CCGES co-presented a public roundtable on the theme “Future Models of Urban Mobility” at the German Consulate General Toronto (2 on Friday, March 23rd as part of the international workshop “Models of Mobility: Systemic Differences, Path Dependencies, Economic, Social and Environmental Impact”.

The roundtable was moderated by Gerda Wekerle (Professor and Planning Program Coordinator, Faculty of Environmental Studies, York University) and panelists examined a number of key issues facing cities of the future including:

• How do we design smarter urban transport that is
accessible and sustainable?
• How can we enhance mobility while reducing congestion and
pollution?
• How can the city of Toronto learn from best practices in other
comparable regions?

Panelists will include:

• Adrian Corry (BMW Group Designworks USA)
• Ken Greenberg (Architect and Urban Designer)
• Leslie Woo (Metrolinx)
• John Lorinc (Urban Affairs Journalist and Author).

This event was made possible through the support of the German Historical Institute (Washington D.C.), BMW Group Canada, German Consulate General Toronto, the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies at York,  the CITY Institute at York University, and the Schulich School of Business.

During the 2011-12 academic year, CCGES faculty affiliates Ulrich Best (Geography) and Dagmar Soennecken (Public Policy and Administration) have overseen the 17th Annual Glendon International Studies Symposium at York University’s Glendon College. This project brings together a group of Glendon students for a directed-reading course, symposium and study tour which focus on one specific country and region, in this case, Germany.

On Saturday, March 31st, 2012, the students will be hosting a one-day conference which they have organized around the theme of Prospects and Challenges for Contemporary Germany. (CONTINUE READING)

On Monday, April 2, 2012, Prof. Birgit Mahnkopf of the Berlin School of Economics and Law will be at the Political Science Department on York’s Keele campus to deliver a lecture entitled “Geopolitics, Energy Imperialism and the Race for a ‘Green Economy'”. This lecture will take place in Ross South 674 (building # 28 on the map found here) and begins at 2:30 pm.

Birgit Mahnkopf is Professor of European Social Policy at the Berlin School of Economics and Law. She is one of Europe’s leading scholars on globalization and the political economy of work, social policy and ecology. Her major publications include: The Limits of Globalization (with Elmar Altvater, now in its 7th edition); Globalization of Insecurity: Working in the shade, black money and informal policy (2003); The Management of Globalization: Management, Structures, Perspectives (2003) as well as many articles and chapters in books on the EU social model being turned into the anti-egalitarianism of an aggressive commercial power. This presentation draws on her most recent research on EU energy strategies in the global economy.

All are welcome.

The European Union Centre of Excellence at housed at CCGES is pleased to present this year’s final lecture in the series “Whose (De)Fault is it Anyway? – The EU Crisis in Historical and Comparative Perspective”.  The lecture will be given by Prof. George Ross (ad personam Chaire Jean Monnet and Visitng Professor of Political Science at the Université de Montréal) on Wednesday, March 21, 2012 from 1:00-2:30 pm in room 305 York Lanes(building #24 on the map found here). The lecture will be titled “The Eurozone Crisis: To what degree are E.U. institutions and power relations to blame?”

Abstract: The Eurozone mess is obviously an important stage in today’s global capitalist financial crisis. This is far from being the full story, however, The institutions and power relations of the European Union have also been major culprits, transforming what might have been controllable problems into major threats to all of us. Discussing this story within the story and reflecting on what it means for the future of the EU are the main aims of this talk.

All are welcome and light refreshments will be served.

George Ross is Morris Hillquit Professor Emeritus at Brandeis University (USA), faculty associate at the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University and presently ad personam Chaire Jean Monnet and Visitng Professor of Political Science at the University of Montreal. He has been Chair of the European Union Studies Association (2003-2005) and chair of the Council for European Studies (1990-1997). He is an editor of French Politics Culture and Society, Sociologie du Travail, Contemporary European Politics, and the Journal of European Integration. His honors and awards include the title of officier of the French Ordre des Palmes Academiques,and a Chaire Franqui from the Fondation Franqui of Belgium. His most recent books include The European Union and its Crises Through the Eyes of the Brussels Elite (Palgrave Macmillan 2011), What is Left of the Left?, edited with James Cronin and James Shoch (Duke University Press, 2011), Euros and Europeans: EMU and the European Model of Society, with Andrew Martin et al (Oxford University Press, 2005); Brave New World of European Labor with Andrew Martin, et al (New York: Berghahn, 1999); Jacques Delors and European Integration (Cambridge, England and New York: Polity/Oxford University Press, 1995); European Politics in Transition, with Mark Kesselman, Joel Krieger et al (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2007)

This lecture series is a presentation of EUCE York and the Critical Research Laboratory in Law & Society at Osgoode Hall Law School and is intended to explore the intimidating dimensions of the European financial crisis from a variety of disciplinary perspectives including financial and economic history, political theory and European integration.

Date: Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Time: 1-2:30 pm
Location: 305 York  Lanes

Together with partners at the German Historical Institute (GHI), Washington DC and the Schulich School of Business, York University, Toronto, the Canadian Centre for German and European Studies is pleased to a jointly organized workshop entitled “Models of Mobility: Systemic Differences, Path Dependencies, Economic, Social and Environmental Impact (1900 to tomorrow)”  at York University on March 23-24, 2011.

The workshop conveners are Matthias Kipping (Schulich), Christina Kraenzle (CCGES), and Christina Lubinski (GHI).
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