The Asia-Europe Public Diplomacy Training Initiative, a collaborative effort between ASEF, the DiploFoundation (Switzerland) and the National Centre for Research on Europe (NCRE, New Zealand), and supported by the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland, aims to equip early or junior-level diplomats with the necessary public diplomacy toolkit in order to skillfully engage in the shaping of foreign public perception of their countries, and to make their domestic policies be understood abroad. Since 2013, the training has already welcomed more than 200 young diplomats and government officials from 53 ASEM Partners, including the ASEAN Secretariat and the European Union.
The Initiative is unique as there are two key components – an online training course, followed by a face-to-face meeting. In its 5th edition, participants learned about the different approaches and strategies of public diplomacy through the 5th Public Diplomacy Online Course from 3 July to 8 September 2017. Thereafter, 23 Asian and European diplomats joined the 5th Face-to-Face Public Diplomacy Training on 9-13 October 2017 in Jakarta, Indonesia, hosted by the Directorate General of American and European Affairs and the Centre for Education and Training of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia. The complementary second segment further built on the participant’s acquired know-how on how to operationalize, execute and implement effective public diplomacy campaigns within the Asia-Europe context.
Eager to learn more about public diplomacy in Asia and Europe?
The ASEF publication ASEF Public Diplomacy Handbook: How to Win Hearts and Minds (2016) is a practical guidebook detailing the theoretical background and useful tools needed to design an effective public diplomacy campaign in the framework of Asia-Europe relations.
Download a copy of the Handbook, here.
