Tokyo Conference 2016

"Making Disagreements Work for Governance"

March 7, 2016 13.00-18.30

University of Tokyo, Hongo Campus, School of Law Building

Consensus building, policy dialogues, and other forms of participatory processes, are becoming an integral part of governance in Asia as nations grow both socially and economically. Expertise in using these processes is growing, and yet there is still much to learn about how to make them more useful to government decision-making and governance.

On March 7, 2016, the Consensus Building in Asia group will hold our seventh workshop at the University of Tokyo. Experts from Japan, Asia, and the rest of the world, will present and discuss our knowledge and experience with consensus building processes. The discussions will cover a wide range of projects in Asia.

The Consensus Building in Asia (CBAsia) group is an informal network of practitioners and scholars who have extensive experience designing, leading, and studying consensus building processes in Asia and elsewhere. CBAsia regularly leads workshops to provide training on and share lessons about the political practicalities and complexities of consensus building processes in various parts of Asia. Government officials, private sector actors, and experts have attended our regular workshops since 2007.

We invite you to attend and share your experiences, concerns, and questions. Government officials, practitioners, and scholars will find the discussions equally informative.

Organized by: CBAsia Working Group
Hosted by: The University of Tokyo, Graduate School of Public Policy
Supported by: The Toyota Foundation


Conference Program

13.00-14.00 Keynote Panel:
Challenges, Opportunities, and Surprises for Consensus Building in Asia *

What are the current complexities, opportunities, and surprises in implementing consensus building processes for public policy and projects in Asia? Leading scholars and practitioners from Asia will share their recent progress and discuss key issues for the coming years.

Panel:

Moderator:

14.15-15.30 Parallel sessions 1

Room A: Organizational buy-in and implementation challenge *

How should we work with project sponsors (e.g., government agencies) for consensus building and participatory processes? How should we argue for more inclusive and consensual processes? How could we make sure of the implementation of the consensus agreements?

Presenters:
Moderator:

Room B: Consensus building for renewable energy

This session is for sharing our experience with consensus building processes convened to discuss renewable energy policy and projects.

Presenters:
Moderator:

15.45-17.00 Parallel sessions 2

Room A: Consensus building project showcase *

This session is for sharing our experience with consensus building and other participatory processes for policy issues .

Presenters:
Moderator:

Room B: Training pedagogy

How could we develop the next generation of practitioners for consensus building and other participatory processes in Asia? What kind of methods do we use for training junior facilitators and inexperienced public officials?

Presenters:
Moderator:

17.15-18.30 Panel discussion: Sharing lessons from parallel sessions and wrap-up

Workshop in Tokyo/Izu 2016

In addition to the conference, we had an intensive workshop/retreat meeting in Tokyo and Izu on March 6-9, 2016 for exploring the emerging issues of consensus building in Asia.

The 2015-2016 workshop series is supported by: