12 November 2021
The National Library is Holding the International Research Conference ‘Political Leadership in a Parliamentary Democracy’
The Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania is a parliamentary library: it has been performing this function since 1991 in accordance with the Regulation of the Presidium of the Supreme Council and the Law on Libraries. On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the parliamentary library, the National Library is holding the international research conference ‘Political Leadership in a Parliamentary Democracy’ on 23–24 November 2021.
The conference focuses on the communication and philosophy of political leadership against the background of democratic parliamentarism, the development of information policy, information services for legislators, and the role and experiences of national libraries during social crises.
In the words of the National Library’s Director-General Prof. Dr. Renaldas Gudauskas, today’s political realities require in-depth and complex analysis and ideas, and the National Library, by drawing on its function as a parliamentary library, can offer a platform as well as its competences and analytical potential. To quote Prof. Gudauskas, ‘The National Library consistently cooperates with the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania and public authorities and supplies them with qualitative analytical information. In other words, the National Library, which holds exhaustive and trustful information sources, has become an important partner of public bodies in drafting laws and regulations. The Library’s annual conference consolidates the community of politicians, researchers, and culture professionals as well as promotes the role of public policy, and highlights currency of a dialogue between policy makers and cultural policy stakeholders’.
The conference will gather experts and representatives from the field of politics and the academic and culture sectors. The speakers will be researchers from universities of London, Riga, Sofia, and Poznań; Science Po Law School in Paris; Centre for European Studies and Comparative Politics; the General Vytautas Žemaitis Military Academy of Lithuania; Vilnius Gediminas Technical University; the Vytautas Magnus University; Vilnius University; and the National Library.
In the opinion of the Chair of the National Library’s Scientific Council the political scientist at the Mykolas Romeris University Assoc. Prof. Dr. Virgis Valentinavičius, the National Library, by organising this conference, purports to consolidate the principle of active participation in the social and political life. To quote Prof. Valentinavičius, ‘Against the background of challenges brought up by the pandemic, the global society is substantially raising requirements for the quality of the political leadership. Americans are becoming more demanding as regards the policy of Joe Biden and are looking forward to more radical reparation of Donald Trump’s course; in Lithuania, more pressing are becoming issues regarding the leadership of President Gitanas Nausėda; and Germany deliberates whether a new leader will parallel Angela Merkel. The issue of the deficit of leadership is becoming universal and rather pressing for Lithuania and, therefore, such a conference appears to be the most suitable measure for gathering elite task forces of foreign and Lithuanian experts. I am glad that in such a manner, the National Library further develops as a permanent public forum meant for discussing fundamental issues regarding the existence of a democratic society and state.
The conference will be broadcast on the National Library’s YouTube channel and Facebook account.
Tiesioginės transliacijos nuorodos:
Agenda of the conference (download PDF).
Those interested in the participation at the conference are asked to register by 17 November.
See more information here.
Briefly about the conference
- Date
- 23–24 November
- Time
- 23 November: starts at 9.30 val.; 24 November: starts at 11:00
- Venue
- Conference Hall (5th floor)
- Participation
- Registration is mandatory
- Duration
- 23 November: 7h; 24 November: 6h
- More information
- on Facebook
