Myanmar Winter School Participants in Bolzano/Bozen, Italy
Participant Diary 3: The second week of Winter School on Federalism and Governance

Ying Lao and Aung Soe Min with other participants from the Winter School at the EURAC Research Institute in Bolzano/Bozen.

HSF

On Monday, 12 February, the second week of the Winter School on Federalism and Governance started at EURAC Research in Bolzano/Bozen in Italy. The programme started with a presentation by Dr.Elisabeth Alber, who also conducted some trainings in Myanmar previously. She presented about “Asymmetric Regionalism in Italy,” mostly focusing on South Tyrol. The lecture was very useful to the participants, who also visited the South Tyrolean Parliament on that afternoon.

In the afternoon, before the city tour, we were welcomed by the President (the Speaker) of the South Tyrolean Provincial Parliament. Some of the leaders of different political parties representing the parliament shared their vision, mission, and how they are functioning. We had a chance to learn how they work together even though their goals are sometimes not the same. The significant feature we have noticed in the parliament is that, the name of the region/province was mentioned in three different languages, which are not the same. Each name for each community is recognized and mentioned at the entrance of the building.

Aung Soe Min (rightmost) in a workshop on Local Governments at the Winter School.

HSF

On the second day, we learned about “Federalism in the Making in Africa.” The Professor De Visser presented some case studies on African countries on their federalization process. That afternoon was scheduled to organize four different thematic workshops. Ying Lao joined the workshop on Fiscal Federalism and Financial Relations, while Aung Soe Min joined the topics on Local Government. We learnt a lot in the workshops, and got a chance to exchange ideas among the participants.

Ying Lao, Aung Soe Min