Please download here the entire program of the conference: 4th BRICS Academic Forum_03-03-12
Please download here the official invitation: Inaugural invitation

The BRICS nations are experiencing a unique set of circumstances in their socioeconomic
and political evolution. The debates that dominate the discourse
within each of the BRICS nations today, whether on traditional security or nontraditional
security, are linked to the challenges that confront the global community
today. This offers an interesting opportunity and a matrix with multiple possibilities
to cooperate, share and work together.

While it is always simplistic to attempt to capture the broad and rich arena that
current developments offer the BRICS nations to collaborate on, there are inherent
advantages in viewing the contemporary and evolving challenges and aspirations
of the BRICS nations, through the prism of “Stability, Security and Growth”. Stability
from financial shocks, governance failures within the BRICS and globally, from
erratic demand cycles for exports and resources and from systemic contagious
failures in the global financial markets. Security of access to means of sustenance,
basic infrastructure (health, sanitation, education), availability and equity of
opportunities for individuals across social classes, religions and gender; across
regions, communities and security of development space and the environment.
Growth – through new markets and innovations in appropriate technologies; are
common themes that should be addressed and discussed by the BRICS nations,
each of which is in transition and each of which is committed to advance their
economies, capabilities and the daily lives of their peoples.

In order to effectively work with the “Stability Security and Growth” framework,
BRICS need to address four fundamental issues that will define and shape the
socio-economic and political landscape over the course of this decade. They
include – strengthening institutions and institutional capacities to equip international
frameworks with suitably resilient response mechanisms in this age of uncertainty;
sharing concerns about sustainable development in order to live up to the
collective responsibilities of BRICS nations; sharing practices and experiences to
learn and respond to the immense socio-economic challenges within and outside
BRICS nations; and finally exploring the innovation landscape through promotion
and expansion of new avenues for cooperation and growth to enhance lives and
livelihoods, as well as respond to the ethical and development imperatives that
demand urgent attention. These themes are reflected in the agenda.