Summer Programme on International and European Environmental Law: Facing the Challenges?
By Dr Wybe Th. Douma, Senior researcher EU Law and International Trade Law, T.M.C. Asser Instituut
From 25 – 29 August 2014, the T.M.C. Asser Instituut in cooperation with the European Environmental Law (EEL) Network and the Hague Environmental Law Facility (HELF) organises its first Summer Programme on International and European Environmental Law.
This uniquely designed and intensive one-week programme intents to provide a thorough analysis of recent developments and selected issues of International and European Environmental Law. By focusing on global instruments as well as the manner in which the European Union implements such instruments, the programme contributes to a better understanding of the ways in which global environmental challenges can be tackled effectively in practice. Moreover, it will be critically examined whether the existing global and EU regimes are robust enough to face the environmental challenges of today and tomorrow. For instance, the climate change regimes, and the prospects for future regimes will be dealt with by experts involved in EU and international climate negotiations.
The programme will consist of interactive lectures by renowned experts from academia and practice, and study-visits to relevant institutions and organisations. It will focus on compliance and enforcement measures of International and European Environmental Law, and will be structured around horizontal topics and sector related issues. In this manner, a wide variety of topics will be covered including climate and energy law, the role of the judiciary (notably the European Court of Justice and the International Court of Justice) in protection of the environment, sustainable management of natural resources, international trade in dangerous substances, liability for environmental damage, water law, and environmental protection under the EU-USA Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).
Confirmed speakers include Prof. Jan Jans (University of Groningen), Prof. Nico Schrijver (Leiden University), Leonardo Massai (Catholic University of Lille), Jürgen Lefevere (Adviser, Climate Policy and International Negotiations at European Commission’s DG Climate) and Jens Hamer (German Federal Court of Auditors, previously working at the European Court of Justice).
The programme is directed towards practitioners (civil servants, lawyers, NGO representatives etc.) and researchers who deal with the protection of the environment.
You can register by completing the online application form at: www.asser.nl/SummerProgrammeEEL. The deadline for application is 14 July 2014. For more information please visit asser.nl or contact educationtraining@asser.nl
Holland, theme year at Keukenhof
The tulip is the distinctive icon of the Netherlands throughout the world. And as the Keukenhof’s theme for 2014 is Holland, it can do no other than give the tulip centre stage. Holland = Tulips = Keukenhof.
With its millions of tulips in thousands of varieties, the Keukenhof has been unparalleled for some 65 years. And as this year’s theme is Holland, the tulip will take even more of a starring role. A new interactive exhibition has been designed in the Juliana Pavilion on the history of the tulip, 17th Century tulip mania, today’s tulip as contemporary icon and modern tulip cultivation.
Authentic tulips from the 16th and 17th Centuries will flower in the renewed Historic Garden. The Walk of Fame will be home to recently christened tulips and tulips named after famous people, such as Vincent van Gogh, Rembrandt, Andre Kuipers, Rob Verlinden and Hans Klok. And the highlight of the theme year, the flower bulb mosaic depicting an Amsterdam canal scene with a tulip as large as a canal house. The 23 x 13-metre mosaic is planted with 60,000 tulips and muscaris. The design symbolises tulip mania during the Golden Age.
Tulips from Amsterdam is known across the world. The typical Amsterdam atmosphere created in the Orange Nassau Pavilion includes, of course, an Amsterdam flower stall designed as backdrop for the flower shows. The Holland theme also highlighted in the restaurants, which include a traditional Dutch pancake restaurant. Events at Keukenhof are all about Holland, with Dutch music on 29 and 30 March, and a traditional Dutch weekend on 5 and 6 April. For the very youngest, Miffy – or Nijntje, the Netherlands most famous rabbit – will visit Keukenhof for Easter. And at Keukenhof on 26 and 27 April you can experience the Taste of Holland.
Kings Day from Buonamassa
Without further comments, five pictures=five million best wishes during Kings Day, 2014 in the Netherlands, directly from the lenses of Diplomat Magazine’s photographer Walter Buonamassa. 
Cameroon…Uncovering a Tourists Heaven
————————————————————————————————————————–By H.E Mrs. Odette Melono, Cameroon’s Ambassador to the Netherlands
Cameroon stands out with a genuine identity. An identity reinforced with references such as “Africa in miniature”, “All Africa in one”, “the throbbing heart of Africa”, “Small Africa”, “the melting port of Africa” and “Africa in Microcosm”. All these references for one country already tell you a lot of what Cameroon really is. She concentrates all the beauties of Africa as one of the most culturally diverse countries on the African continent which valuates ‘the essentials of Africa’. This explains why people consider that nobody could truly discover Africa without having visited Cameroon, because it provides tourists with a unique spectacle giving them the impression that they are visiting several countries at the same time. It is a nation that expresses dynamism, diversity, modernity and traditions, stability, and calm all at once.
Although Cameroon is universally known for its football legends like Roger Milla and Samuel Eto’o, many are yet to discover Cameroon as a Tourist and cultural heaven. Cameroon is characterized by several (sultry mosaic of) volcanoes, white sand beaches, black volcanic sand beaches, Waza National Park, Dja Fauna Reserve, Korup National Park, the once-powerful Mandara Kingdom from 1500s or the Diy-Gid-Biy with 300 years old stone monuments; the 3000 years old man made Rupestral Engravings of Bidzar, the Archeological Remains of Shum Laka; the Bafut Chiefdom etc. There are rainforests with exceptional variety of flora and fauna, magnificent landscapes, the legendary 4100m high Mount Cameroon likened by Hano the Carthaginian navigator to the biblical “Chariot of the Gods”. There is the relation between tribal societies and modern cities, the cohabitation of traditional and democratic leadership, two official languages and more than 250 tribes and dialects. Why invest in Cameroon Peace is one of Cameroon’s priceless advantages. With a friendly and hospitable population, abundant natural resources, high literacy rate, investors easily find a ready-made labor force. Cameroon has 65% fertile agricultural land making it one of the best-endowed primary commodity economies in sub-Saharan Africa. Cameroon maintains her long-stated goal to be an emerging market economy by 2035. Investors have opportunities in Agriculture and forestry, Energy, Mining, infrastructure, Transport, Telecommunications sectors etc, and benefit from a new investment code since 2013 given new tax incentives and exemptions on VAT and duties. Cameroon’s 50th Anniversary of Reunification The recent celebration of Cameroon’s 50th anniversary of Reunification this year consolidated Cameroon’s unity. On 1 October 1961, French and British administered Cameroons officially reunited after 45 years of separate administration. 1 October 1961 has tremendous significance as one of the most important dates in Cameroon’s history. This date beckons on all Cameroonians to accept, recognize and protect the various diversities in the country because it is a pacifying sign of inclusion and recognition…a sign that should be replicated in every facet of our daily interactions.From the people of Rwanda
By Jean Pierre KARABARANGA, Ambassador of Rwanda.
My country, Rwanda, known as well as “the Switzerland of Africa” by some or “Country of thousands hills” by others, contrary to the Netherlands, which is a flat country and below the sea level, is a hilly country and landlocked. Both countries have also similarities, such as being both of them small, overpopulated (12 million in Rwanda), hardworking people, farmers and entrepreneurs.
On April 7, 1994, started the Genocide against Tutsi; Rwanda went through the worst tragedy of the modern human history. While the world did nothing, over one million Tutsi were massacred in the most barbaric ways. In the City of The Hague, on April 7, 2014 we commemorated the genocide against Tutsi with Dutch Minister of State in charge of Trade and Development Cooperation Lilianne Ploumen as a key note speaker and guest of honor. The same day in Kigali, Honorable Minister Frans Timmermans joined the world to commemorate with Rwandans in Kigali. It was a sign of solidarity and compassion from The Government and the people of The Netherlands to the people of Rwanda, especially the survivors of that genocide.
After 1994, all predicted that Rwanda as a country will no longer be there in future. In his speech at Kwibuka (remember word in Kinyarwanda), His Excellency President Paul Kagame said: “Rwanda was supposed to be a failed state. Watching the news today, it is not hard to imagine how we could have ended up. We could have become a permanent U.N. protectorate, with little hope of ever recovering our nationhood. We could have allowed the country to be physically divided, with groups deemed incompatible assigned to different corners. We could have been engulfed in a never-ending civil war with endless streams of refugees and our children sick and uneducated. But we did not end up like that. What prevented these alternative scenarios were the choices of the people of Rwanda. After 1994, everything was a priority and our people were completely broken. But we made three fundamental choices that guide us to this day:
One – we chose to stay together.
When the refugees came back home – we were choosing to be together.
When we released genocide suspects in anticipation of Gacaca – we were choosing to be together.
When we passed an inclusive constitution that transcends politics based on division and entrenched the rights of women as full partners in nation-building, for the first time – we were choosing to be together.
When we extended comprehensive new education and health benefits to all our citizens – we were choosing to be together.
Two — we chose to be accountable to ourselves.
When we decentralize power and decision-making into the towns and hills across the country -we are being accountable.
When we work with development partners to ensure that their support benefits all our citizens – we are being accountable.
When we award scholarships and appoint public servants based on merit, without discrimination – we are being accountable.
When we sanction an official, no matter how high-ranking, who abuses their power or engages in corruption – we are being accountable. As a result, our citizens expect more from government, and they deserve it.
Three — we chose to think big.
When Rwandans liberated our country – we were thinking big.
When we created Rwanda’s Vision 2020 and committed to meeting our development goals -we were thinking big.
When we decided to make Rwanda attractive for business – we were thinking big.
When we invested in a broadband network that reaches all our 30 districts -we were thinking big.
When we became a regular contributor to United Nations and African Union peacekeeping missions — we were thinking big.”
The Rwandan economy has been growing at a consistently high rate of 8% for the last decade, despite global economic difficulties. Rwanda is one of the countries on track to achieve almost all the United Nations Millennium Development Goals by the 2015 deadlines. Women have come at the forefront of nation-building with a women representation in parliament of 64%, the largest in the world for the last 10 years. Rwandans believes in sustainable trade and business cooperation, which is in line with the “New Agenda for Aid, Trade and Investment” policy by the Dutch Government. Rwanda wants to become “a middle income country” by 2020. To achieve this goal we have given ourselves a target to achieve 11, 5% growth annually, and all predict that we shall succeed in this endeavors.
Dutch American Friendship Day
By John Dunkelgrün
There is something special about the relationship between The Netherlands and The United States of America. Not only were The Netherlands – or rather was the Dutch Republic – the second nation to recognize the United States of America (France was first, but even before France there was independent recognition by the City of Amsterdam and the Province of Friesland), but at least three Presidents can trace their ancestry to this country as do many other politicians, scientists and artists. The first Embassy building the young republic owned was a building in The Hague, the Hôtel des Etats Unis, on the Fluwelen Burgwal. Also, the famed Pilgrim Fathers lived in Leiden for eleven years before leaving for America from the port of Delfshaven near Rotterdam.
There have been 232 years of uninterrupted diplomatic relations between the two countries. In 1982, at the bicentennial of Dutch-American relations, this was recognized in a resolution by both the Senate and Congress who designated the 19th of April as Dutch American Friendship Day. This was an initiative of O.A.R. (Overseas Americans Remember) with the indefatigable Roberta Enschede, who also started the Presidents Breakfasts in the Kurhaus on election nights, and the Martin Luther King commemorations. To celebrate this special day Ambassador Broas hosted a lively reception for the Dutch American Friendship Society at his residence. There Roberta Enschede and Jessie Rodell read excerpts from letters by John Adams, the first American ambassador to the Dutch Republic. Then, speaking in front of a painting of John Adams, Ambassador Broas commemorated the many things that bind the two countries and the love for the Dutch that was so clear in the letters, both private and official, that Adams sent home. The reception was attended by several surviving veterans of the Prinses Irene Brigade, the corps of Free Dutch who fought with the Allies in WWII, by mayor Jozias Van Aartsen and USA expert Willem Post.
Nina Kalliopohja’s Column
By Nina Kalliopohja.
Beauté Totale’s Nina Kalliopohja is now a regular columnist in Diplomat Magazine, treating you to all the tricks of the trade in the look good, feel good department.
Originally from Finland, I put down my roots in The Netherlands some 22 years ago, gaining first-hand experience with the overall challenges that language and culture differences can present to expats. Over time, I have come to love the lowlands and even got married to one of its citizens! During my years of travelling Holland, working as a beauty and dietary consultant and trainer in various locations, I fell in love with The Hague and when in 2009 the opportunity arose, settled down in a unique building at the Willem Witsenplein in Benoordenhout. Here I started the currently renowned clinic Beauté Totale, offering a complete package of treatments for both the inside and the outside of your body, my motto being “looking good starts from within”.
Unhealthy eating habits invariably lead to problems such as weight gain, feeling unfit, and puffy, pale or ill-looking skin, often resulting in low self-esteem. In my capacity as a dietician and a beauty specialist, I love to provide intensive guidance to clients who are looking to slim down or kick-start a new health regime.
For external beauty, Beauté Totale works with top notch products like Image Skin Care (free of chemical preservatives such as parabens), while injectables, lasers and IPL take beauty and skin treatment to a higher level without having to resort to invasive surgical procedures.
Combining these vital elements with highly qualified expert staff and an international atmosphere of luxury and personal attention, Beauté Totale offers her clientele a first class experience, unique in its kind and unrivalled in the wider area of The Hague.
In this edition of Diplomat Magazine, my first advice is on how to get your skin in shape for the approaching summer season.
Just before summer arrives there still is time to deal with pigment spots and rosacea, and early spring is the best time to do so since our pale winter skins allow for the best effect of laser therapy (while in the summer a high UV index tends to slow down recovery of the skin after such treatments). Furthermore, a rejuvenating professional peeling will spring clean your skin and replace the dead top dermal layer with new and fresh looking skin; the perfect base to start working on that healthy, beautiful and tanned look for the summer!
Me and my expert staff at Beauté Totale extend a warm welcome to The Hague’s international community and invite you to come and experience the positive and uplifting effects of one of our special treatments. We look forward to meeting you!
The International Chamber Music Festival in Wassenaar
By John Dunkelgrün.
Music lovers who come to The Netherlands delight in the performances of the well known orchestras, not a few of true world class. Less known are the many smaller ensembles and organizations all over the country that specialize in a particular aspect of music. One such is the International Chamber Music Festival in Wassenaar. Started four years ago its aim is to provide really great chamber music for people in Wassenaar and surroundings. They started a music festival that is getting more and more attention as well as critical acclaim. The festival this year, in the “Dorpskerk” (village church), in the beach pavilion “Sport” and in “De Paauw”, the stately old town hall, will take place on May 23, 24 and 25. Not only is the quality of the music of the highest standard, the small town atmosphere makes the performances uncommonly “gezellig”.
For information and tickets, please go to www.icmf.nl
Memorial Concert, Ciconia String Orchestra
Memorial concert ‘You have not experienced the war’
The Hague – The Hague string orchestra Ciconia Consort will bring stillness and reflection on Sunday May 4th in the Nieuwe Kerk with music that has been inspired by the horrors of war.
Conducted by Dick van Gasteren, the orchestra will play works from Bartók and Haas and concertmaster Emmy Storms will play the solo part in the Concerto Funèbre by Hartmann.
Being a convinced communist, the German composer Hartmann hardly survived nazi terror. Bartóks divertimento is to be understood within the oppressive atmosphere in Europe in 1939. Shortly after having composed this work, Bartók flees Hungary and emigrates to New York.
The cooperation of Mrs Henny Dormits will attach more significance to this concert. She will relate about her personal experiences in the Second World War. She lived at The Hague and was deported to Camp Westerbork and then to Theresienstadt. In this concentration camp the piece by Haas was composed. Later, Haas was deported and murdered at Auschwitz. The origin of this piece will be brought very close to the audience by the guest speaker.
Meet and greet
Traditionally, bar-restaurant Pavlov, adjacent to the Nieuwe Kerk, will decor for the meeting of audience and Ciconia Consort. This will also be the opportunity to have a chat with Mrs Henny Dormits and conductor Dick van Gasteren.
Children’s programme
Children up to 12 years old may follow a special educational programme under the guidance of a professional music teacher for the little ones. The children will attend part of the concert.
When: Sunday May 4th, 2014, start at 2.30 p.m.
Where: The Nieuwe Kerk, Den Haag.
Fees: children 4-12 years old € 2,50, “ooievaarspas” (reduction card)/youngsters/students € 10,-, other € 16,50/€ 19,-/€ 21,50/€ 25,-/€ 28,50.
For more information, registration of children’s participation in the children’s programme, and tickets: www.ciconiaconsort.nl and sale of tickets at the entrance of the hall.