OCCASIONAL NEWSLETTER: July 2011
AIPA future activities
AIPA President Jan Pakulski initiated a collaboration with the Polish Embassy and academics at the ANU, UNSW and Monash to organize a Symposium on the topic of Migration and Multiculturalism. This will be combined with the launch of a biography of Prof. Jerzy Zubrzycki. Details will be publicized on AIPA’s website as soon as they are available.
AIPA 20th Anniversary
While 2011 marks the 20th anniversary of AIPA founding, formal celebrations are planned for next year and will coincide with the visit of a special Polish guest. Details will be announced in due course. Watch AIPA’s website!
Forthcoming AGM proposed for 22 Oct 2011 in Melbourne (to be confirmed)
This year marks new elections to the Executive Committee.
28 June 2011 (Melbourne) A meeting of AIPA’s Executive Committee was held
Julian Dunwill was coopted onto the Executive Committee.
Two new members were accepted. AIPA warmly welcomes Mr. Tomasz Białkowski from Canberra and Dr Alex Naraniecki from Melbourne.
18.06.2011 (Melbourne): Czesław Miłosz: A Celebration in Words & Music
This was an exquisite event, easily the best AIPA event this year and arguably the most ambitious and rewarding public event organized by the Polish community in Melbourne this year. Special thanks to Irena Zdanowicz and Staś Hempel who organised it, and to all AIPA members who helped with catering. Around 100 people attended it, among them many of of non-Polish background. A short report has been published on the AIPA, Melbourne.Pl and Puls Polonia websites. AIPA is grateful to both the Embassy in Canberra and the Consulate in Sydney for their generous support. This event will be repeated in Canberra (Polish Embassy 29.07.2011 at 6:30pm) and Sydney (Polish Consulate 30.07.2011 at 6pm).
28.05.2011 (Melbourne): Book launch for Gwidon Borucki biography with Bogumiła Żongołłowicz
Approximately 70 people attended the launch of Bogumila Żongołłowicz’s book “Jego były czerwone maki” (His were the red poppies). This is a biography of our late friend, Gwidon Borucki. The meeting was led by Maciej Staniewicz as MC and ably supported by the talented young pianist Konrad Olszewski. Gwidon Borucki was well known in the Melbourne Polish community and was a much-valued AIPA member.
14.04.2011 (Melbourne): AIPA meeting with Paweł Świeboda
Paweł Świeboda is President of demosEUROPA – Centre for European Strategy. A graduate of the London School of Economics and the University of London, he served as the EU Advisor to the President of Poland in the years 1996-2000. He then headed the Office for European Integration in the Chancellery of the President. In the years 2001-2006 he served as Director of the Department of the European Union in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs where he was responsible for EU accession negotiations and subsequently institutional reform in the EU and negotiations on the Financial Perspective. He has been a Member of the General Assembly of the Lisbon Council (Brussels), the Advisory Board of the European Policy Centre (Brussels), the European Steering Committee of Notre Europe (Paris) and the Advisory Board of the Baltic Development Forum (Copenhagen). Paweł Świeboda serves on the Aviva / Economist Intelligence Unit Future Prosperity Panel. He is a member of the Advisory Group, which assists the Polish government in its preparations for the EU presidency in 2011. In December 2010 he was appointed by the President of Poland to chair one of the four task forces in the Strategic Review of National Security. He writes a column on foreign policy in “Gazeta Wyborcza”. Mr Świeboda was invited to Australia by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).
AIPA (Melbourne) organized a dinner for Pawel Świeboda and his wife. Altogether 23 people attended the occasion. Dr Świeboda spoke about “Poland in the EU: Seven Years after Accession” and afterwards he responded to many questions. We received very positive feedback after the event.
The Annual General Meeting for 2010 was held on Saturday 11th September 2010 at “Armagh”, 226 Kooyong Road, Toorak, at which a new Constitution was adopted.
