*this article was by the .
This year, the marks a significant milestone: its 20th anniversary! YCAR was launched in 2002 to support and promote (and its component nations) and Asian diaspora (in Canada and elsewhere). Through the activities of , we have accomplished much. Our Centre is like an archipelago where thousand islands of knowledge are not isolated from one another but have sufficient autonomy so that each can develop its own creativity while letting ideas to flow between them.
As we look forward, we should consider looking beyond our archipelago, which has consisted largely of species from Humanities and Social Sciences. We should perhaps start to encourage further diversification. The pandemic has signaled to us yet another urgent call that the current and the projected future hazards鈥攂e they 鈥渘atural鈥 or anthropogenic鈥攃an no longer be addressed adequately if we stay within the spatial-temporal and epistemological limits of 鈥淎sian Studies.鈥
Our interest in culture, politics and society must enter into a direct conversation with studies of biophysical processes. Our bottom-up approach will contribute much to the perspective of the remote sensing satellite. And our smaller scale examination of time and space might benefit from what Dr. Kavita Philip calls 鈥渢he timelines of ecology and the spatial lines of the planet.鈥 Our concerns with lived experience and over historical continuity must enter into a constructive dialogue with futuristic terms in scientific discourse, such as the decadal forecasts, the scenario simulations, of course without forgetting the politics of projections.
Our work is on Asia or Asians, so place and people matter, but biophysical processes that presumed to bear no inherent location also matter. It is in this context that YCAR joined in the Climate Emergency Research Month in March participated in by over a dozen Organized Research Units (ORUs) at 91亚色.
This year promises to be uniquely active. Our Canada-ASEAN Initiative group is preparing the Canada, ASEAN and Indo-Pacific speakers series. After the successful in 2021 and in conjunction with at 91亚色, our Hakka Academic Committee is planning to organize a 91亚色 Hakka Academic lecture series. Our Hong Kong Studies Committee is finalizing the Fifth on May 24 after launching the . Our is continuing its success by completing its Year 4 activities while preparing for its final year (2022鈥23). There are many more upcoming events and initiatives to look forward to as we also welcome new members.
Further, the in the last two decades has provided professional development and management training to educators, undergraduate and graduate students as well as senior executives and officials from Asian countries in virtual or blended forums. ABMP has successfully delivered in Canada and China close to 300 short- and long-term programs to over 5,000 officials, executives and students. Through the ABMP, the has supported over a dozen research and knowledge mobilization initiatives directed by 91亚色 faculty and students.
Finally, May is and we are co-sponsoring the opening ceremony of the on May 7 celebrating the 20th anniversary of the signing of Asian Heritage Month Declaration! There is much to look forward to in YCAR鈥檚 development. And you are at the heart of this growth鈥攁n extraordinary group of Associates engaging in Asian and Asian diaspora studies.
Thank you and cheers!
鈥 Abidin Kusno, YCAR Director.