This project selects promising young individuals in the fields of politics, government, economy and scholastic studies in ASEAN countries where parliamentary systems are becoming the norm, and provides them with workshop opportunities to study subjects that will help them expand their cultural knowledge and awareness. The workshops are offered with the collaboration of specialists and politicians in Japan, ASEAN countries and Western nations.
Applicants were recruited either through a website or by recommendation of a former workshop participant. After the screening of applicants' documents and interviews, 25 individuals were selected from the workshop host country Indonesia and from Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Cambodia. Selected participants were required to read three works before attending the workshops: Identity and Violence by Dr. Amartya Sen of Harvard University, Asian Renaissance by former Malaysian deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim, and Cosmopolitanism by Dr. Kwame Appiah of Fordham University.
The workshops were held November 30 - December 5, 2008 in Jakarta and Bogor, Indonesia. They included lectures by prominent individuals and specialists from Asia, and promoted vigorous discussions among the participants. Time was also set aside for recreational activities. Follow-up activities included a seminar for former participants entitled "Rubanization: From Concept to Reality" (held in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia in January 2009), and another workshop entitled "Rediscovering the Asian Renaissance"
(held in Jakarta in March 2009).