAF centres have now agreed to commit to a plan for convergence as outlined in the IDEAS vision statement, and the ongoing drive to share infrastructure has, thus far, resulted in the creation of a British Academy fellowship programme and three institutional partnerships (EFEO-University of Hamburg in Beijing, EFEO-ISEAS in Kyoto, and EFEO-AFD in Ho Chi Minh City).
Project Context and Objectives:
1. Summary description of the project context and the main objectives
The Socio-Economic Sciences and Humanities (SESH) are essential to a full understanding of the geopolitics of Asia, but national and European policy-makers do not always draw on the rich and complex research base that could be available to them. This is particularly the case with research in the Humanities, where cultural and historical insights and analysis can make a critical difference to the quality of policy development.
The overall objective of Integrating and Developing European Asian Studies (IDEAS) has been to coordinate and bring together academic researchers and policy-makers. With this in mind, IDEAS made use of the expertise and resources of the European Consortium for Asian Field Study (ECAF), comprising 45 research institutions from ten EU countries and ten Asian countries and Russia, which specialize in Asian studies, and a network of 23 field research centres run by ECAF members across Asia.
The project's specific objectives were as follows:
1. Integrate, develop and improve access to the resources of 23 Asian field research centres for scholars from across Europe. Promote periods of field work and the consultation of electronic resources via web-based infrastructures
2. Establish new structures, networks and partnerships to facilitate exchanges between ECAF members in Europe and Asia, and develop the European Research Area in the field of Asian Studies
3. Define medium-term priorities for interdisciplinary joint research programmes which draw on the wide range of expertise of network members, and identify potential sources of future research funding
4. Define strategies to enable resources generated by SESH research on Asia to be made available to the broader community and to facilitate international policy-relevant exchanges between researchers, policy-makers and other stakeholders
In order to achieve these objectives, IDEAS carried out the following activities:
WP1: Combining the strengths of the ECAF network
The University of Turku implemented a comprehensive Europe-wide assessment of Asian Studies resources, in particular those that are relevant to geopolitical analysis and establish structures for their more effective coordination.
WP2: Sharing access to a network of 23 field research centres located in Asia
The British Academy assessed the facilities of the network of French, German and Italian-owned field research centres across Asia run by ECAF members with a view to developing their access, services and organisation to benefit greater numbers of visiting European scholars.
WP3: Sharing and exchanging access to knowledge resources
INRIA and IsIAO, in cooperation with the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, provided the foundation for the integration of ECAF network library resources through the creation of a prototype database which has the capacity to display a full range of 'original materials' (text, audio, video) to be made available via the IDEAS project web portal.
WP4: Creating interconnections between EU Asian Studies and policymakers needs
The University of Hamburg evaluated current practices and needs of national and European policy-makers and potential other end-users of research, and facilitated connections and engagement between them and the ECAF network.
The project website address is: http://www.ideasconsortium.eu
Project Results:
2. Description of the main S & T results/foregrounds
Main project results can be divided into the following three categories:
-Results that contributed to strengthening the European Research Area (ERA) in Asian studies
-Results that contributed to bridging the gap between the academic community and policy-makers and other stakeholders
-Results that contributed to promoting Digital Humanities and the creation of an East Asia Knowledge Research Infrastructure for Europe
2.1. Strengthening the European Research Area (ERA) in Asian studies
2.1.1 Combining the strengths of the ECAF network and SiSU database of ECAF scholars
Marita Siika, of the University of Turku produced a report on 'How to trigger cooperation: Framework, theoretical discussion, and proposals' which examines present and ongoing challenges to enhancing cooperation among European ECAF members. In particular, it focuses on common denominators between member institutions, the strengths and weaknesses of the network's capacity, lessons learned from previous cooperation experiences in Asian area studies, and the tools provided and required by today's research community with a view to future improvements in these areas.
2.1.2 Steering Committee, Focal Points and Advisory Board
With the goal of reaching out to the widest possible international community of Asianists and ensuring broad dissemination of information on project activities and findings, the IDEAS project partners sought to derive maximum advantage from the existing ECAF network.
Throughout the duration of the project, bi-annual IDEAS Steering Committee meetings were held at various host institutions across Europe. One of the first decisions of the Steering Committee was to appoint Professor Joao Paulo Costa, director of the Centro de Historia de Alem-Mar (CHAM), Lisbon, as the ECAF network's representative to the IDEAS project.
2.1.3 Working groups
The IDEAS project set up five working groups with the aim of 1) assessing emerging research topics for Asian Area Studies which will provide bases for understanding Asian geopolitics over the next decade, and 2) designing and initiating joint interdisciplinary research programmes focusing on these research topics to involve ECAF members and other Asian Studies institutions.
Working group topics are listed below:
1. How inter-Asian geopolitics reflects global political change
2. Civil society, non-state actors, and energy security
3. Towards a joint research programme on the Mekong Delta, Vietnam
4. European presence in Asia and Asian presence in Europe
5. European textbooks on Asia in higher education
Working groups carried out a mapping exercise of current academia to identify knowledge gaps and help set priorities for future research in Asian Area Studies. Results are detailed in the working group reports, available on the IDEAS website. In addition, they identified scholars who work on these topics and can provide key expertise to decision-makers and other end-users.
Each working group held two separate meetings in Europe and working group leaders presented their preliminary findings at the IDEAS 2nd international conference organized in Hong Kong in conjunction with the ECAF General Meeting, on 3-5 February 2012.
2.1.4 Communication tools (website, newsletters)
The EFEO designed a project logo and flyer, both available online, which were widely distributed during the project to communicate about its goals and activities. At the end of May 2010, the Turku team launched the IDEAS website and the project's first newsletter was published a month later. The project has since published five e-newsletters, which provide information on its activities according to defined themes. The final newsletter covers the project's main results. Each newsletter was sent by e-mail to more than 50 recipients.
Marita Siika of the University of Turku, with the help of Vesa Makinen, played a central role in establishing communications with the network's member institutions. Drafting the list of focal points and preparing the report on how to trigger cooperation required close collaboration with representatives of ECAF institutions, including face-to-face and/or telephone interviews. The SiSU database structure was developed in cooperation with directors and webmasters of similar existing databases in Europe and required the assistance of five technical experts, who significantly contributed to improving the website's technical impact.
2.1.5 Action plan for the harmonization of the field centres and ECAF visiting fellowship programme
One of the key results of IDEAS has been to draw up an action plan for the harmonization and development of the network of 23 field centres across Asia. This action plan is based on a series of consultation meetings, carried out by Margot Jackson of the British Academy with the collaboration of project manager Elisabeth Lacroix, with a wide range of European users of the network of Asian field centres followed by two rounds of visits to a selection of field centres across Asia (13 centres in eight countries) in order to assess their facilities, as well as supplementary meetings in Asia with local partners and other European institutions and diplomats. The meetings and visits helped to define ways in which the field centres can add value to research visits by European researchers, and to the research community in general, and to assess the centres' current organisation and capabilities. Consensus was seen as essential in order to ensure that solutions would be effective and positive for field-centre operators and meet the expectations of the population of potential users of those centres.
The set of key recommendations for ways to harmonise and develop the field centres outline ways to enrich the network of field centres to the benefit of both visitors and operators, to build greater critical mass within the centres, so that in turn their contribution to the international academic community can be strengthened, and to enable their potential and capacity to be recognised and used to the full by that community.
The envisaged developments of the network and its capacity to respond to the expectations of European scholars with regard to field access in Asia can be summarized as follows:
1. Role and identity of field centres
A set of criteria was adopted that define an ECAF vision of the mission of the field centres as places of interaction, exchange, dialogue, and collaboration among European and local scholars, and as bases of practical/logistical support to early-career scholars and those new to the area.
2. Information and access
The ECAF website will be overhauled, providing more readily available, detailed information about each centre's personnel, research programmes, documentary holdings, and activities, with news regarding conferences, lectures, projects, visits, exhibitions etc. In addition, a simplified online application form for visits or extended periods of research will appear on the mini-site for each centre. Applications will be received continually and free of charge to individual scholars belonging to participating institutions.
3. Funding arrangements
ECAF will henceforth propose to member institutions a range of customized annual cost-sharing options permitting their participation in specific centres on terms corresponding as closely as possible to the needs and interests of their affiliated scholars. Choices will include country options as well as different levels of full or associate partnership for permanent or occasional occupation of office space. Both types of partnership will provide full access to shared spaces (libraries, meeting or conference rooms, technical facilities) and staff pools.
The following key resulting actions have been realized:
The Vision Statement, featured above, was formally adopted at the ECAF General Meeting in February 2012 and now features prominently on the ECAF website and in communication. Other improvements to the website are also underway; for example, pages list centres' principal activities and blogs provide up-to-date news on activity in each centre.
The Visiting Fellowship holders selected in 2011-12 were:
-Dr Ruth Craggs, St Mary's University College, 'The Singapore Declaration (1971): Commonwealth geopolitics in historical and contemporary South East Asia', 3,500 GBP (Kuala Lumpur Centre)
-Dr Carol Tan, SOAS, 'Hugh Hickling and the development of Malaysian law', 2,000 GBP (Kuala Lumpur Centre)
-Dr Jason Dittmer, University College London, 'Graphic narrative and the Khmer Rouge: Conflict, memory, and intercultural representation', 2,000 GBP (Phnom Penh Centre)
-Dr Karel (Carool) Kersten, Kings College London, 'Alternative Islamic discourses in Indonesia: liberal and post-traditionalist Muslims, circulation and assimilation of ideas, contestation of authority and tradition', 2,500 GBP (Jakarta Centre)
-Dr David Smyth, SOAS, 'Literature, Journalism and Politics in Thailand: the life and work of Kulap Saipradit' ('Siburapha'), 1,990 GBP (Bangkok Centre)
-Dr Nitya Rao, University of East Anglia, 'Gender, caste and growth in India', 6,020 GBP (Pondicherry Centre)
-Dr Tariq Jazeel, University of Sheffield, 'Sri Lankan tropical modern architecture and southern India', 4,980 GBP (Pondicherry Centre)
More broadly, the ECAF community has explored and debated the options for creating a sustainable legal entity for ECAF to assist with the 'Europeanization' of the centres and to facilitate diplomatic links and funding applications. This was under discussion at the ECAF General Meeting and ECAF Steering Committee Meetings in 2012, and the option of establishing a Groupement d'Interet Public (Public Interest Group) is being pursued (see section 2.1.6).
2.1.6 Fundraising platform
Two important decisions were made at the ECAF General Meeting hosted by the Institute of Chinese Studies, CUHK, on 5 February 2012: firstly, to transform ECAF into a more efficient resource pooling organization, designed to further international academic exchange and provide field access for training and research in Asian studies, and secondly, to endow the ECAF Consortium with a sustainable legal structure with the capacity to fulfill these missions.
The change to the Consortium's legal structure has been implemented in response to recommendations formulated in the report 'Assessment of the facilities and opportunities offered by the network of European-operated field research centres' written by the British Academy within the framework of the IDEAS project (see section 2.1.5).
The main objectives of the ECAF Public Interest Group will be similar to those of the current ECAF Consortium. The GIP structure, however, will provide a more specific focus on three areas:
1/pooling research facilities in Asia,
2/developing joint academic programmes involving field work in Asia, and
3/facilitating the mobility of international students and scholars for the purpose of research or training in Asia through the development of an ECAF-wide fellowship programme.
Another innovation concerns a distinction between joint activities and 'Specific Programs'. In the context of joint activities, a host desk will be made available to GIP ECAF members free of charge in each of the Asian Centres. Specific Programs are joint research projects set up in the Centres by any configuration of GIP ECAF members. These are subject to mutually agreed cost-sharing arrangements for office space, staff pool services and other operating costs.
2.2 Bridging the gap between the academic community and policy-makers and other stakeholders
In view of the growing importance of Asia and the power shift towards the Pacific, there is an increasing awareness among European policy-makers that in-depth knowledge on Asia is needed to build strong strategic relationships that correspond to long-term objectives. With this in mind, there is considerable scope to develop dialogue between the European academic and decision-making communities in order to ensure that research in the social sciences and humanities (SSH), which constitutes a knowledge resource of potentially critical importance, is better utilized.
2.2.1 Briefing sessions for EU diplomats in Asia
Two pilot briefing sessions, designed under the supervision of EFEO director and IDEAS coordinator, Franciscus Verellen, in collaboration with the Hong Kong and Vietnam Delegations of the European Union, were held in late March 2011 to build bridges between local EU diplomats and SSH researchers. The first pilot briefing session, which took place at the offices of the EU delegation to Hong Kong and Macao, focused on Religion as a test to the 'One country, Two systems' principle - a topic selected by the delegation for its relevance to the local context. The second pilot briefing took the form of a two-day field trip to the Long Wall in Quang Ngai Province, Central Vietnam: an archaeological site, recently designated as a national monument by Vietnamese authorities, which provides key insights into the political, economic and ethnic forces at work in contemporary Vietnam.
-Religion as a test to the 'One country, Two systems' principle, 23 March 2011, Hong Kong
The goal of the Hong Kong briefing, which brought together European Union's Head of Office, Ms Maria Castillo Fernandez, several EU member countries represented by their Consul General as well as a number of academics and representatives of religious organizations, was to analyse how religion has functioned as a test of the limits of the 'One Country, Two Systems' principle in Hong Kong. Under the 'One Country, Two Systems' framework of Hong Kong's Basic Law, the independence of religious institutions in both Hong Kong and Mainland China is guaranteed. However, the reality of the complex situation in the field, reported by some participants, can diverge significantly from a simple implementation of this theoretical framework. This has been dramatically highlighted by the 2003 demonstrations and controversies surrounding the proposed anti-subversion Article 23, in which the Catholic Church and Falungong both played pivotal roles. Participants noted that at present many religious organisations which are banned or restricted in Mainland China make use of Hong Kong as a base and a point of entry into China. At the same time, PRC authorities build ties with and attempt to indirectly influence several of Hong Kong's religious organisations. In view of this ebb and flow of influence, religious organisations have thus come to present a good test of the application of the One Country, Two Systems principle.
-The Long Wall of Quang Ngai - Bình Dinh: Politics, Poverty and Ethnic Relations in the History of a Central Vietnamese Province, 25-27 March 2011, Vietnam
The Vietnam briefing aimed to use historical research into an unusual archaeological site to increase understanding of political, economic and ethnic issues in contemporary Vietnam. Research has been conducted since 2005 into the 'Long Wall of Quang Ngai', built in 1819 to demarcate the territories of the Hre and Viet ethnic groups. The research project is a cooperation between the Ecole française d'Extreme-Orient (represented by historian Andrew Hardy) and the Vietnamese Academy of Social Sciences (represented by archaeologist Nguyen Tien Dong). The wall was designated a national monument on 9 March 2011 - a significant recognition of the monument's heritage value which was also an important step forward in the cultural, political and economic dimensions of the province's engagement with Vietnam's Doi Moi reforms. The briefing, which was attended by six European Ambassadors representing France, Greece, Hungary, Poland, Romania and the UK, led by HE Sean Doyle EU Head of Delegation in Hanoi, the Vietnamese provincial government and party leadership as well as a Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, received extensive coverage from local and national Vietnamese media.
2.2.2 International conferences
-Towards a more profound understanding of Asia for decision-makers in Europe: exploring ways to strengthen links with European Asian studies, 7 February 2011, Hamburg
More than 60 participants gathered to attend the 1st IDEAS conference 'Towards a more profound understanding of Asia for decision-makers in Europe'. The event, which was organized thanks to Prof. Dr. Michael Friedrich and Annette Listmann of the Asien-Afrika-Institut (AAI) took place under the patronage of the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce and the German Asia-Pacific Business Association at the historic venue of the Hamburg Handelskammer.
Participants then took part in three panel discussions focusing on South Asia, Southeast Asia and East-Asia, before reuniting for a plenary session chaired by IDEAS Advisory Board member Prof. Dr. Hans van Ess, of Ludwig-Maximilian-University (Munich). In the course of this general discussion, they emphasized the increasing importance of Asian cultural expertise in diplomacy and business, and the need for more study of Asian societies in primary and secondary level education along with greater resource pooling among European universities. These observations provided the context for two specific proposals:
1. The creation of a Brussels-based Institute, which would act as a forum for the exchange of ideas and best practices, and offer EU policy-makers tailor-made training sessions on Asian cultures.
2. The development of ECAF field centres (see http://www.ecafconsortium.com online for further details) as 'hubs' that would provide a venue for local interaction between Asian Studies researchers and diplomats - in particular through the organization of seminars to examine geopolitical issues from a historical perspective - and disseminate regional information to the wider public.
IDEAS Conference: the background paper
-National and regional identities: appropriating the past, 4 February 2012, Hong Kong
The second IDEAS international conference 'National and regional identities: appropriating the past' was held on Saturday 4 February 2012 at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) under the patronage of the EU delegation to Hong Kong and Macao. Co-organized by the EFEO and the Institute of Chinese Studies (ICS) with financial support from the European Commission and the European Science Foundation (ESF), the conference was the 1st event of the 2012 EU-China Year of Intercultural Dialogue.
Focusing on five areas where the humanities can make a greater contribution to policy-making, the conference was divided into the following panels:
-Migration issues and frontiers
-Ethnic minorities in Southeast Asia
-The religious question in contemporary Asia
-Heritage conservation
-Trajectories of the Past: the Issue of Sovereignty and Conflict Resolution in South Asia
The topics of the presentations, which covered South, Southeast and East Asia, were selected to reflect research priorities in Asian Areas Studies and geopolitics in order to meet forthcoming challenges in Asia in the coming decades and to provide an overview of state-of-the-art geopolitical research carried out by European scholars and their Asian counterparts.
2.2.3 Diplomats' roundtables
The aim of the diplomats' roundtables was to generate feed-back and discussion on IDEAS proposals developed by the Hamburg team in the framework of Work Package 4: 'Creating interconnections between EU Asian Studies and policymakers needs'.
-Towards a more profound understanding of Asia for European Diplomacy, 14 June 2011, Brussels
On 14 June 2011, 26 participants, more than half of them diplomats from the EEAS and national Ministries of Foreign Affairs, gathered at the premises of the Hanse Office, Brussels, for the diplomats' roundtable 'Towards a more profound Understanding of Asia for European Diplomacy'. The event, which was scheduled to take place back to back with the Correspondence Asia, Oceania (COASI) meeting, was organised by Prof. Dr. Michael Friedrich, Mascha Jacoby, and Annette Listmann, of the Asien-Afrika-Institut, University of Hamburg. The roundtable focused on the role that European Asian Studies could play for European diplomacy, and discussions bore on preliminary conclusions and recommendations produced at the Hamburg conference (see 2.2.2).
He then went on to present a set of proposals to remedy this situation:
-Specialist training for diplomats in Brussels
-Development of ECAF field research centres as regional communication hubs to promote interaction between EU and Asian diplomats and scholars
-Establishment of an observatory to monitor long-term social and cultural trends as well as emerging debates in Asian regions and countries, which will complement existing expertise in political, economical and day-to-day analysis.
The implementation of these proposals would serve to:
-Combine European and Chinese approaches to diplomacy
-Complement in-house and think tank expertise
-Accumulate long-term experience
-Ensure sustainability (vs. ad hoc and short-term projects)
-Open career options (via certification)
Main results of the subsequent open discussion can be summarized as follows:
1.Participants agreed that European diplomacy could derive substantial benefits from more expertise on Asia. However, in the light of their individual experiences, they emphasized different points.
2.A number of participants remarked that in-house expertise in foreign offices tends to concentrate on short-term issues, thus neglecting long-term perspectives relevant for the foreign policy of Asian states, and with this in mind, the set of proposals put forward by IDEAS was generally considered to be valuable both for national Ministries of Foreign Affairs and the EEAS. However, one diplomat cautioned that any bid to change working practices in diplomatic services would necessarily be 'a long-term' task.
3.Since EU policy must take into account the different policies pursued by individual member states, greater 'cross-fertilization' between the EEAS and national foreign offices is needed. Rather than creating new structures, certain tasks could be dealt with in the existing network of 40 EU centres in Asia, and others in the context of ASEM/ASEF. One ambassador suggested a new approach to Asia at the European level.
4.The idea of tailor-made on-the-job training for European diplomats was welcomed by all participants. Training modules designed to fit with diplomats' busy schedules should be developed in close collaboration with existing structures (EEAS, national academies of diplomacy and institutions such as the College of Europe etc.). These should not be too country-specific, since relevant trends and problems in Asia are usually cross-national. Because of its extensive requirements in terms of time, language training modules should be separated from programs on culture, society etc.
5.Participants largely welcomed the proposal for the development of the ECAF field research centres, which they believed could have a positive impact on EU diplomacy. In particular, they remarked that the centres could enhance mutual communication between Asia and Europe and help to give Europe a stronger voice in a world region, where it is too often understood as an appendix of the U.S. and included in the notion of 'the West'. Several participants also pointed out that European culture and life-styles have a strong appeal for Asian societies, and could help to promote a strong and well-defined image of Europe if they were adequately presented.
6.The benefits of SSH scholarship on Asia was highlighted by one participant who suggested setting up 'tandems', i.e. teams of researchers and policy-makers to exchange insights between the two communities.
The event concluded with closing remarks from Angela Liberatore of DG Research.
-The New EU Diplomat: Qualities and Qualifications for the 'Asian Century', 12 June 2012, Brussels
The second IDEAS roundtable and final event of the IDEAS project The New EU Diplomat: Qualities and Qualifications for the 'Asian Century', was held on 12 June 2012. As in 2011, the event, which was scheduled to take place back to back with the Correspondence Asia, Oceania (COASI) meeting, was organised by Prof. Dr. Michael Friedrich and Annette Listmann, of the Asien-Afrika-Institut, University of Hamburg, at the Hanse Office in Brussels. The roundtable brought together a select group of 26 participants, half of whom were diplomats representing Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Latvia, Pakistan, and Slovakia. Many of them had already participated in the previous IDEAS roundtable in June 2011.
2.2.4 Policy dialogues
The IDEAS policy dialogues were designed with a view to raising awareness on the policy-relevance of historical and cultural topics, and to facilitating exchange of ideas between theoreticians and practitioners. Participants included renowned European scholars on Asia, Asian experts from civil society, and European diplomats and policy-makers.
-Religion in Action: Buddhism and Politics in Mainland Southeast Asia, 14 June 2011, Brussels
Hosted by the Hanse Office, Brussels, the first IDEAS Policy Dialogue 'Religion in Action: Buddhism and Politics in Mainland Southeast Asia' took place on 14 June 2011. Along with experts on the region from academia and think tanks, the event brought together a wide range of policy makers: diplomats from the European External Action Service (EEAS) and Member States' Ministries of Foreign Affairs, representatives from DG Enterprise and Industry, DG Justice, DG Research and Innovation, as well as delegates from NATO, several National Permanent Representations, and regional Chambers of Commerce.
-Religion in Action: Islam and Politics in Southeast Asia in the Light of the Arab Spring, 12 June 2012, Brussels
Organized at the Hanse Office, Brussels, on 12 June 2012, the second IDEAS policy dialogue Religion in Action: Islam and Politics in Southeast Asia in the Light of the Arab Spring brought together participants from the European External Action Service (EEAS), Member States' Ministries of Foreign Affairs/Permanent Representations, Asian Embassies in Brussels, the European Commission, the European Parliament, and a number of Brussels think tanks.
Following a welcome address from Hanse Office director Dr. Claus Muller, Prof. Dr. Michael Friedrich provided an introduction to the IDEAS project and the policy dialogue topic before giving the floor to Yenny Wahid. An award-winning journalist, politician, and the director of the Jakarta based Wahid Institute, Ms Wahid spoke on the theme of religious tolerance with a presentation entitled Islam and the multiple dimensions of civil society in Indonesia. Having remarked on the growing influence of radical Islamism in Indonesia, a country that is known for its religious tolerance, she pointed out that secular democracy, which needs to be developed in the context of local cultures, is fostered by a sense of inclusion and negotiation between different groups - as in the West.
2.3 Promoting Digital Humanities and the creation of an East Asia Knowledge Research Infrastructure for Europe
2.3.1 IT seminars
Three IT seminars which aimed at bringing together ECAF network librarians and IT specialists to present existing resources, discuss needs and obstacles, and define a general strategy were held respectively in Paris (March 2010), Rome (March 2011) and Brussels (April 2012).
The first IT seminar 'Asia in the Making: a Digital Bibliotheca Asiatica', organized at the EFEO by project manager Elisabeth Lacroix, covered a wide range of topics, from the presentation of existing catalogues and digital resources to the creation of specific IT tools for Asian Studies research environments. It concluded with a series of recommendations, notably that IDEAS should focus on the building of a prototype database with the capacity to display a full range of 'original materials' from project partners' archives: manuscripts, text, photographs, video etc It was decided that the IsIAO website dedicated to the Tucci collections would serve as a sample base.
The second IT seminar, ''Giuseppe Tucci's Collections as the Content of the Digital Bibliotheca Asiatica'', organized thanks to Professor Francesco d'Arelli, was held at IsIAO in Rome. Discussions focused on information retrieval and data management techniques. INRIA presented a new search module, which makes use of clustering methods to ensure that users receive a 'reasonable' number of answers to their queries, developed on a sample base of Tibetan and Sanskrit manuscripts from IsIAO's Giuseppe Tucci collections.
The third IT seminar, 'An East Asia Knowledge Infrastructure for Europe: Integrating State of the Art Electronic Resources for East Asian studies', was co-organized by the EFEO and the European Science Foundation (ESF) at the COST Offices in Brussels on 12 April 2012. The goal of the seminar was to discuss the conditions of shared access at the European level to East Asian digital resources that have been developed in China, Korea and Japan in recent years.
Professor Franciscus Verellen, IDEAS coordinator and director of EFEO, opened the seminar with a state-of-the art presentation of IT resources in Asia, and then gave the floor to Roger Greatrex, President of the European Association for Chinese Studies. Professor Greatrex explained that over the last ten years, the production of East Asia publications has developed dramatically. The production of printed publications amounted, for example in China, to more than 338,000 titles in 2010, of which nearly 200,000 were new titles. At the same time, China produces an impressive amount of digital resources and databases which are offered and available through a number of commercial providers (Apabi Digital Library, China Knowledge Resource Integrated Database (CNKI), KISS, e-Korean Studies, CINII, GeNII, JapanKnowledge etc.). The prices of these resources are on a world market level, which means they range from reasonable to astronomical.
Thirty years ago, it was theoretically possible for an active librarian to acquire every new Chinese publication in a specific field of research without overspending the library's budget. Today only very few European libraries can claim to maintain comprehensive collections in any large field of research, such as humanities, social sciences, economics, law, medicine, technology and innovation. However, in China, where research and education currently receive extensive support from the state, all of these resources in both their printed and electronic forms are widely available.
IDEAS project members and their colleagues in EACS (the European Association for Chinese Studies), EASL (the European Association of Sinological Librarians) and EAJRS (the European Association of Japanese Research Specialists) are acutely aware of the difficulties of maintaining substantial university collections. Faced with this problem, European institutions have adopted various strategies, often focusing on specific sub-fields and attempting to obtain at least the greater part of the publications offered for sale in specialist areas.
Over the next twenty years, publication and research intensity will shift from Europe to East Asia with the imminent risk of a growing knowledge asymmetry or even worse knowledge insufficiency, not merely between the EU and Asia, but also - when it comes to secondary literature - between Member States within the EU and with the US. This will not only negatively impact the humanities, but also research and innovation in social sciences, law, economics, medicine and technology etc.
In order to counter this trend, there is an urgent need to create a proper East Asia Knowledge Infrastructure for Europe which will establish new mechanisms to manage national and international access to e-content and, in parallel, inter-library cooperation in acquisitions and ILL. This objective amounts to a supra-national challenge which cannot be delegated to national governments, although these should necessarily be involved.
A European East Asia Digital Library: the CrossAsia model
Matthias Kaun, of the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, went on to say that Germany stands out as a unique example of a country which has implemented a national strategy to enhance the structuring of acquisitions at a number of university libraries. Within the framework of the national special collection areas (SSG) policy, the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, and its East Asia department in charge of the national special subject collection on East and South East Asia, has succeeded in negotiating access to whole clusters of East Asian electronic resources. These resources are now equally available to all researchers on East Asia working at German universities. A high level of technical proficiency has been developed and seed money for license agreements has been provided by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG). Research carried out on East Asia in all fields at the national level in Germany has strongly benefited from this initiative. Currently, more than 80 million different items, ranging from pre-modern full-text databases up to the most recent academic journals have been made available via the CrossAsia platform. Authentification and access to the platform is organized and administered by the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin.
Immediate action should be taken to ensure the sustainability of this unique model and to enable all European universities and research institutes to gain common access to a full range of essential electronic resources on East Asia. In particular, the feasibility of transforming CrossAsia into an EU platform should be explored in collaboration with Member States, and the potential for pooling national financial support for the purchase of common license agreements should be examined. Now is the time to seize the opportunity and leverage Germany's comparative advantage to develop more affordable EU-wide access for the future. Such an initiative would allow European research institutions to avoid investing huge sums in order to make up for the delay in providing East Asian e-resources, and would bridge the knowledge gap among Member States and between Europe and East Asia.
European Research Infrastructures (RIs) in the Digital Humanities
In the wake of the ESF Standing Committee for the Humanities (SCH) 2009 decision to make RIs in the humanities one of its top priorities, a policy brief was drafted by a team of experts and published in 2011. The brief emphasizes the strategic importance of 'making our own cultural heritage accessible in digital form'. It further states, that RIs 'open a new frontier for humanities research to address 'grand challenges' both in the humanities and at their interface with other research domains'. Launched in 1998, the International Dunhuang Project (IDP) constitutes a good example of best practice in terms of sharing expertise, establishing international standards for conservation, and making material freely available and accessible online.
The Seminar concluded on the importance of developing dedicated humanities RIs, which is closely linked to the issue of creating an East Asia Knowledge Infrastructure for Europe, both representing two sides of the same coin. The communality of resource availability would promote a greater degree of cooperative projects, both between EU partners and with East Asian partners.
2.3.2 Prototype Database
Taking into account the results of discussions at the 1st IT seminar, the IDEAS Steering Committee decided that Work Package 3 should focus on the construction of a database with the capacity to display and store images and manuscripts, in particular Tibetan and Sanskrit manuscripts. The prototype website, which was subsequently developed by INRIA, is based on the IsIAO website for the Tucci collections, but it may also serve as a model for other websites devoted to Asian Studies resources.
As with most websites dedicated to Asian Studies, the IsIAO website for the Tucci collections was unable to provide users with a reasonable number of answers to their queries, many queries receiving either no answers or too many.
Within the framework of the project, INRIA developed under the supervision of Professor Marc Csernel, and in close collaboration with Professor Francesco d'Arelli, a methodology called 'Towards a reasonable number of results' and applied it to a copy of the IsIAO website. In so doing, it created a prototype 'mirror' website with the exact same content as IsIAO's original site, but with a search engine that had been adapted to implement INRIA's data mining methodology.
Directed at non-specialists, the prototype site provides users with a reasonable number of answers to their queries, even in cases where these have not been properly formulated. Answers provided may only partially fit the query, but users are given the most proximate answers possible, and are notified when the requested information does not match any item in the website. By successive approximations, users eventually find the answer(s) they are seeking.
The query expansion technique described in the above paragraph is linked to a query reduction module, which reduces the number of results: if the answers matching a query are too numerous (i.e. more than users can easily cope with), the module reduces the number of answers in a way that allows users to reformulate their query more precisely.
The prototype, which is available at the following web address http://128.93.132.6/Tucci/tucci.pl enables users to test its functionality so as to examine the differences between the results offered by the original website's search module and the set of answers proposed by the prototype.
The prototype constitutes a state-of-the-art example of a reasonable query interpretation, and, in conjunction with the methodology report produced by INRIA, can be used as a source of inspiration for other websites with a search module dedicated to Asian Studies.
Potential Impact:
3. Description of the potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far) and the main dissemination activities and the exploitation of results.
Since its launch in January 2010, the IDEAS project has acted as a driving force for the coordination of a wide range of institutions and stakeholders in Asian Studies research, which has not only established links between higher education institutes and universities in different European countries, but also - through its collaboration with the European Science Foundation, EURAC, EEAS - bridged boundaries between the spheres of academia, civil society, and policy making.
The project has made a lasting contribution to the integration of the European Research Area (ERA) through the promotion of joint research programmes on multidisciplinary geopolitical themes - notably, via the creation of five working groups for this purpose - and the sharing of European research infrastructure, in particular the ECAF network of field centres in Asia. With regard to this second goal, the British Academy has developed a harmonization plan in consultation with the wide community of Asian Studies scholars represented by ECAF and launched a fellowship programme to provide funding for UK affiliated researchers wishing to visit the centres. Five pilot centres have been identified, namely the centres of Ho Chi Minh City, Chiang Mai, Beijing, Pondicherry and Kyoto, and three institutional partnerships (EFEO-University of Hamburg in Beijing, EFEO-ISEAS in Kyoto, and EFEO-AFD in Ho Chi Minh City) have since been established.
In addressing the need for more culturally and historically informed dialogue between Europe and Asia, the project has pioneered an innovative strategy for the development of links between the fields of diplomacy and SSH research. In particular through the provision of briefing sessions that examine geopolitical and cultural issues from a long-term perspective, it has demonstrated the advantages of bringing together researchers and diplomats both in Brussels and in the Asian countries where they are deployed. This collaboration, which is at an early stage, has raised questions about the setting of the agenda for these meetings and the issue of confidentiality: specifically the need for ground rules to ensure a successful working relationship between the publication oriented world of research and the discreet world of diplomacy. These were the subject of an ongoing reflection among the project partners at the final IDEAS conference which took place in Hong Kong in February 2012.
In promoting Asian Studies research and in highlighting the importance of a quality SESH knowledge base on Asia, the IDEAS project has paved the way for more informed policy making in which Member State and European stakeholders will have the benefit of pertinent and up to-date data on socio-economic and cultural issues that may well prove to be critical at a time when Europe and European-Asian relations are evolving rapidly.
Recommendations
3.1 Strengthening ERA in Asian Studies
In recent decades, the rising impact of Asia on an ever more integrated world economy and global culture has lent a new sense of urgency to the need for understanding Asian societies and the historical forces and cultural factors that shaped them.
Proceeding from particular areas of competence of the EFEO as coordinating institution for the IDEAS project, the recommendations in this report focus on facilitating access for European researchers and students to two vital areas of information on Asia : 1/ access to local resources and field facilities in Asia and 2/ access to new large-scale Asian studies knowledge infrastructures.
The distinguishing feature of the EFEO is its emphasis on field research and training. EFEO field facilities currently span twelve countries from India to Japan and form the core of the constantly growing research infrastructure operated by member institutions of the European Consortium for Asian Field Study (ECAF). Measures to strengthen ECAF as a significant research infrastructure responsive to the needs and expectations of an ERA-wide constituency of experts, and to widen the organization's impact through programmes of Euro-Asian mobility and resources pooling, are at the heart of the recommendations contained in this report.
At a time when digital technology is revolutionizing the humanities and social sciences, and is the object of massive investments on the part of Asian research institutes, the EFEO and other leading research institutions are investing to place ERA documentary resources, research results, archives, as well as vast corpuses of manuscripts and inscriptions at the disposal of the international academic community in the form of digitalized archives. Conversely, access for European Asia specialists to Digital RIs created in Asia is of strategic importance not only for European research in the humanities but for all fields of research.
The knowledge gap that we currently observe is due to an insufficient level of ERA-wide institutional organization and foresight rather than a lack of financial resources in absolute terms. IDEAS therefore advocates the need for a common European approach. Shared intellectual resources are essential for the development of mutual knowledge and understanding between the EU and East Asia. Without comparable levels of access to resources, asymmetries and deficiencies will expand.
If European research on East Asia is to remain cutting-edge and solidly founded on the systematic and efficient analysis of the vast new resources currently available to professionals in Asia and the US, we argue that devising an East Asia RI is a key challenge for Horizon 2020.
3.2 Enhancing dialogue with policy-makers
The recommendations for a new approach in EU Asia diplomacy presented here, as well as a set of proposals on how the European Asian Studies research community can contribute to meeting the EU's challenges in Asia, are mainly based on consultations with European policy-makers and other decision-makers, as well as with the IDEAS Advisory Board members.
1. A new approach: using history and culture to meet the EU's challenges in Asia
During IDEAS consultations, diplomats voiced an urgent need for a more profound understanding of Asia to meet the EU's challenges in the region, such as improving its image and strengthening its identity, and to develop and implement a coherent and long-term Asia strategy.
We argue that the EU diplomat dealing with Asia needs a new set of knowledge, skills and attitudes: Reorientation has to include, firstly, in-depth knowledge on history and cultures and, secondly, sound linguistic skills. Cultural and historical analysis and insights into Asian cultures and their self-perceptions are essential to understanding the complex realities in Asia - not least because Asian decision-makers tend to base their strategies on purposeful argumentation related to their own cultural heritage. Without this kind of sustainable expertise, each new development may take the EU by surprise. And without linguistic skills, diplomats are unable to follow local debates or to identify sub-currents which may become policy-relevant. Language is a crucial tool for analysis, so diplomats should not solely rely on the work of language services.
Even more important is, thirdly, a fundamental attitude change: in order to strengthen the EU's identity, to improve its image and as a basis to shape a coherent and sustainable Asia strategy, the EU Asia diplomat should become aware of the role of shared historical experience. Very specific shared historical experience characterizes Europe's relations with Asia. From ancient through medieval times, there had been exchange between the western and eastern ends of the Eurasian continental mass. It was intensified during the 13th century by the so-called Pax Mongolica which brought Marco Polo to East Asia. In more recent centuries, emerging national states propelled the European expansion, colonizing Asia in order to exploit it, at the same time admiring and studying it: Since the 16th century, soldiers, traders and missionaries did not only shape Europe's image in Asia (mainly in the negative), but also contributed to European knowledge about Asia. This first wave of globalization generated scholarly research in Asian languages and cultures, laying the foundation for modern European Asian studies. While scholarly opinion up to the 18th century in general tended to be favourable toward its subject, this changed radically with the advent of modern imperialism in the 19th century. Public opinion now viewed Asia as primitive and much in need of European civilization. After World War II, the last European colonial empires in Asia were brought down, and the United States became the leading power in the West.
But even those states and regions never involved in colonizing Asia participated in building the European knowledge base on Asia: travellers, missionaries and traders came from all parts of Europe. To acknowledge this common heritage will be crucial for the necessary attitude change allowing for building a bridge to contemporary Asian societies. Asian historical consciousness still vividly remembers European intrusion as aggressive and violent, interrupting indigenous developments and destroying much of Asian culture. Many modern Asian states and societies define themselves by proclaiming a glorious past which, after a period of suppression by Europeans, finally led to liberation and independence. In other words, past European presence in Asia is an integral part of Asian self-perception today, and should be taken into consideration when designing a long-term Asia strategy. By making use of this shared historical experience of Asia and Europe, the EU may establish a firm base to form new relationships with Asia: first, accepting responsibility for this legacy; second, showing that the EU has overcome the aggressive sides of traditional European national states and intends to develop similar relations with Asia; third, defining areas of common values and interest.
2. A ground-breaking decision: introducing a diplomatic Asia stream
During IDEAS consultations, diplomats mentioned constant time pressure and budget restrictions as obstacles to acquiring in-depth knowledge on Asia. Apart from that, all Ministries of Foreign Affairs visited undergo or plan restructurings and discuss ways to solve the conflict between the growing need for specialization and the diplomatic tradition of generalist training and job-rotation. Because of limited human and financial resources, national ministries look to Brussels for possible remedy. We argue to take the chance the establishment of the EEAS offers and introduce a diplomatic Asia stream: a combination of the generalist approach with specific regional or country expertise. This decision will not only facilitate the systematic development of Asia experts with new knowledge, skills and attitudes within the EU diplomatic corps. It will also help adapting the European diplomatic tradition to a changing world.
The European and the Chinese diplomat represent two ideal types: the generalist and the specialist. The European diplomat still reflects the peak of European nationalist states competing in imperialistic endeavours and ruling most of the world. Therefore, she or he is a generalist, being able to immediately cope with every possible environment, and will be posted with only brief preparation to any place between Ouagadougou and Beijing. The Chinese diplomat, on the other hand, is a specialist being trained for a certain country or region. She or he will learn the language of the country or region and receive intensive training on its culture and society before being posted to it. After serving one term, she or he will go back to China and work there for some years before returning to the same country or region. Postings usually include more than one consulate general allowing for a growing knowledge of different parts of the country or region, before eventually, after continuous training at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, she or he might become ambassador in the country or region.
Both types have obvious advantages, but also evident shortcomings: The European diplomat basically has to learn on the job, and when she or he has finally familiarized herself or himself with a country or region, the next posting will take her or him away, while the Chinese diplomat in some cases does not even speak English, thus not being able to communicate with the members of the diplomatic corps.
The generalist approach was introduced by Europeans when they represented the power centre in the world. It should be adapted to the 21st century, where power is shifting toward the Pacific, and the EU is striving to be accepted furthermore as a global power. Besides, just like the lingua franca of European diplomacy has shifted from French to English, rising nations like China will influence global diplomacy. To be well prepared, the new diplomatic Asia stream should combine the best of the generalist and the specialist.
The Asia stream should be designed as a model for area-based streams within the EEAS, to be expanded to other world regions if evaluated positively after an appropriate time period.
3. Changes in recruitment, training and career options: IDEAS proposals
A long-term approach is needed to develop a diplomatic Asia stream. This calls for changes in recruitment, training and career options. These changes should be built on shared historical experience of the EU and Asian states. Besides effecting the proposed fundamental attitude change, training should help diplomats to acquire a sound knowledge of Asian cultures and linguistic skills.
To this end, IDEAS proposes closer links and cooperation between diplomats and the European Asian studies research community. Training ('coaching') can take the form of personal exchange between a diplomat and a researcher on a certain topic. Training can take place through lectures, workshops and other networking activities in Europe or in Asia. And obviously, training can be structured as modules or even as a complete course with a degree.
The EEAS should focus on recruiting high potential candidates with a degree in Asian Studies or a similar field who have a good knowledge of the language and culture of one or more Asian countries for its future Asia stream.
IDEAS proposes the following training scenarios:
1. The introduction of a one-year 'European Master of Asian Cultures and Diplomacy', including one trimester in Asia, is recommended to effectively prepare young Europeans for their future career as Asia stream diplomats. If effective language training is to be included, the program will require at least one more year.
2. On-the-job Asia training should be provided for diplomats before taking on a post in Asia, but also as part of their career-long qualification. Pre-posting training should be intensified to cover four to six weeks (plus language brush up) and have follow-up components in Asia. The training of Heads of Delegations should incorporate an individual coaching component.
3. As an innovative training element, the EEAS should establish a pioneering tandem programme for junior diplomats and young Asia researchers in cooperation with the European Asian studies research community. Such a programme will strengthen links between the two worlds and facilitate exchange on a long-term basis.
Regular modules on Asian cultures should also be made part of the general knowledge training within the EEAS.
Asia stream diplomats will not rotate around the globe but be continuously posted in the same country or region of Asia. Their career options must be adapted to this new system. Finally, successful training in Asian cultures should receive due attention by superiors and be made a criterion for promotion. Without incentives, diplomats might decide against pursuing a career in the Asia stream of EEAS, since the proposed training modules and units will require considerable effort.
3.3 Promoting Digital Humanities
Considering that the issue of Digital RIs is of strategic importance not only for European research in the Humanities but for all fields of research and that the knowledge gap is due to an insufficient level of institutional organization and foresight rather than a lack of financial resources in absolute terms, the participants of the IDEAS 3rd IT seminar advocate the need for a common European approach.
But access to the vast amount of material alone is not sufficient. Information management is required to structure the dissemination and technical support for the resources. Therefore, the participants of the IDEAS 3rd IT seminar propose to set up a pilot project which would examine the following issues from a pan-European perspective:
-New models of multi-national licensing of e-content
-The organization of access to e-content
-Identification of reliable structures in Europe which could act as national nodes
-New standard policies in libraries, notably with regard to multi-national Inter-Library-Loan services
The Staatsbibliothek in Berlin should become the hub for these activities but national nodes should be established in each member state (i.e. national libraries). In turn, the national nodes will be networking with all university libraries in the respective Member States.
EU wide access to the entire range of printed and digital materials produced in East Asia would be a great step towards countering tendencies towards knowledge asymmetry. Such an investment will repay itself in the intensified interest of coming generations of graduates towards East Asian countries and their possibilities and problems.
If European research on East Asia is to remain cutting-edge and does not want to depend on outside second hand sources to obtain quality information, setting up an East Asia RI is a key challenge for Horizon 2020.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The project members would like to express their warm thanks to IDEAS Board Members Prof. Dr. Hans van Ess, Mr. Davide Giglio, Prof. Wang Gungwu, Lord Bihkuh Parekh and Dr. Robert Peccoud, and to IDEAS focal points.
Many thanks also to Corinna Nienstedt, Director and Head of the Handelskammer's International Department and Professor Shun Kwong-loi, Director of the Institute of Chinese Studies, CUHK, for hosting the IDEAS international conferences.
The team also wishes to thank Prof. Dr. Jurgen Hanneder (University of Marburg), and Prof. Dr. em E. Ulrich Kratz (University of London) for chairing the South Asia and Southeast Asia panels at the 1st IDEAS conference in Hamburg, and Prof. Yves Goudineau (EFEO), Prof. Ranabir Samaddar (Mahanirban Calcutta Research Group) and Prof. Jenny So (ICS, Chinese University of Hong Kong) for chairing the panels at the 2nd IDEAS conference in Hong Kong. Many thanks also to all the conference participants for their precious feedback.
The briefing sessions for diplomats would not have been possible without the support of Ms Maria Castillo Fernandez, Head of Office of the European Union to Hong Kong and Macao and former EU Ambassador to Vietnam Sean Doyle whom we sincerely thank.
Project members would also like to thank the Quang Ngai Province authorities for their remarkable hospitality and Dr Andrew Hardy (EFEO), Professor Oscar Salemink (University of Copenhagen), Mr Alain Henry (French development Agency), Dr Nguyen Tien Dong (Vietnamese Academy of Social Sciences), Andrea Rossi (EU delegation to Vietnam), Professor David Palmer (University of Hong Kong) and Reverend Dr Chan (Executive Secretary, Hong Kong Christian Council and adjunct professor at Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, China.
In Brussels, the IDEAS team is particularly grateful to Dr. Claus Muller, director of the Hanse Office, for hosting both of the diplomats' roundtables and policy briefs, and to the speakers. IDEAS is also grateful to Ms Nina Hoffman and Mr. Diego de la Hoz del Hoyo of ESF for their collaboration in organizing IT seminar 3.
Finally, the IDEAS team wishes to extend special thanks to project officer Ms Angela Liberatore, of DG Research and Innovation, for her unfailing support and assistance throughout the duration of the project.
List of Websites:
http://www.ideasconsortium.eu
The present document is the Final report of the FP7-funded project 'Integrating and Developing European Asian Studies' (IDEAS). Launched on 1 January 2010, IDEAS, which is a 'Co-ordination and Support Action' in the Research and Innovation Directorate's SSH Programme, has promoted increased collaboration between Asian Studies researchers and institutions in Europe, and the development of links between policy-makers and the academic community in this field.
Working in close collaboration with the European Consortium for Asian Field Study (ECAF), which comprises 45 leading universities and third level institutions throughout the EU, IDEAS carried out an assessment of the network of 23 European-owned field centres in Asia with a view to optimizing their future use on the level of Europe. The ECAF centres have now agreed to commit to a plan for convergence as outlined in the IDEAS vision statement, and the ongoing drive to share infrastructure has, thus far, resulted in the creation of a British Academy fellowship programme and three institutional partnerships (EFEO-University of Hamburg in Beijing, EFEO-ISEAS in Kyoto, and EFEO-AFD in Ho Chi Minh City).
Project Context and Objectives:
1. Summary description of the project context and the main objectives
The Socio-Economic Sciences and Humanities (SESH) are essential to a full understanding of the geopolitics of Asia, but national and European policy-makers do not always draw on the rich and complex research base that could be available to them. This is particularly the case with research in the Humanities, where cultural and historical insights and analysis can make a critical difference to the quality of policy development.
The overall objective of Integrating and Developing European Asian Studies (IDEAS) has been to coordinate and bring together academic researchers and policy-makers. With this in mind, IDEAS made use of the expertise and resources of the European Consortium for Asian Field Study (ECAF), comprising 45 research institutions from ten EU countries and ten Asian countries and Russia, which specialize in Asian studies, and a network of 23 field research centres run by ECAF members across Asia.
The project's specific objectives were as follows:
1. Integrate, develop and improve access to the resources of 23 Asian field research centres for scholars from across Europe. Promote periods of field work and the consultation of electronic resources via web-based infrastructures
2. Establish new structures, networks and partnerships to facilitate exchanges between ECAF members in Europe and Asia, and develop the European Research Area in the field of Asian Studies
3. Define medium-term priorities for interdisciplinary joint research programmes which draw on the wide range of expertise of network members, and identify potential sources of future research funding
4. Define strategies to enable resources generated by SESH research on Asia to be made available to the broader community and to facilitate international policy-relevant exchanges between researchers, policy-makers and other stakeholders
In order to achieve these objectives, IDEAS carried out the following activities:
WP1: Combining the strengths of the ECAF network
The University of Turku implemented a comprehensive Europe-wide assessment of Asian Studies resources, in particular those that are relevant to geopolitical analysis and establish structures for their more effective coordination.
WP2: Sharing access to a network of 23 field research centres located in Asia
The British Academy assessed the facilities of the network of French, German and Italian-owned field research centres across Asia run by ECAF members with a view to developing their access, services and organisation to benefit greater numbers of visiting European scholars.
WP3: Sharing and exchanging access to knowledge resources
INRIA and IsIAO, in cooperation with the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, provided the foundation for the integration of ECAF network library resources through the creation of a prototype database which has the capacity to display a full range of 'original materials' (text, audio, video) to be made available via the IDEAS project web portal.
WP4: Creating interconnections between EU Asian Studies and policymakers needs
The University of Hamburg evaluated current practices and needs of national and European policy-makers and potential other end-users of research, and facilitated connections and engagement between them and the ECAF network.
The project website address is: http://www.ideasconsortium.eu
Project Results:
2. Description of the main S & T results/foregrounds
Main project results can be divided into the following three categories:
-Results that contributed to strengthening the European Research Area (ERA) in Asian studies
-Results that contributed to bridging the gap between the academic community and policy-makers and other stakeholders
-Results that contributed to promoting Digital Humanities and the creation of an East Asia Knowledge Research Infrastructure for Europe
2.1. Strengthening the European Research Area (ERA) in Asian studies
2.1.1 Combining the strengths of the ECAF network and SiSU database of ECAF scholars
Marita Siika, of the University of Turku produced a report on 'How to trigger cooperation: Framework, theoretical discussion, and proposals' which examines present and ongoing challenges to enhancing cooperation among European ECAF members. In particular, it focuses on common denominators between member institutions, the strengths and weaknesses of the network's capacity, lessons learned from previous cooperation experiences in Asian area studies, and the tools provided and required by today's research community with a view to future improvements in these areas.
2.1.2 Steering Committee, Focal Points and Advisory Board
With the goal of reaching out to the widest possible international community of Asianists and ensuring broad dissemination of information on project activities and findings, the IDEAS project partners sought to derive maximum advantage from the existing ECAF network.
Throughout the duration of the project, bi-annual IDEAS Steering Committee meetings were held at various host institutions across Europe. One of the first decisions of the Steering Committee was to appoint Professor Joao Paulo Costa, director of the Centro de Historia de Alem-Mar (CHAM), Lisbon, as the ECAF network's representative to the IDEAS project.
2.1.3 Working groups
The IDEAS project set up five working groups with the aim of 1) assessing emerging research topics for Asian Area Studies which will provide bases for understanding Asian geopolitics over the next decade, and 2) designing and initiating joint interdisciplinary research programmes focusing on these research topics to involve ECAF members and other Asian Studies institutions.
Working group topics are listed below:
1. How inter-Asian geopolitics reflects global political change
2. Civil society, non-state actors, and energy security
3. Towards a joint research programme on the Mekong Delta, Vietnam
4. European presence in Asia and Asian presence in Europe
5. European textbooks on Asia in higher education
Working groups carried out a mapping exercise of current academia to identify knowledge gaps and help set priorities for future research in Asian Area Studies. Results are detailed in the working group reports, available on the IDEAS website. In addition, they identified scholars who work on these topics and can provide key expertise to decision-makers and other end-users.
Each working group held two separate meetings in Europe and working group leaders presented their preliminary findings at the IDEAS 2nd international conference organized in Hong Kong in conjunction with the ECAF General Meeting, on 3-5 February 2012.
2.1.4 Communication tools (website, newsletters)
The EFEO designed a project logo and flyer, both available online, which were widely distributed during the project to communicate about its goals and activities. At the end of May 2010, the Turku team launched the IDEAS website and the project's first newsletter was published a month later. The project has since published five e-newsletters, which provide information on its activities according to defined themes. The final newsletter covers the project's main results. Each newsletter was sent by e-mail to more than 50 recipients.
Marita Siika of the University of Turku, with the help of Vesa Makinen, played a central role in establishing communications with the network's member institutions. Drafting the list of focal points and preparing the report on how to trigger cooperation required close collaboration with representatives of ECAF institutions, including face-to-face and/or telephone interviews. The SiSU database structure was developed in cooperation with directors and webmasters of similar existing databases in Europe and required the assistance of five technical experts, who significantly contributed to improving the website's technical impact.
2.1.5 Action plan for the harmonization of the field centres and ECAF visiting fellowship programme
One of the key results of IDEAS has been to draw up an action plan for the harmonization and development of the network of 23 field centres across Asia. This action plan is based on a series of consultation meetings, carried out by Margot Jackson of the British Academy with the collaboration of project manager Elisabeth Lacroix, with a wide range of European users of the network of Asian field centres followed by two rounds of visits to a selection of field centres across Asia (13 centres in eight countries) in order to assess their facilities, as well as supplementary meetings in Asia with local partners and other European institutions and diplomats. The meetings and visits helped to define ways in which the field centres can add value to research visits by European researchers, and to the research community in general, and to assess the centres' current organisation and capabilities. Consensus was seen as essential in order to ensure that solutions would be effective and positive for field-centre operators and meet the expectations of the population of potential users of those centres.
The set of key recommendations for ways to harmonise and develop the field centres outline ways to enrich the network of field centres to the benefit of both visitors and operators, to build greater critical mass within the centres, so that in turn their contribution to the international academic community can be strengthened, and to enable their potential and capacity to be recognised and used to the full by that community.
The envisaged developments of the network and its capacity to respond to the expectations of European scholars with regard to field access in Asia can be summarized as follows:
1. Role and identity of field centres
A set of criteria was adopted that define an ECAF vision of the mission of the field centres as places of interaction, exchange, dialogue, and collaboration among European and local scholars, and as bases of practical/logistical support to early-career scholars and those new to the area.
2. Information and access
The ECAF website will be overhauled, providing more readily available, detailed information about each centre's personnel, research programmes, documentary holdings, and activities, with news regarding conferences, lectures, projects, visits, exhibitions etc. In addition, a simplified online application form for visits or extended periods of research will appear on the mini-site for each centre. Applications will be received continually and free of charge to individual scholars belonging to participating institutions.
3. Funding arrangements
ECAF will henceforth propose to member institutions a range of customized annual cost-sharing options permitting their participation in specific centres on terms corresponding as closely as possible to the needs and interests of their affiliated scholars. Choices will include country options as well as different levels of full or associate partnership for permanent or occasional occupation of office space. Both types of partnership will provide full access to shared spaces (libraries, meeting or conference rooms, technical facilities) and staff pools.
The following key resulting actions have been realized:
The Vision Statement, featured above, was formally adopted at the ECAF General Meeting in February 2012 and now features prominently on the ECAF website and in communication. Other improvements to the website are also underway; for example, pages list centres' principal activities and blogs provide up-to-date news on activity in each centre.
The Visiting Fellowship holders selected in 2011-12 were:
-Dr Ruth Craggs, St Mary's University College, 'The Singapore Declaration (1971): Commonwealth geopolitics in historical and contemporary South East Asia', 3,500 GBP (Kuala Lumpur Centre)
-Dr Carol Tan, SOAS, 'Hugh Hickling and the development of Malaysian law', 2,000 GBP (Kuala Lumpur Centre)
-Dr Jason Dittmer, University College London, 'Graphic narrative and the Khmer Rouge: Conflict, memory, and intercultural representation', 2,000 GBP (Phnom Penh Centre)
-Dr Karel (Carool) Kersten, Kings College London, 'Alternative Islamic discourses in Indonesia: liberal and post-traditionalist Muslims, circulation and assimilation of ideas, contestation of authority and tradition', 2,500 GBP (Jakarta Centre)
-Dr David Smyth, SOAS, 'Literature, Journalism and Politics in Thailand: the life and work of Kulap Saipradit' ('Siburapha'), 1,990 GBP (Bangkok Centre)
-Dr Nitya Rao, University of East Anglia, 'Gender, caste and growth in India', 6,020 GBP (Pondicherry Centre)
-Dr Tariq Jazeel, University of Sheffield, 'Sri Lankan tropical modern architecture and southern India', 4,980 GBP (Pondicherry Centre)
More broadly, the ECAF community has explored and debated the options for creating a sustainable legal entity for ECAF to assist with the 'Europeanization' of the centres and to facilitate diplomatic links and funding applications. This was under discussion at the ECAF General Meeting and ECAF Steering Committee Meetings in 2012, and the option of establishing a Groupement d'Interet Public (Public Interest Group) is being pursued (see section 2.1.6).
2.1.6 Fundraising platform
Two important decisions were made at the ECAF General Meeting hosted by the Institute of Chinese Studies, CUHK, on 5 February 2012: firstly, to transform ECAF into a more efficient resource pooling organization, designed to further international academic exchange and provide field access for training and research in Asian studies, and secondly, to endow the ECAF Consortium with a sustainable legal structure with the capacity to fulfill these missions.
The change to the Consortium's legal structure has been implemented in response to recommendations formulated in the report 'Assessment of the facilities and opportunities offered by the network of European-operated field research centres' written by the British Academy within the framework of the IDEAS project (see section 2.1.5).
The main objectives of the ECAF Public Interest Group will be similar to those of the current ECAF Consortium. The GIP structure, however, will provide a more specific focus on three areas:
1/pooling research facilities in Asia,
2/developing joint academic programmes involving field work in Asia, and
3/facilitating the mobility of international students and scholars for the purpose of research or training in Asia through the development of an ECAF-wide fellowship programme.
Another innovation concerns a distinction between joint activities and 'Specific Programs'. In the context of joint activities, a host desk will be made available to GIP ECAF members free of charge in each of the Asian Centres. Specific Programs are joint research projects set up in the Centres by any configuration of GIP ECAF members. These are subject to mutually agreed cost-sharing arrangements for office space, staff pool services and other operating costs.
2.2 Bridging the gap between the academic community and policy-makers and other stakeholders
In view of the growing importance of Asia and the power shift towards the Pacific, there is an increasing awareness among European policy-makers that in-depth knowledge on Asia is needed to build strong strategic relationships that correspond to long-term objectives. With this in mind, there is considerable scope to develop dialogue between the European academic and decision-making communities in order to ensure that research in the social sciences and humanities (SSH), which constitutes a knowledge resource of potentially critical importance, is better utilized.
2.2.1 Briefing sessions for EU diplomats in Asia
Two pilot briefing sessions, designed under the supervision of EFEO director and IDEAS coordinator, Franciscus Verellen, in collaboration with the Hong Kong and Vietnam Delegations of the European Union, were held in late March 2011 to build bridges between local EU diplomats and SSH researchers. The first pilot briefing session, which took place at the offices of the EU delegation to Hong Kong and Macao, focused on Religion as a test to the 'One country, Two systems' principle - a topic selected by the delegation for its relevance to the local context. The second pilot briefing took the form of a two-day field trip to the Long Wall in Quang Ngai Province, Central Vietnam: an archaeological site, recently designated as a national monument by Vietnamese authorities, which provides key insights into the political, economic and ethnic forces at work in contemporary Vietnam.
-Religion as a test to the 'One country, Two systems' principle, 23 March 2011, Hong Kong
The goal of the Hong Kong briefing, which brought together European Union's Head of Office, Ms Maria Castillo Fernandez, several EU member countries represented by their Consul General as well as a number of academics and representatives of religious organizations, was to analyse how religion has functioned as a test of the limits of the 'One Country, Two Systems' principle in Hong Kong. Under the 'One Country, Two Systems' framework of Hong Kong's Basic Law, the independence of religious institutions in both Hong Kong and Mainland China is guaranteed. However, the reality of the complex situation in the field, reported by some participants, can diverge significantly from a simple implementation of this theoretical framework. This has been dramatically highlighted by the 2003 demonstrations and controversies surrounding the proposed anti-subversion Article 23, in which the Catholic Church and Falungong both played pivotal roles. Participants noted that at present many religious organisations which are banned or restricted in Mainland China make use of Hong Kong as a base and a point of entry into China. At the same time, PRC authorities build ties with and attempt to indirectly influence several of Hong Kong's religious organisations. In view of this ebb and flow of influence, religious organisations have thus come to present a good test of the application of the One Country, Two Systems principle.
-The Long Wall of Quang Ngai - Bình Dinh: Politics, Poverty and Ethnic Relations in the History of a Central Vietnamese Province, 25-27 March 2011, Vietnam
The Vietnam briefing aimed to use historical research into an unusual archaeological site to increase understanding of political, economic and ethnic issues in contemporary Vietnam. Research has been conducted since 2005 into the 'Long Wall of Quang Ngai', built in 1819 to demarcate the territories of the Hre and Viet ethnic groups. The research project is a cooperation between the Ecole française d'Extreme-Orient (represented by historian Andrew Hardy) and the Vietnamese Academy of Social Sciences (represented by archaeologist Nguyen Tien Dong). The wall was designated a national monument on 9 March 2011 - a significant recognition of the monument's heritage value which was also an important step forward in the cultural, political and economic dimensions of the province's engagement with Vietnam's Doi Moi reforms. The briefing, which was attended by six European Ambassadors representing France, Greece, Hungary, Poland, Romania and the UK, led by HE Sean Doyle EU Head of Delegation in Hanoi, the Vietnamese provincial government and party leadership as well as a Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, received extensive coverage from local and national Vietnamese media.
2.2.2 International conferences
-Towards a more profound understanding of Asia for decision-makers in Europe: exploring ways to strengthen links with European Asian studies, 7 February 2011, Hamburg
More than 60 participants gathered to attend the 1st IDEAS conference 'Towards a more profound understanding of Asia for decision-makers in Europe'. The event, which was organized thanks to Prof. Dr. Michael Friedrich and Annette Listmann of the Asien-Afrika-Institut (AAI) took place under the patronage of the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce and the German Asia-Pacific Business Association at the historic venue of the Hamburg Handelskammer.
Participants then took part in three panel discussions focusing on South Asia, Southeast Asia and East-Asia, before reuniting for a plenary session chaired by IDEAS Advisory Board member Prof. Dr. Hans van Ess, of Ludwig-Maximilian-University (Munich). In the course of this general discussion, they emphasized the increasing importance of Asian cultural expertise in diplomacy and business, and the need for more study of Asian societies in primary and secondary level education along with greater resource pooling among European universities. These observations provided the context for two specific proposals:
1. The creation of a Brussels-based Institute, which would act as a forum for the exchange of ideas and best practices, and offer EU policy-makers tailor-made training sessions on Asian cultures.
2. The development of ECAF field centres (see http://www.ecafconsortium.com online for further details) as 'hubs' that would provide a venue for local interaction between Asian Studies researchers and diplomats - in particular through the organization of seminars to examine geopolitical issues from a historical perspective - and disseminate regional information to the wider public.
IDEAS Conference: the background paper
-National and regional identities: appropriating the past, 4 February 2012, Hong Kong
The second IDEAS international conference 'National and regional identities: appropriating the past' was held on Saturday 4 February 2012 at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) under the patronage of the EU delegation to Hong Kong and Macao. Co-organized by the EFEO and the Institute of Chinese Studies (ICS) with financial support from the European Commission and the European Science Foundation (ESF), the conference was the 1st event of the 2012 EU-China Year of Intercultural Dialogue.
Focusing on five areas where the humanities can make a greater contribution to policy-making, the conference was divided into the following panels:
-Migration issues and frontiers
-Ethnic minorities in Southeast Asia
-The religious question in contemporary Asia
-Heritage conservation
-Trajectories of the Past: the Issue of Sovereignty and Conflict Resolution in South Asia
The topics of the presentations, which covered South, Southeast and East Asia, were selected to reflect research priorities in Asian Areas Studies and geopolitics in order to meet forthcoming challenges in Asia in the coming decades and to provide an overview of state-of-the-art geopolitical research carried out by European scholars and their Asian counterparts.
2.2.3 Diplomats' roundtables
The aim of the diplomats' roundtables was to generate feed-back and discussion on IDEAS proposals developed by the Hamburg team in the framework of Work Package 4: 'Creating interconnections between EU Asian Studies and policymakers needs'.
-Towards a more profound understanding of Asia for European Diplomacy, 14 June 2011, Brussels
On 14 June 2011, 26 participants, more than half of them diplomats from the EEAS and national Ministries of Foreign Affairs, gathered at the premises of the Hanse Office, Brussels, for the diplomats' roundtable 'Towards a more profound Understanding of Asia for European Diplomacy'. The event, which was scheduled to take place back to back with the Correspondence Asia, Oceania (COASI) meeting, was organised by Prof. Dr. Michael Friedrich, Mascha Jacoby, and Annette Listmann, of the Asien-Afrika-Institut, University of Hamburg. The roundtable focused on the role that European Asian Studies could play for European diplomacy, and discussions bore on preliminary conclusions and recommendations produced at the Hamburg conference (see 2.2.2).
He then went on to present a set of proposals to remedy this situation:
-Specialist training for diplomats in Brussels
-Development of ECAF field research centres as regional communication hubs to promote interaction between EU and Asian diplomats and scholars
-Establishment of an observatory to monitor long-term social and cultural trends as well as emerging debates in Asian regions and countries, which will complement existing expertise in political, economical and day-to-day analysis.
The implementation of these proposals would serve to:
-Combine European and Chinese approaches to diplomacy
-Complement in-house and think tank expertise
-Accumulate long-term experience
-Ensure sustainability (vs. ad hoc and short-term projects)
-Open career options (via certification)
Main results of the subsequent open discussion can be summarized as follows:
1.Participants agreed that European diplomacy could derive substantial benefits from more expertise on Asia. However, in the light of their individual experiences, they emphasized different points.
2.A number of participants remarked that in-house expertise in foreign offices tends to concentrate on short-term issues, thus neglecting long-term perspectives relevant for the foreign policy of Asian states, and with this in mind, the set of proposals put forward by IDEAS was generally considered to be valuable both for national Ministries of Foreign Affairs and the EEAS. However, one diplomat cautioned that any bid to change working practices in diplomatic services would necessarily be 'a long-term' task.
3.Since EU policy must take into account the different policies pursued by individual member states, greater 'cross-fertilization' between the EEAS and national foreign offices is needed. Rather than creating new structures, certain tasks could be dealt with in the existing network of 40 EU centres in Asia, and others in the context of ASEM/ASEF. One ambassador suggested a new approach to Asia at the European level.
4.The idea of tailor-made on-the-job training for European diplomats was welcomed by all participants. Training modules designed to fit with diplomats' busy schedules should be developed in close collaboration with existing structures (EEAS, national academies of diplomacy and institutions such as the College of Europe etc.). These should not be too country-specific, since relevant trends and problems in Asia are usually cross-national. Because of its extensive requirements in terms of time, language training modules should be separated from programs on culture, society etc.
5.Participants largely welcomed the proposal for the development of the ECAF field research centres, which they believed could have a positive impact on EU diplomacy. In particular, they remarked that the centres could enhance mutual communication between Asia and Europe and help to give Europe a stronger voice in a world region, where it is too often understood as an appendix of the U.S. and included in the notion of 'the West'. Several participants also pointed out that European culture and life-styles have a strong appeal for Asian societies, and could help to promote a strong and well-defined image of Europe if they were adequately presented.
6.The benefits of SSH scholarship on Asia was highlighted by one participant who suggested setting up 'tandems', i.e. teams of researchers and policy-makers to exchange insights between the two communities.
The event concluded with closing remarks from Angela Liberatore of DG Research.
-The New EU Diplomat: Qualities and Qualifications for the 'Asian Century', 12 June 2012, Brussels
The second IDEAS roundtable and final event of the IDEAS project The New EU Diplomat: Qualities and Qualifications for the 'Asian Century', was held on 12 June 2012. As in 2011, the event, which was scheduled to take place back to back with the Correspondence Asia, Oceania (COASI) meeting, was organised by Prof. Dr. Michael Friedrich and Annette Listmann, of the Asien-Afrika-Institut, University of Hamburg, at the Hanse Office in Brussels. The roundtable brought together a select group of 26 participants, half of whom were diplomats representing Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Latvia, Pakistan, and Slovakia. Many of them had already participated in the previous IDEAS roundtable in June 2011.
2.2.4 Policy dialogues
The IDEAS policy dialogues were designed with a view to raising awareness on the policy-relevance of historical and cultural topics, and to facilitating exchange of ideas between theoreticians and practitioners. Participants included renowned European scholars on Asia, Asian experts from civil society, and European diplomats and policy-makers.
-Religion in Action: Buddhism and Politics in Mainland Southeast Asia, 14 June 2011, Brussels
Hosted by the Hanse Office, Brussels, the first IDEAS Policy Dialogue 'Religion in Action: Buddhism and Politics in Mainland Southeast Asia' took place on 14 June 2011. Along with experts on the region from academia and think tanks, the event brought together a wide range of policy makers: diplomats from the European External Action Service (EEAS) and Member States' Ministries of Foreign Affairs, representatives from DG Enterprise and Industry, DG Justice, DG Research and Innovation, as well as delegates from NATO, several National Permanent Representations, and regional Chambers of Commerce.
-Religion in Action: Islam and Politics in Southeast Asia in the Light of the Arab Spring, 12 June 2012, Brussels
Organized at the Hanse Office, Brussels, on 12 June 2012, the second IDEAS policy dialogue Religion in Action: Islam and Politics in Southeast Asia in the Light of the Arab Spring brought together participants from the European External Action Service (EEAS), Member States' Ministries of Foreign Affairs/Permanent Representations, Asian Embassies in Brussels, the European Commission, the European Parliament, and a number of Brussels think tanks.
Following a welcome address from Hanse Office director Dr. Claus Muller, Prof. Dr. Michael Friedrich provided an introduction to the IDEAS project and the policy dialogue topic before giving the floor to Yenny Wahid. An award-winning journalist, politician, and the director of the Jakarta based Wahid Institute, Ms Wahid spoke on the theme of religious tolerance with a presentation entitled Islam and the multiple dimensions of civil society in Indonesia. Having remarked on the growing influence of radical Islamism in Indonesia, a country that is known for its religious tolerance, she pointed out that secular democracy, which needs to be developed in the context of local cultures, is fostered by a sense of inclusion and negotiation between different groups - as in the West.
2.3 Promoting Digital Humanities and the creation of an East Asia Knowledge Research Infrastructure for Europe
2.3.1 IT seminars
Three IT seminars which aimed at bringing together ECAF network librarians and IT specialists to present existing resources, discuss needs and obstacles, and define a general strategy were held respectively in Paris (March 2010), Rome (March 2011) and Brussels (April 2012).
The first IT seminar 'Asia in the Making: a Digital Bibliotheca Asiatica', organized at the EFEO by project manager Elisabeth Lacroix, covered a wide range of topics, from the presentation of existing catalogues and digital resources to the creation of specific IT tools for Asian Studies research environments. It concluded with a series of recommendations, notably that IDEAS should focus on the building of a prototype database with the capacity to display a full range of 'original materials' from project partners' archives: manuscripts, text, photographs, video etc It was decided that the IsIAO website dedicated to the Tucci collections would serve as a sample base.
The second IT seminar, ''Giuseppe Tucci's Collections as the Content of the Digital Bibliotheca Asiatica'', organized thanks to Professor Francesco d'Arelli, was held at IsIAO in Rome. Discussions focused on information retrieval and data management techniques. INRIA presented a new search module, which makes use of clustering methods to ensure that users receive a 'reasonable' number of answers to their queries, developed on a sample base of Tibetan and Sanskrit manuscripts from IsIAO's Giuseppe Tucci collections.
The third IT seminar, 'An East Asia Knowledge Infrastructure for Europe: Integrating State of the Art Electronic Resources for East Asian studies', was co-organized by the EFEO and the European Science Foundation (ESF) at the COST Offices in Brussels on 12 April 2012. The goal of the seminar was to discuss the conditions of shared access at the European level to East Asian digital resources that have been developed in China, Korea and Japan in recent years.
Professor Franciscus Verellen, IDEAS coordinator and director of EFEO, opened the seminar with a state-of-the art presentation of IT resources in Asia, and then gave the floor to Roger Greatrex, President of the European Association for Chinese Studies. Professor Greatrex explained that over the last ten years, the production of East Asia publications has developed dramatically. The production of printed publications amounted, for example in China, to more than 338,000 titles in 2010, of which nearly 200,000 were new titles. At the same time, China produces an impressive amount of digital resources and databases which are offered and available through a number of commercial providers (Apabi Digital Library, China Knowledge Resource Integrated Database (CNKI), KISS, e-Korean Studies, CINII, GeNII, JapanKnowledge etc.). The prices of these resources are on a world market level, which means they range from reasonable to astronomical.
Thirty years ago, it was theoretically possible for an active librarian to acquire every new Chinese publication in a specific field of research without overspending the library's budget. Today only very few European libraries can claim to maintain comprehensive collections in any large field of research, such as humanities, social sciences, economics, law, medicine, technology and innovation. However, in China, where research and education currently receive extensive support from the state, all of these resources in both their printed and electronic forms are widely available.
IDEAS project members and their colleagues in EACS (the European Association for Chinese Studies), EASL (the European Association of Sinological Librarians) and EAJRS (the European Association of Japanese Research Specialists) are acutely aware of the difficulties of maintaining substantial university collections. Faced with this problem, European institutions have adopted various strategies, often focusing on specific sub-fields and attempting to obtain at least the greater part of the publications offered for sale in specialist areas.
Over the next twenty years, publication and research intensity will shift from Europe to East Asia with the imminent risk of a growing knowledge asymmetry or even worse knowledge insufficiency, not merely between the EU and Asia, but also - when it comes to secondary literature - between Member States within the EU and with the US. This will not only negatively impact the humanities, but also research and innovation in social sciences, law, economics, medicine and technology etc.
In order to counter this trend, there is an urgent need to create a proper East Asia Knowledge Infrastructure for Europe which will establish new mechanisms to manage national and international access to e-content and, in parallel, inter-library cooperation in acquisitions and ILL. This objective amounts to a supra-national challenge which cannot be delegated to national governments, although these should necessarily be involved.
A European East Asia Digital Library: the CrossAsia model
Matthias Kaun, of the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, went on to say that Germany stands out as a unique example of a country which has implemented a national strategy to enhance the structuring of acquisitions at a number of university libraries. Within the framework of the national special collection areas (SSG) policy, the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, and its East Asia department in charge of the national special subject collection on East and South East Asia, has succeeded in negotiating access to whole clusters of East Asian electronic resources. These resources are now equally available to all researchers on East Asia working at German universities. A high level of technical proficiency has been developed and seed money for license agreements has been provided by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG). Research carried out on East Asia in all fields at the national level in Germany has strongly benefited from this initiative. Currently, more than 80 million different items, ranging from pre-modern full-text databases up to the most recent academic journals have been made available via the CrossAsia platform. Authentification and access to the platform is organized and administered by the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin.
Immediate action should be taken to ensure the sustainability of this unique model and to enable all European universities and research institutes to gain common access to a full range of essential electronic resources on East Asia. In particular, the feasibility of transforming CrossAsia into an EU platform should be explored in collaboration with Member States, and the potential for pooling national financial support for the purchase of common license agreements should be examined. Now is the time to seize the opportunity and leverage Germany's comparative advantage to develop more affordable EU-wide access for the future. Such an initiative would allow European research institutions to avoid investing huge sums in order to make up for the delay in providing East Asian e-resources, and would bridge the knowledge gap among Member States and between Europe and East Asia.
European Research Infrastructures (RIs) in the Digital Humanities
In the wake of the ESF Standing Committee for the Humanities (SCH) 2009 decision to make RIs in the humanities one of its top priorities, a policy brief was drafted by a team of experts and published in 2011. The brief emphasizes the strategic importance of 'making our own cultural heritage accessible in digital form'. It further states, that RIs 'open a new frontier for humanities research to address 'grand challenges' both in the humanities and at their interface with other research domains'. Launched in 1998, the International Dunhuang Project (IDP) constitutes a good example of best practice in terms of sharing expertise, establishing international standards for conservation, and making material freely available and accessible online.
The Seminar concluded on the importance of developing dedicated humanities RIs, which is closely linked to the issue of creating an East Asia Knowledge Infrastructure for Europe, both representing two sides of the same coin. The communality of resource availability would promote a greater degree of cooperative projects, both between EU partners and with East Asian partners.
2.3.2 Prototype Database
Taking into account the results of discussions at the 1st IT seminar, the IDEAS Steering Committee decided that Work Package 3 should focus on the construction of a database with the capacity to display and store images and manuscripts, in particular Tibetan and Sanskrit manuscripts. The prototype website, which was subsequently developed by INRIA, is based on the IsIAO website for the Tucci collections, but it may also serve as a model for other websites devoted to Asian Studies resources.
As with most websites dedicated to Asian Studies, the IsIAO website for the Tucci collections was unable to provide users with a reasonable number of answers to their queries, many queries receiving either no answers or too many.
Within the framework of the project, INRIA developed under the supervision of Professor Marc Csernel, and in close collaboration with Professor Francesco d'Arelli, a methodology called 'Towards a reasonable number of results' and applied it to a copy of the IsIAO website. In so doing, it created a prototype 'mirror' website with the exact same content as IsIAO's original site, but with a search engine that had been adapted to implement INRIA's data mining methodology.
Directed at non-specialists, the prototype site provides users with a reasonable number of answers to their queries, even in cases where these have not been properly formulated. Answers provided may only partially fit the query, but users are given the most proximate answers possible, and are notified when the requested information does not match any item in the website. By successive approximations, users eventually find the answer(s) they are seeking.
The query expansion technique described in the above paragraph is linked to a query reduction module, which reduces the number of results: if the answers matching a query are too numerous (i.e. more than users can easily cope with), the module reduces the number of answers in a way that allows users to reformulate their query more precisely.
The prototype, which is available at the following web address http://128.93.132.6/Tucci/tucci.pl enables users to test its functionality so as to examine the differences between the results offered by the original website's search module and the set of answers proposed by the prototype.
The prototype constitutes a state-of-the-art example of a reasonable query interpretation, and, in conjunction with the methodology report produced by INRIA, can be used as a source of inspiration for other websites with a search module dedicated to Asian Studies.
Potential Impact:
3. Description of the potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far) and the main dissemination activities and the exploitation of results.
Since its launch in January 2010, the IDEAS project has acted as a driving force for the coordination of a wide range of institutions and stakeholders in Asian Studies research, which has not only established links between higher education institutes and universities in different European countries, but also - through its collaboration with the European Science Foundation, EURAC, EEAS - bridged boundaries between the spheres of academia, civil society, and policy making.
The project has made a lasting contribution to the integration of the European Research Area (ERA) through the promotion of joint research programmes on multidisciplinary geopolitical themes - notably, via the creation of five working groups for this purpose - and the sharing of European research infrastructure, in particular the ECAF network of field centres in Asia. With regard to this second goal, the British Academy has developed a harmonization plan in consultation with the wide community of Asian Studies scholars represented by ECAF and launched a fellowship programme to provide funding for UK affiliated researchers wishing to visit the centres. Five pilot centres have been identified, namely the centres of Ho Chi Minh City, Chiang Mai, Beijing, Pondicherry and Kyoto, and three institutional partnerships (EFEO-University of Hamburg in Beijing, EFEO-ISEAS in Kyoto, and EFEO-AFD in Ho Chi Minh City) have since been established.
In addressing the need for more culturally and historically informed dialogue between Europe and Asia, the project has pioneered an innovative strategy for the development of links between the fields of diplomacy and SSH research. In particular through the provision of briefing sessions that examine geopolitical and cultural issues from a long-term perspective, it has demonstrated the advantages of bringing together researchers and diplomats both in Brussels and in the Asian countries where they are deployed. This collaboration, which is at an early stage, has raised questions about the setting of the agenda for these meetings and the issue of confidentiality: specifically the need for ground rules to ensure a successful working relationship between the publication oriented world of research and the discreet world of diplomacy. These were the subject of an ongoing reflection among the project partners at the final IDEAS conference which took place in Hong Kong in February 2012.
In promoting Asian Studies research and in highlighting the importance of a quality SESH knowledge base on Asia, the IDEAS project has paved the way for more informed policy making in which Member State and European stakeholders will have the benefit of pertinent and up to-date data on socio-economic and cultural issues that may well prove to be critical at a time when Europe and European-Asian relations are evolving rapidly.
Recommendations
3.1 Strengthening ERA in Asian Studies
In recent decades, the rising impact of Asia on an ever more integrated world economy and global culture has lent a new sense of urgency to the need for understanding Asian societies and the historical forces and cultural factors that shaped them.
Proceeding from particular areas of competence of the EFEO as coordinating institution for the IDEAS project, the recommendations in this report focus on facilitating access for European researchers and students to two vital areas of information on Asia : 1/ access to local resources and field facilities in Asia and 2/ access to new large-scale Asian studies knowledge infrastructures.
The distinguishing feature of the EFEO is its emphasis on field research and training. EFEO field facilities currently span twelve countries from India to Japan and form the core of the constantly growing research infrastructure operated by member institutions of the European Consortium for Asian Field Study (ECAF). Measures to strengthen ECAF as a significant research infrastructure responsive to the needs and expectations of an ERA-wide constituency of experts, and to widen the organization's impact through programmes of Euro-Asian mobility and resources pooling, are at the heart of the recommendations contained in this report.
At a time when digital technology is revolutionizing the humanities and social sciences, and is the object of massive investments on the part of Asian research institutes, the EFEO and other leading research institutions are investing to place ERA documentary resources, research results, archives, as well as vast corpuses of manuscripts and inscriptions at the disposal of the international academic community in the form of digitalized archives. Conversely, access for European Asia specialists to Digital RIs created in Asia is of strategic importance not only for European research in the humanities but for all fields of research.
The knowledge gap that we currently observe is due to an insufficient level of ERA-wide institutional organization and foresight rather than a lack of financial resources in absolute terms. IDEAS therefore advocates the need for a common European approach. Shared intellectual resources are essential for the development of mutual knowledge and understanding between the EU and East Asia. Without comparable levels of access to resources, asymmetries and deficiencies will expand.
If European research on East Asia is to remain cutting-edge and solidly founded on the systematic and efficient analysis of the vast new resources currently available to professionals in Asia and the US, we argue that devising an East Asia RI is a key challenge for Horizon 2020.
3.2 Enhancing dialogue with policy-makers
The recommendations for a new approach in EU Asia diplomacy presented here, as well as a set of proposals on how the European Asian Studies research community can contribute to meeting the EU's challenges in Asia, are mainly based on consultations with European policy-makers and other decision-makers, as well as with the IDEAS Advisory Board members.
1. A new approach: using history and culture to meet the EU's challenges in Asia
During IDEAS consultations, diplomats voiced an urgent need for a more profound understanding of Asia to meet the EU's challenges in the region, such as improving its image and strengthening its identity, and to develop and implement a coherent and long-term Asia strategy.
We argue that the EU diplomat dealing with Asia needs a new set of knowledge, skills and attitudes: Reorientation has to include, firstly, in-depth knowledge on history and cultures and, secondly, sound linguistic skills. Cultural and historical analysis and insights into Asian cultures and their self-perceptions are essential to understanding the complex realities in Asia - not least because Asian decision-makers tend to base their strategies on purposeful argumentation related to their own cultural heritage. Without this kind of sustainable expertise, each new development may take the EU by surprise. And without linguistic skills, diplomats are unable to follow local debates or to identify sub-currents which may become policy-relevant. Language is a crucial tool for analysis, so diplomats should not solely rely on the work of language services.
Even more important is, thirdly, a fundamental attitude change: in order to strengthen the EU's identity, to improve its image and as a basis to shape a coherent and sustainable Asia strategy, the EU Asia diplomat should become aware of the role of shared historical experience. Very specific shared historical experience characterizes Europe's relations with Asia. From ancient through medieval times, there had been exchange between the western and eastern ends of the Eurasian continental mass. It was intensified during the 13th century by the so-called Pax Mongolica which brought Marco Polo to East Asia. In more recent centuries, emerging national states propelled the European expansion, colonizing Asia in order to exploit it, at the same time admiring and studying it: Since the 16th century, soldiers, traders and missionaries did not only shape Europe's image in Asia (mainly in the negative), but also contributed to European knowledge about Asia. This first wave of globalization generated scholarly research in Asian languages and cultures, laying the foundation for modern European Asian studies. While scholarly opinion up to the 18th century in general tended to be favourable toward its subject, this changed radically with the advent of modern imperialism in the 19th century. Public opinion now viewed Asia as primitive and much in need of European civilization. After World War II, the last European colonial empires in Asia were brought down, and the United States became the leading power in the West.
But even those states and regions never involved in colonizing Asia participated in building the European knowledge base on Asia: travellers, missionaries and traders came from all parts of Europe. To acknowledge this common heritage will be crucial for the necessary attitude change allowing for building a bridge to contemporary Asian societies. Asian historical consciousness still vividly remembers European intrusion as aggressive and violent, interrupting indigenous developments and destroying much of Asian culture. Many modern Asian states and societies define themselves by proclaiming a glorious past which, after a period of suppression by Europeans, finally led to liberation and independence. In other words, past European presence in Asia is an integral part of Asian self-perception today, and should be taken into consideration when designing a long-term Asia strategy. By making use of this shared historical experience of Asia and Europe, the EU may establish a firm base to form new relationships with Asia: first, accepting responsibility for this legacy; second, showing that the EU has overcome the aggressive sides of traditional European national states and intends to develop similar relations with Asia; third, defining areas of common values and interest.
2. A ground-breaking decision: introducing a diplomatic Asia stream
During IDEAS consultations, diplomats mentioned constant time pressure and budget restrictions as obstacles to acquiring in-depth knowledge on Asia. Apart from that, all Ministries of Foreign Affairs visited undergo or plan restructurings and discuss ways to solve the conflict between the growing need for specialization and the diplomatic tradition of generalist training and job-rotation. Because of limited human and financial resources, national ministries look to Brussels for possible remedy. We argue to take the chance the establishment of the EEAS offers and introduce a diplomatic Asia stream: a combination of the generalist approach with specific regional or country expertise. This decision will not only facilitate the systematic development of Asia experts with new knowledge, skills and attitudes within the EU diplomatic corps. It will also help adapting the European diplomatic tradition to a changing world.
The European and the Chinese diplomat represent two ideal types: the generalist and the specialist. The European diplomat still reflects the peak of European nationalist states competing in imperialistic endeavours and ruling most of the world. Therefore, she or he is a generalist, being able to immediately cope with every possible environment, and will be posted with only brief preparation to any place between Ouagadougou and Beijing. The Chinese diplomat, on the other hand, is a specialist being trained for a certain country or region. She or he will learn the language of the country or region and receive intensive training on its culture and society before being posted to it. After serving one term, she or he will go back to China and work there for some years before returning to the same country or region. Postings usually include more than one consulate general allowing for a growing knowledge of different parts of the country or region, before eventually, after continuous training at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, she or he might become ambassador in the country or region.
Both types have obvious advantages, but also evident shortcomings: The European diplomat basically has to learn on the job, and when she or he has finally familiarized herself or himself with a country or region, the next posting will take her or him away, while the Chinese diplomat in some cases does not even speak English, thus not being able to communicate with the members of the diplomatic corps.
The generalist approach was introduced by Europeans when they represented the power centre in the world. It should be adapted to the 21st century, where power is shifting toward the Pacific, and the EU is striving to be accepted furthermore as a global power. Besides, just like the lingua franca of European diplomacy has shifted from French to English, rising nations like China will influence global diplomacy. To be well prepared, the new diplomatic Asia stream should combine the best of the generalist and the specialist.
The Asia stream should be designed as a model for area-based streams within the EEAS, to be expanded to other world regions if evaluated positively after an appropriate time period.
3. Changes in recruitment, training and career options: IDEAS proposals
A long-term approach is needed to develop a diplomatic Asia stream. This calls for changes in recruitment, training and career options. These changes should be built on shared historical experience of the EU and Asian states. Besides effecting the proposed fundamental attitude change, training should help diplomats to acquire a sound knowledge of Asian cultures and linguistic skills.
To this end, IDEAS proposes closer links and cooperation between diplomats and the European Asian studies research community. Training ('coaching') can take the form of personal exchange between a diplomat and a researcher on a certain topic. Training can take place through lectures, workshops and other networking activities in Europe or in Asia. And obviously, training can be structured as modules or even as a complete course with a degree.
The EEAS should focus on recruiting high potential candidates with a degree in Asian Studies or a similar field who have a good knowledge of the language and culture of one or more Asian countries for its future Asia stream.
IDEAS proposes the following training scenarios:
1. The introduction of a one-year 'European Master of Asian Cultures and Diplomacy', including one trimester in Asia, is recommended to effectively prepare young Europeans for their future career as Asia stream diplomats. If effective language training is to be included, the program will require at least one more year.
2. On-the-job Asia training should be provided for diplomats before taking on a post in Asia, but also as part of their career-long qualification. Pre-posting training should be intensified to cover four to six weeks (plus language brush up) and have follow-up components in Asia. The training of Heads of Delegations should incorporate an individual coaching component.
3. As an innovative training element, the EEAS should establish a pioneering tandem programme for junior diplomats and young Asia researchers in cooperation with the European Asian studies research community. Such a programme will strengthen links between the two worlds and facilitate exchange on a long-term basis.
Regular modules on Asian cultures should also be made part of the general knowledge training within the EEAS.
Asia stream diplomats will not rotate around the globe but be continuously posted in the same country or region of Asia. Their career options must be adapted to this new system. Finally, successful training in Asian cultures should receive due attention by superiors and be made a criterion for promotion. Without incentives, diplomats might decide against pursuing a career in the Asia stream of EEAS, since the proposed training modules and units will require considerable effort.
3.3 Promoting Digital Humanities
Considering that the issue of Digital RIs is of strategic importance not only for European research in the Humanities but for all fields of research and that the knowledge gap is due to an insufficient level of institutional organization and foresight rather than a lack of financial resources in absolute terms, the participants of the IDEAS 3rd IT seminar advocate the need for a common European approach.
But access to the vast amount of material alone is not sufficient. Information management is required to structure the dissemination and technical support for the resources. Therefore, the participants of the IDEAS 3rd IT seminar propose to set up a pilot project which would examine the following issues from a pan-European perspective:
-New models of multi-national licensing of e-content
-The organization of access to e-content
-Identification of reliable structures in Europe which could act as national nodes
-New standard policies in libraries, notably with regard to multi-national Inter-Library-Loan services
The Staatsbibliothek in Berlin should become the hub for these activities but national nodes should be established in each member state (i.e. national libraries). In turn, the national nodes will be networking with all university libraries in the respective Member States.
EU wide access to the entire range of printed and digital materials produced in East Asia would be a great step towards countering tendencies towards knowledge asymmetry. Such an investment will repay itself in the intensified interest of coming generations of graduates towards East Asian countries and their possibilities and problems.
If European research on East Asia is to remain cutting-edge and does not want to depend on outside second hand sources to obtain quality information, setting up an East Asia RI is a key challenge for Horizon 2020.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The project members would like to express their warm thanks to IDEAS Board Members Prof. Dr. Hans van Ess, Mr. Davide Giglio, Prof. Wang Gungwu, Lord Bihkuh Parekh and Dr. Robert Peccoud, and to IDEAS focal points.
Many thanks also to Corinna Nienstedt, Director and Head of the Handelskammer's International Department and Professor Shun Kwong-loi, Director of the Institute of Chinese Studies, CUHK, for hosting the IDEAS international conferences.
The team also wishes to thank Prof. Dr. Jurgen Hanneder (University of Marburg), and Prof. Dr. em E. Ulrich Kratz (University of London) for chairing the South Asia and Southeast Asia panels at the 1st IDEAS conference in Hamburg, and Prof. Yves Goudineau (EFEO), Prof. Ranabir Samaddar (Mahanirban Calcutta Research Group) and Prof. Jenny So (ICS, Chinese University of Hong Kong) for chairing the panels at the 2nd IDEAS conference in Hong Kong. Many thanks also to all the conference participants for their precious feedback.
The briefing sessions for diplomats would not have been possible without the support of Ms Maria Castillo Fernandez, Head of Office of the European Union to Hong Kong and Macao and former EU Ambassador to Vietnam Sean Doyle whom we sincerely thank.
Project members would also like to thank the Quang Ngai Province authorities for their remarkable hospitality and Dr Andrew Hardy (EFEO), Professor Oscar Salemink (University of Copenhagen), Mr Alain Henry (French development Agency), Dr Nguyen Tien Dong (Vietnamese Academy of Social Sciences), Andrea Rossi (EU delegation to Vietnam), Professor David Palmer (University of Hong Kong) and Reverend Dr Chan (Executive Secretary, Hong Kong Christian Council and adjunct professor at Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, China.
In Brussels, the IDEAS team is particularly grateful to Dr. Claus Muller, director of the Hanse Office, for hosting both of the diplomats' roundtables and policy briefs, and to the speakers. IDEAS is also grateful to Ms Nina Hoffman and Mr. Diego de la Hoz del Hoyo of ESF for their collaboration in organizing IT seminar 3.
Finally, the IDEAS team wishes to extend special thanks to project officer Ms Angela Liberatore, of DG Research and Innovation, for her unfailing support and assistance throughout the duration of the project.
List of Websites:
http://www.ideasconsortium.eu