Sylff News

Didzis Klavins, a Sylff fellowship recipient in 2012 while attending the University of Latvia, visited the Sylff Association secretariat in Tokyo on August 12, 2019. He is currently a Senior Researcher at the University of Latvia.

Didzis Klavins, right, with Tomoko Yamada of the Sylff Association secretariat.

Visiting Japan for the first time, Klavins attended the International Conference on Global Risk, Security, and Ethnicity, co-organized by the International Political Science Association and Nagasaki University. As a panelist for a session on “Emerging Technologies and New Perspectives on Risk and Security,” he made a presentation on “The Relationship of Innovation Diplomacy and Security in the Nordic and Baltic Countries.”

His academic interests include diplomacy, international organizations, and international relations, especially in the Baltic and Scandinavian countries. He is currently involved in a three-year research project funded by the EU that is examining the relationship between innovation diplomacy and security in those countries. The project involves several professors at different universities in the EU and focuses on three major subjects: diaspora diplomacy, innovation diplomacy, and digital diplomacy.

Klavins is actively engaged in researching these topics as well as in teaching at University of Latvia. We were happy to meet him in Tokyo and wish him much success in his academic pursuits.