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Clare Shine, vice president and chief program officer of Salzburg Global Seminar, moderated a discussion on climate issues at the latest Public Diplomacy Forum in Berlin

With shifting balances in a more globalized world, questions of diplomacy and citizenship are now, more than ever, timely and relevant. Part of this discussion involves emerging relations between Europe and China, and the ways we conduct and think about public diplomacy. These concepts were tackled at the latest Public Diplomacy Forum in Berlin, the Fourth International Conference on Public Diplomacy in China-Europe Relations.

The conference was established in 2012 by The Charhar Institute, Clingendael Institute, and ifa, and is supported by Robert Bosch Stiftung. The forum itself is emblematic of the growing relationships between think tanks, academics, and diplomatic leaders from China and Europe, and houses scholarly debate about public diplomacy. Experts from Asia, Europe, and the US gathered on October 8-9 to discuss these trends.

Clare Shine, vice president and chief program officer of the Salzburg Global Seminar, moderated a discussion entitled "(Mis)understanding of Climate - China, India and the EU." Her work and publications focus on issues of biodiversity, climate and water issues, international trade, governance, transboundary cooperation, and conflict prevention.

Shine spoke of the significance of these talks, touching on how often things get lost in translation in formal settings between cultures and continents. "The Forum was hugely valuable in providing the time and space to identify what we do - or fundamentally don't - agree on." Climate change, in particular, is a timely issue. "This is particularly critical with the pressure to reach a robust climate change agreement at Paris COP21 in December," said Shine, noting that the speakers on the Forum panel represented countries and regions totalling nearly half the world's population.

While some contrasting elements across the regions were observed, such as state sovereignty and security, there were common strands of thought. For both Europe and China, the mutual interest of finding solutions to environmental issues was highlighted. While there are no clearcut rules for public diplomacy, which varies across contexts, the conference found that there are still diplomatic ways to encourage joint efforts of solving common issues.