The MUGI project

The Egyptian and Danish boards have been focusing their energy on other aspects of the MUGI projects together with their exams the last period, why we haven’t been laying low at the blog.

We will however return as strongly as ever in the coming time. The Egyptian board has just visited wonderful (and snowy) Copenhagen, while the Danish board is preparing for a visit to always beautiful (and sunny) Cairo.

Moreover, the next debate on nuclear programmes is rescheduled for next week, why we are going to be very busy for the next weeks. Yeah, it’s going to be a good time.

Join us at Facebook, drop in and give us your opinion at the debate, or follow the blog and read your way through the posts – the possibilities for interactive are indeed plentiful.

Best of wishes,
MUGI

Debate on “consumerism”

… at 17:00-19:00, on the 15th of December 2009 at the University Main Building, Vor Frue Plads.

Topic

Consumerism is a growing trend that has existed for a long time but increased in its intensity in the past few years. It is not an ideology or a belief but it became a way of life in which people place a higher value on materialistic possessions and tend to consume more than they need, the transformation from satisfying human needs towards being the goal humans live for. This new way of life does not only affect the individuals but it has shaped the world socially, economically and politically.

Participants

• Egyptian Panellist: Dr. Heba Raouf
• Danish Panellist: Soon to be disclosed
• YOU!

We sincerely hope that you will participate actively in this international debate on consumerism, which will primarily be held as a videoconference discussion between participants in both Cairo and Copenhagen.

Special feature

Mediterranean culinary treat at the Danish site.

Live broadcast from the Cairo University.

Time and place

The debate will be held at the University Main Building, Vor Frue Plads, 1166 Copenhagen K from 17.00-19.00. Get an update on the participants, news and events on Facebook: “Mutual Understanding of Global Issues”

The debate

The debate is carried out in cooperation between the Danish student organisation International Debate, the Danish-Egyptian Dialogue Institute and the Center for European Studies at Cairo University.

Regards,
MUGI

… that the next debate will be!

The topic is “consumerism” in a broader context, why we of course will discourse the issues of justice in a international perspective, the problems that consumerism created, enhanced or facilitated during the world financial crisis in late 2008 and the global environmental consequences of consumerism.

So, please, come and join us at either Cairo University in Egypt or University of Copenhagen in Denmark. The date is Tuesday at 4 PM Egyptian time and 5 PM Danish time. The debate will be broadcasted and therefore be held live from both Cairo and Copenhagen in an all-new effort to create greater understanding between Danish and Egyptian students.

Furthermore, there is going to be served a light buffet at the Danish site, inspired of the Egyptian cuisine in order to create a more comfortable atmosphere.

Be there!

/MUGI

Dear readers, students and citizens of all nationalities,

The last details of the second and next debate are finally getting into place, which is great in these times with both a apparently important meeting (on the future of the Earth) in Copenhagen and with the exams coming up on both sides of the Mediterranean Ocean.

We are therefore very happy to announce that the next debate will be over the topic “Consumerism”. This is merely the umbrella of a debate which hopefully will evolve into broader perspectives on the issues North vs. South, consumption vs. environment, healthy financial systems vs. credit card (mis)use, etc.

Join us at either Cairo, Egypt at 6 PM (local Egyptian time) or Copenhagen, Vor Frue Square, Main Building at 5 PM (local Danish time).

More to come, so sit tight and stay tuned!

Lots of christmas wishes,
MUGI team

The topic for the next debate has now been announced by the Egyptian part of the MUGI collaboration:

Consumerism

A world shaped by open markets and free trade where Christmas shopping is a must, Valentine’s Day gifts are essential, and Mother’s Day presents are a burden; a world unable to defeat poverty and hunger yet is full luxurious private jets, cars, and yachts; a world where people would borrow to be able to afford commodities which are easily dispensable has been diagnosed with a rapidly increasing rate of consumerism.

Consumerism is a growing trend that has existed for a long time but increased in its intensity in the past few years. It is not an ideology or a belief but it became a way of life in which people place a higher value on materialistic possessions and tend to consume more than they need, the transformation from satisfying human needs towards being the goal humans live for. This new way of life does not only affect the individuals but it has shaped the world socially, economically and politically, and has caused us to be stuck in a vicious circle of running after products that we may not need. This has helped create a powerful force which is the MNCs that in turn affect to a large a extent the decision-making process of countries, and thus diminish the authority of governments all over the world. This trend of consuming has impacts that could prove to be cataclysmic for the world.

How has such a universal trend affected us and increased the Gap between the developing and developed countries? Is there a need for countries to fight consumerism and how can this happen without infringement of the individual liberties?

Join us at December 15, 2009 in either Egypt or Denmark if you want to see how the debate will unfold and what results we will secure.

Regards,
MUGI

The last weeks have certainly been the calm before the storm, but now it’s time to roll again.

After the first debate which was very fun, but quite hectic to arrange everyone decided to get back to the books and try to keep up with our classmates on our study.

But, now, the next debate is on the pipeline and we are already able to disclose the debate of the event – the next and the second debate is going to be at December 15, 2009 from 5 pm to 7 pm Danish time (6 pm to 8 pm Egyptian time).

Stay tuned for more information on the subject of the debate!

Sincerely,
The MUGI crew

Dear all,

The dust has finally settled down after the first debate which was, if you weren’t able to participate, a huge success.

Some pictures from the debate is to be found below:

Thomas Buch-Andersen: "Copenhagen calling"

Jesper Brieghel explaining his view on the scope of New Media

The Danish Public Diplomacy ambassador, Klavs A. Holm, makes his statement on the scope of New Media

The director of DEDI, Dr. Rasmus Boserup, is giving his take on the global trends in New Media

The live feed from Cairo University, travelling thousand of miles and reaching us in Copenhagen

Thomas Buch-Andersen interviews the famous Iranian blogger Arash Kamangir

Regards,
MUGI

“We are one whether we are in Cairo or in Copenhagen”

The MUGI boards in Egypt and in Denmark are very happy to state that the debate today on November 10, 2009 was a great success.

We had a very exiting panel including among others the Danish ambassador of Public Diplomacy, Klavs A. Holm, from the Danish Foreign Ministry who explained how the Danish state uses new media tools before COP15. Dr. Rasmus Boserup from DEDI explained how it is especially the everyday topics which are discussed in these new media forums. The whole seminar was hosted by Danish journalist, Thomas Buch-Andersen who used his extensive knowledge of and experience with new media and the global issues to moderate the debate about the new media’s influence on global politics.

The audience in Cairo and in Copenhagen also heard from communication consultant Jesper Brieghel who talked about how the new media platforms and social tools had an influence on President Obama’s win in the Presidential Election in ’08. After the interesting presentations from the Danish panellists, the word was given to the Egyptian film maker, Mr. Ibrahim El-batouti. Broadcasted through online video directly from Cairo, the Egyptian film maker explained the conditions of his work. This interactive experience was a completely ground-breaking initiative from the MUGI group.

The overall experience was therefore a major success when taken into account the unprecedented use of video conference equipment where participants, panellists, and audience on two different continents were able to gain a mutual understanding of an important, global issue.

The MUGI group will thank everybody for their participation and we hope to see you again to the second and next debate in December with a new and highly relevant topic.

Dear reader,

Well, everything is progressing nicely on our MUGI project. We have made arrangements with the IT department of the University, with the providers of the video conference equipment, with the panelists and approximately hundred others of the like. We are therefore very confident that the project is going to be a blast, no less!

However, in all this happiness and fortune in the Danish MUGI group, it is striking how many electronic tools and equipment we can make use of and which we indeed are.  In the last couple of days we have been very loyal toward the idea of “new media” in the context of “Global Issues”, as we without any notice or remark from our site frequently have been using Skype, Google, Wikipedia, email services, texting, Facebook, blogging and many other tools. This is done even without noticing whether we were talking to the Danish group just on the other sides of the Copenhagen lakes or on the other side of another “lake” – namely, the Mediterranean Ocean.

It is therefore no wonder that is relatively easy and just-like-an-average-working-day when trying to arrange a major seminar or debate with Egyptian students, as we have been more and more in contact with them regard of their geographic location or cultural difference. Skype is indeed our friend in this regard!

We are looking forward to see you on Tuesday. Remember to bring a friend or perhaps two.

Sincerely,
MUGI

New Media and Global Politics

New media platforms such as blogs, Twitter and YouTube have during the last decade gained ground around the world. Distances have decreased and the news cycle has accelerated. As these media tools proliferate, it becomes obvious that they can have purposes far beyond those of entertainment.

In fact, some might claim that they can have a crucial impact on global politics. The examples are obvious all over the world from the Iranian demonstrations planned via Twitter to the Moldovan elections where dissatisfied voters also used mobile phones and text messages to coordinate their actions.

***INFORMATION ABOUT THE DEBATE***

The debate takes place the 10th of November 5 pm at Alexandersalen. It is carried out in cooperation between the Danish student organisation International Debate, the Danish-Egyptian Dialogue Institute and the Center for European Studies at Cairo University. Discussing this particular issue, it is obvious that new media tools have to be involved in a more practical manner which is why the debate will be transmitted directly to Cairo through online video conference equipment.

***THE PANEL***

JESPER BRIEGHEL, blogger and communication consultant

KLAVS A. HOLM, Danish Public Diplomacy ambassador

RASMUS BOSERUP, Director of the Danish-Egyptian Dialogue Institute and Ph.D in Middle Eastern studies from the Carsten Niebuhr Institute.

THOMAS BUCH-ANDERSEN (moderator), journalist from the radio programme ‘P1 – Orientering’

***SPECIAL GUEST***

After the debate, Iranian blogger and activist, ARASH KAMANGIR, will tell about his blog and his experiences in connection with the Iranian elections. (http://kamangir.net/)