*Welcome event*

Roundtable discussion ‘Crossing the Planetary Boundaries: A View from the Business and Human Rights Framework and Global Environmental Justice’
This roundtable brings together participants from academia and civil society to put in context the policies that require the corporate world to decarbonize their value chains and curb biodiversity loss by reflecting on the consequences of these policies on communities living in countries highly dependent on extractive industries or agriculture. Likewise, it will discuss what the aspects of concern are from a human rights perspective, regarding measures that aim at addressing the environmental crisis but not necessarily in an equitable manner worldwide.

Some guiding questions for the roundtable are:

• To what extent does the decarbonization of value chains need to incorporate an impact assessment on the consequences for regions highly dependent on extractive industries?

• To what extent does the energy transition require a firm commitment of technology transfer, fair innovation and benefit sharing agreements with countries where e.g., critical raw materials are being extracted?

• To what extent will the due diligence on the implementation of deforestation-free products need an impact assessment on the consequences of these measures on peasant communities in exporting countries?

• To what extent is the pursuit of critical raw materials compatible with a global policy of environmental protection?

Chair and organiser: Liliana Lizarazo Rodriguez - PI ERC Curiae Virides research project- Brussels School of Governance, Vrije Universiteit Brussel  

Invited speakers: Lotte Hoex (IPIS International Peace Information Service); Stefaan Smis (Vrije Universiteit Brussel); Babs Verhoeve (Stop Ecocide- Nederland); Boris Verbrugge (Hiva, KU Leuven and Universiteit Gent); Karlijn Van den Broeck (Catapa); Sarah Katz-Levigne (IOB UAntwerpen); Wies Willems (Broederlijk Delen)

Faculty Board Room, Faculty of Law and Criminology, Volderstraat 3 (9000) Gent

06-12-2023 11:00 - 12:30

0

*Welcome event*

Panel discussion of the Interuniversity Network on Law and Development (LAW&DEV)

13h15-13h25: Welcome and introduction by Wouter Vandenhole, University of Antwerp

13h25-13h50: Presentation: ‘Governing public goods through multistakeholder partnerships: human rights accountability and beyond’ by Gamze Erdem Türkelli, University of Antwerp

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals hail multistakeholder partnerships (MSPs) as key actors in achieving sustainable development. MSPs that bring together states, businesses, philanthropy and civil society are increasingly in the frontlines of providing public goods that are human rights such as food, health, education and water. In these domains, partnerships are spearheading the continued expansion of multistakeholder governance into international law, including human rights law. This expansion has been taking place without critical appraisal with respect to its effectiveness and consequences for human rights accountability. It is important to investigate the interface of international law and multistakeholder governance in the realisation of human rights and derive insights on whether and how international law and multistakeholder governance through MSPs can generate common ground when governing public goods that are human rights. 

13h50-14h00: Reflections by Stefaan Smis, Vrije Universiteit Brussel

14h00-14h45: Q&A and discussion

Moderator: Wouter Vandenhole

Academieraadzaal, Aula Complex, Volderstraat 9 (9000) Gent

06-12-2023 13:15 - 14:45

26

RESERVE LIST

*Welcome event*

Decolonial walk by Labo VZW 
“A walk along the (de)colonial heritage of Ghent”

On this walk, you will discover and think about the forgotten stories hidden behind street names, buildings and monuments.

Organiser: HRRN in collaboration with City of Ghent

NOTE: All available spots for this session have been taken, but due to its popularity, we have decided to keep a reserve list. If you register for this session now, your name will be put on the reserve list, and we will contact you after 26/11 to let you know whether a place has come free for you.

Library De Krook, Miriam Makeba Square, Ghent

06-12-2023 13:30 - 16:30

0

*Welcome event*

Fair Trade walk - A Ghent Tale of Trade and Rights

• Guide and contact person: Alberto Vázquez Ruiz

• Start: 13u30

• Start location: AULA (at the staircase)

Organiser: City of Ghent

Meeting point: AULA (at the large staircase), Voldersstraat (between no. 7 and no. 9), 9000 Ghent

06-12-2023 13:30 - 16:30

9

*Welcome event*

'Walk through Ghent: Stories and social significance of human rights monuments’

The walk will depart from the Kouter at 2 p.m. at the giant Mystic Leaf. Then we go through the center of Ghent to the Human Rights Monument at the Geldmunt, next to the Castle of the Counts. This is where former mayor Frank Beke will share the importance to keep human rights violations current and in the spotlight. 

The walk then continues to the Miriam Makeba Square. The Miriam Makeba Square is a tribute to human rights activists. We here invite Henri Heimans to testify about human rights activism. Henri Heimans is an honorary magistrate and worked for the Ministry of Justice for 45 years in various capacities, specializing in criminal law and special attention to protect human rights. He will focus on the UDHR and the need to remain alert to possible threats. We end the walk at the Amsab Institute of Social History, approximately at 4:30 PM.

Organisers: Amnesty International Gent, Amsab Institute of Social History

Guide and contact person: Gert Verdonck

Kouter (9000) Gent, at the giant mystic leaf

06-12-2023 14:00 - 16:30

4

*Welcome event*

Panel discussion ‘Human Rights, Accountability and International Cooperation’

15h00-15h10: Welcome and introduction by Vincent Eechaudt, Research Policy Advisor Ghent University and member of the VLIR Working Group on Human Rights

15h10-15h40: Keynote speech by Caroline Gennez, Belgian Minister of Development Cooperation and Major Cities Policy

15h40-16h10: Presentation ‘The Human Rights Policy of VLIR-UOS: Background, Challenges and Solutions’

Kristien Verbrugghen, Director VLIR-UOS

16h10-16h30: Presentation ‘Human Rights Policies at Universities: The Experiences of the VLIR Working Group on Human Rights’

Vincent Eechaudt, Ghent University

16h30-17h00: Q&A and discussion

Moderator: Vincent Eechaudt

Academieraadzaal, Aula Complex, Volderstraat 9 (9000) Gent

06-12-2023 15:00 - 17:00

10

*Official*

Opening ceremony and reception

17h00-17h30          Start Registration - Entrance Hall AULA Complex, Volderstraat 9 (9000) Gent

17h30-17h50          Conference opening on behalf of the HRRN, by dr. Giselle Corradi, Coordinator HRRN, prof. dr. Ellen Desmet & prof. dr. Tine Destrooper, Co-Chairs HRRN.

17h50-18h00          Welcome by prof. dr. Mieke Van Herreweghe, Vicerector.

18h00-18h15          ‘Human Rights are the Cornerstone of our Democracy’, Keynote Speech by the Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo

18h15-19h00          ‘Taking off our blinders: we really do not all see human rights in the same way!’, Keynote Speech by prof. dr. Marie-Bénédicte Dembour, Ghent University.

19h00-20h00         Reception

AULA Complex, Volderstraat 9 (9000) Gent

06-12-2023 17:00 - 20:00

4

*Official*

Plenary session 2: Theater play ‘The Nearest Beach’ - De Centrale, Turbinezaal, Kraankindersstraat 2, Ghent

A day at a beach. A wooden bench at a bus stop. Several beach visitors return home after a hot day. While waiting for the next bus, they tell each other stories about their day at the beach. Their light and fun conversations seem to revolve around sun, sea, and love. Yet, silent, against the backdrop of the shore, another discussion looms in the room. 

This bus stop is the starting point of the performance “The Nearest Beach”, the culmination of a participatory theatre project with nine Ukrainian students. For several months in 2023, nine Ukrainian students met weekly in a rehearsal space in Belgium. Supported by a team of theatre makers, one Belgian and one Ukrainian, the students collaborated to create scenes, images and texts - aware of the past, set in the present with a glance at the future. 

In English and Ukrainian language

a performance created and performed by Dariia Blyznyuk, Karyna Bredun, Tetyana Dytyna, Anton Hebdovskyi, Svitlana Karmazyn, Anhelina Kovach, Anastasiia Kovalenko, Mariana Myrosh, Marharyta Shamshurina

direction Nele Vereecken & Roza Sarkisian research and dramaturgy Sofie de Smet direction-assistance Yulia Ostrohliad intern play & direction Lina Ghys 

19h45 – 20h00: Doors open

20h00 – 21h00: Performance ‘The Nearest Beach’

21h00 – 21h30: Interview and Q&A by Eva Brems with the directors, dramaturge and the actors

Cultural Centre ‘De Centrale’, Kraankindersstraat 2 (9000) Gent

07-12-2023 19:45 - 21:30

97

*Goodbye event*

Documentary screening: ‘De Jongens van Vila Cruzeiro' (60‘ - English subtitles) - with panel discussion

On the sense and nonsense of the 'War on Drugs' in Rio de Janeiro

Vila Cruzeiro is one of Rio de Janeiro's most notorious slums. People there live in poverty amid a drug war. After far-right president Jair Bolsonaro took office, shootings between police and traffickers are much more frequent. Violence in neighbourhoods is only increasing. Children are the biggest victims of this. Fabienne Haerinck and Roel Nollet portray the neighbourhood through the eyes of the children who live there and examine the sense and nonsense of the 'War on Drugs'.

'The boys of Vila Cruzeiro' is a haunting portrait of people who barely get a chance to tell their stories. It is impossible for most journalists to enter the neighbourhoods. In Flanders too, a war on drugs is being waged - on a smaller scale. In this film, the makers examine where such a thorough policy can lead and what we can learn from it.

After the film, we will have a discussion with a panel about the themes raised in the documentary, but applied to the European, Flemish and Ghent context.

The documentary is a production of international journalist collective 'The Redhorse Collective' and was made with the support of the Pascal Decroos Fund for Special Journalism, Equator vzw and the Belgian Development Cooperation. 

This event is a collaboration between Stad Gent, Oxfam Wereldwinkel Gent, UGent Human Rights Research Network (HRRN) en Avansa regio Gent.

Trailer: https://www.redhorse.tv/vila-cruzeiro-project-page

Sphinx Cinema, Sint-Michielshelling 3, Ghent

08-12-2023 20:00 - 22:00

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