01/07/2004
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Alexandria
Ismail Serageldin addressed a distinguished group of experts including the Minister of water Resources, sketching out a vision of high-value agriculture to make better use of the sector that consumes about 85% of water withdrawals in Egypt. The meeting was one of the activities sponsored by the committee on sustainable development of the BA.
30/06/2004
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Alexandria
In a marathon few days, Ismail Serageldin successively chaired the Board meetings of all the centers affiliated with the BA and the overall tone of the meetings was a very upbeat one. Despite the brevity of their existence the centers and museums are well on their way to implementing many ambitious plans n their respective domains, ensuring that the BA will be a lively place and a true producer of knowledge as well.
21/06/2004
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Berlin
Ismail Serageldin today addressed the International Publishers Association, on the topic of free expression, censorship and the Muslim World. His remarks sparked a lively debate in the panel and led a number of participants to comment afterwards that they had not had this kind of perspective from the Muslim world before.
18/06/2004
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The Hague
Ismail Serageldin gave an opening keynote address to a developmentally minded gathering held in the Senate chamber of the Dutch Parliament. The topic was the risk society from the perspective of the developing countries. On the big picture, Serageldin impressed the audience with the needs of the developing countries and their problems. But he also addressed methodological issues and analytical techniques.
16/06/2004
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Alexandria
Ismail Serageldin today welcomed some 50 eminent writers, journalists, artists and intellectuals from the Arab world for a workshop on the promotion of free expression. He emphasized that this was part of deepening the discussion of reform in the Arab World that the Alexandria Declaration had helped crystallize. He also posed some challenging philosophical questions for the participants to consider in their deliberations.
16/06/2004
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Alexandria
Ismail Serageldin introduced Michel Rocard, former PM of France to a packed audience in the Middle Auditorium of the BA for the second lecture in two days, the first having been delivered at the Institut d'Egypte in Cairo the night before. Mr. Rocard explained the construction of the new Europe and reflected on the likely role of Europe, the US and the Middle East.
11/06/2004
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Paris, France
In the gilded Jerome room of the premises of the French Ministry of Culture, a small group gathered to witness the Minister of Culture, Donnedieu de Vabre, give a laudatory speech about Ismail Serageldin, and bestow upon him the order of Officer of Arts and Letters. The small ceremony was attended by a few eminent persons from the French cultural scene and Egypt's ambassador to France, Hatem Seif-el-Nasr.
11/06/2004
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Paris, France
At the historic Institut de France, Prof. Emile-Etienne Beaulieu, President of the French Academy of Sciences, and Ismail Serageldin, Director of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, signed the first ever cooperation agreement between the prestigious academy and an Arab Institution. The agreement covers the collaboration of the two institutions in the international program, "la main a la pate", a hands-on approach to teaching science to children.
10/06/2004
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Paris, France
The newly established Foundation for Political Innovation welcomed Ismail Serageldin who delivered a speech about "Mirrors and Windows: Contemporary Views of the Self and the Other for the Dialogue of Cultures", which was followed by an active debate that lasted quite a while. Overall the lecture had a good impact on the audience, and many participants promised to follow up by E-mail and by other means on the many questions raised by the presentation and the debate that followed.
07/06/2004
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Toulouse, France
The Universit Paul Sabatier, Toulouse III, today held a special ceremony to honor Ismail Serageldin with a special Doctorate Honoris Causa, and to confer upon him a special medal of the university. The University of Toulouse is one of the oldest in the world, dating back from 1229 AD. The recent developments of the University saw a strong focus on sciences and a regrouping of the engineering and science node in Toulouse III, named after the eminent French Chemist Paul Sabatier, who received the Nobel Prize in 1912.
07/06/2004
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Toulouse , France
President Martin Malvy gave Ismail Serageldin a special medal of the region of the Midi-Pyrenees at a special luncheon held in his honor at the seat of the regional government in Toulouse. The short ceremony was followed by a tour of historic Toulouse and its new Mdiathque.
06/06/2004
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Alexandria
Ismail Serageldin published an important essay (in Arabic) in Al-Ahram today. Entitled "What comes after the Alexandria Declaration?" Serageldin made the case for focusing on a bottom up approach to Arab reform, and laid out a thoughtful and complete program of work for the coming year to move in that direction. The essay elicited many reactions and has already been translated into French and English, and at least one eminent intellectual reprised he title to make a strong case for the civil society approach being pursued.
23/05/2004
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Alexandria
Over 400 persons attended a Lunch discussion organized by the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt (AmCham) at the Marriott Hotel. The topic: After the Alexandria Declaration, what next? The speakers were Ismail Serageldin, Kamal Aboulmagd and Mahmoud Mohie-Eldin, all three among the drafters and signatories of the Declaration.
21/05/2004
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Alexandria
Over 100 of Egypt’s leading intellectuals met at the BA in Alexandria to help guide the BA’s programs of activities. Ismail Serageldin set out for them a series of challenges for the year ahead and they responded to these challenges with their recommendations and made suggestions to improve the overall performance of the BA in various domains.
17/05/2004
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Alexandria
Jointly The BA hosted the meeting of the Advisory Board of the Harvard Center of Urban Development Studies (CUDS), whose members met for three day in Alexandria. The event marked another first in the BA’s efforts to become a special meeting place for the elite institutions of learning in the world. The Board interacted with a number of the young managers at the BA and the meetings were deemed to have been a great success.
14/05/2004
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Washington , DC
The 300 scientists assembled at the special AAAS fellows 30 th anniversary conference in Washington DC gave Ismail Serageldin a standing ovation after he delivered an impassioned plea to harness science for the benefits of the poor and not just for the service of the rich. The organizers of the conference felt that the keynote address, rich in imagery and filled with evocative language, had been “inspiring”.
13/05/2004
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Los Angeles , CA
Serageldin visited the Getty Conservation Institute (GCI) and held discussions with Tim Whalen, GCI president and with Harold Williams CEO emeritus of the Getty. Serageldin also delivered a public lecture on the BA, past present and future that was very well received by the 500 plus attendees at the Getty’s Williams Auditorium.
11/05/2004
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Washington, DC
The Brookings institution, the famous Washington think-tank, welcomed Ismail Serageldin for a talk followed by Q&A over a two-hour Breakfast session with the leading specialists in Middle Eastern Affairs in the Washington Area. The talk addressed the timely issue of Arab Reform, and was very well received.
09/05/2004
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Bozeman Montana, USA
Ismail Serageldin delivered the keynote address at an international conference on water issues being held at this bucolic University town. Serageldin addressed the global water dimensions of the challenge, and positioned the small water systems at the heart of the required response if the Millennium Development Goals are to be met.
06/05/2004
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Sydney
In a whirlwind two days, Ismail Serageldin met the PM of NSW and current Culture Minister of Australia, and the deputy leader of the NSW parliament, as well as the Association of friends of the BA headed by Lorenzo Montessini, received an Honorary Doctorate from UTS, delivered a thoughtful and inspiring commentary to the graduates, delivered a major open lecture on the role of Libraries in creating and promoting Civil Society, met with the media, had extensive discussions with Alex Byrne the President-elect of IFLA, and met with the Egyptian community in Sydney.