NEWS & EVENTS

Dear Colleague,

It gives us great pleasure on behalf of the Graduate School of Public Policy and Public Administration, the Instituto Tecnologico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, (EGAP/ITESM), The Mexico Project and the Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation, John. F. Kennedy School of Government - Harvard University, to invite you to apply to participate in the dialogue on innovations in democracy taking place at the EGAP Program of ITESM in Monterrey, Mexico on August 30-31, 2007.

A group of 50 individuals drawn from government, NGOs, the private sector and academia will convene under the auspices of "The Latin American Regional Forum of The Global Network of Government Innovators". This group will share examples of innovations in Democratic Governance in the hopes of creating an Agenda for Innovations in Democratic Practices, Public Decisions and Citizenship. The recommendations and findings drawn from the Forum will be disseminated to create awareness, inform research and foster opportunities for enhancing innovation in governance in Latin America.

The Forum will focus on using innovations in governance to answer the following four questions:

1. What forms does democracy currently take in Latin America?
2. What are the new public spaces in democracy?
3. How can citizens hold political parties and public officials accountable?
4. How can Social Management most effectively create citizen involvement and strengthen democracy?

Among the Forum's confirmed guests are a number of leading government activists, reformists, and civil society leaders from Latin America. The Draft Agenda attached provides background on the panels and information on the speakers.

If you would like to attend please email your CV to:

Jesus Cantu at jce@itesm.mx or Susan Valaskovic at susan_valaskovic@harvard.edu as soon as possible but no later than July 20th, 2007.

and let us know which conference theme is of particular interest to you. Conference organizers will cover the conference fee and meals, participants are expected to provide transportation and lodging. We hope that we will see you in Monterrey for this important event.

Sincerely,

Gowher Rizvi
Director of the Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation

Bernardo Gonzalez-Archiga
Director EGAP/ITESM

Mary Hilderbrand
The Mexico Project