The Friedrich Naumann Foundation’s International Academy for Leadership (IAF) invites leadership personnel from government, political parties and NGOs to join an online seminar on local government and civil society. The seminar will be from 17 August – 14 September 2008.

The seminar is divided into three phases. In the first part, participants are given materials to read to deepen their knowledge. In the second part, they are encouraged to discuss via an online forum their thoughts and insights. Lastly, participants will be asked to write an essay. For more information, please click here.

The seminar does not require participants to be online at all times. They have the flexibility to work at their own pace provided they meet the deadlines assigned to each task.

Based on their contribution, IAF will invite 22 participants to Gummersbach, Germany to continue the discussions raised online from 26 October – 02 November 2008.

Please send cover letters and short CVs to application@fnst.org. The deadline for submission of applications: Friday, 25 July 2008, 4:00 p.m.

Dr. Horst Köhler, president of the Federal Republic of Germany, greets Lord Ralf Dahrendorf, former FNF chairman.

The President of the Federal Republic of Germany, the leader of the German Free Democratic Party (FDP), prominent liberal leaders and descendants of Theodor Heuss and Friedrich Naumann gathered in Bonn, Germany on 19 May 2008 to celebrate the golden jubilee of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Liberty (FNF).

Wolfgang Gerhardt, FNF chairman, led the 1,500 guests in celebrating 50 years of the Foundation’s work. He welcomed the crowd by reiterating FNF’s mission and stressed that its name change underlines the primacy of its work in individual freedom. Read more on the FNF's Golden Jubilee.

Human rights and market economy are two words normally not associated with each other, yet there is a strong connection. To discuss this, the Friedrich Naumann Foundation (FNF) conducted a half-day seminar for Ateneo Human Rights Center (AHRC) staff and interns on 14 May, 2008 in Makati City.

“This is the first time the Center looked at human rights from the perspective of economics,” said AHRC Executive Director Carlos Medina Jr. “This gave us a better perspective of things. For example it is assumed that government should provide basic services, but actually government should provide for the correct environment [for the market to supply these],” he said. Read more on market economy seminar.

Creative Commons, the Arellano School of Law and the Vibal Foundation held a forum entitled: “Open Education: Are we ready and where are we?” on 23 April 2008 in Pasay City. The aim was to explore the opportunities and benefits open education could bring to the country’s education system. It brought together actors from government, the private sector and NGOs to understand what open education means, what the global trends are and to explore ways to harness it in the country.

Open education is intimately tied to the rise of the Internet. Attorney Jaime Soriano, executive director of the E-law Center of Arellano Law School, said it is ”any scholarly, academic or guided initiative that promotes access to learning and knowledge in a free, open and collaborative environment using the tools and infrastructure of information technology.” Read more on open education.