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Transcript of WSC-SD Newsletter August 2008
1
World Student Community for Sustainable Development
Ready to Act? Realising Sustainability through Collaboration
June - August 2008
Volume 3, Issue 1
Dear WSC-SD members,
This is the first newsletter of WSC-SD for
Volume 3 (2008-2009) after our Annual Meeting,
Student Summit for Sustainability 08 in Regina,
Canada- and also my first newsletter as the new
Director of Internal Relations.
The new executive board is quite excited about
our new website and wiki sites, which will unite
us and our efforts. In light of this, instead of
the previously monthly newsletter we will be
switching to a quarterly format.
I really appreciate all the contributions and
enjoy hearing about your work. Our members
are up to some amazing and inspiring stuff!
As always, we welcome your comments and
suggestions ([email protected]).
Now on with the show!
Cheers-
-Kat
Director of Internal Relations, Executive Board
World Student Community for Sustainable
Development
Sustainability@MIT, USA
NEWSLETTER CONTENTS
SNIPPETS from the WSC-SD 2
UPDATES: 3
from TOKYO: Alliance for Global Sustainability
University of Tokyo Students Community,
Japan
from NAIROBI: Students for Global
Sustainability, University of Nairobi, Kenya
from SCOTLAND: University of St Andrews
Sustainable Development Society (SDsoc),
Scotland, UK
from MEXICO: Individual member Jimena
Ortega
from CAIRO: Quark
from BOSTON: Sustainability@MIT (formerly
SfGS), MIT, USA
from GÖTEBORG: Chalmers Students for
Sustainability (CSS), Sweden
from NEPAL: Individual member Tulsi Giri
OPPORTUNITIES 12
2
SNIPPETS: small pieces from the WSC-SD
_____________________________________
WSC-SD Website & Wiki
www.wscsd.org
wscsd.wik.is
Our new website and wiki platforms are up and
running. The only thing left is for us to now
use them! Please login to your wiki account
and edit your personal info, add projects and
resources. If you have not yet been notified
with your account details, please contact your
SC board for SC members or Kat
([email protected]) for IMs.
Ryu, our webmaster, is doing an excellent job of
updating our website with great news,
opportunities and interviews. Consider
subscribing to the RSS feed for the website to
stay posted with news and feel free to add your
comments to the posts. Also, please contact
Ryu if you would like to contribute to the
website, share your ideas and be interviewed
We are still looking for more images for the
website, so please send Jess photos of yourself
or your SC taking action for sustainability.
Sincere thanks for everyone who has
contributed their part to the wiki thus far!!
_____________________________________
2008 Student Summit for Sustainability
The 2008 Student Summit for Sustainability held
in Regina, Canada was a huge success. Thank
you to the University of Regina Student
Community of the WSC-SD!!
Sharing pictures:
Our good friend, Christopher Hedvall, from
Sweden, has kindly created an account at
www.flickr.com, the picture hosting site, where
we can upload and share our conference photos
with high resolution.
• Go to www.flickr.com/photos/s3regina/
• Login with: Yahoo ID: "*s3regina*" and
Password: "*reginasummit*"
• Upload photos in a folder which you label with
your own name.
Facebook group:
The group is “Student Summit for Sustainability
2008”. PLEASE JOIN if you have not yet done so!
The conference doesn’t have to end in
Regina…the fun can go on!
Student presentations:
These are now accessible to all at the WSC-SD
website - www.wscsd.org
Let us thank Jess Schulschenk for her
outstanding efforts in helping us post the
student presentations in the Reports section of
our website. Please click on the highlighted links
to view the pages. The presentations have been
placed under their appropriate conference focus
themes:
- Urban Infrastructure
- Energy and Environment
- Economic and Social Development
The final conference report is now completed!
Look for it on the WSCSD website.
_______________________________________
Remember: Every SC and IM is *required* to
register their profile on the wiki. Please do
so!
And take advantage of the ‘Projects’ space and
‘Calls for Assistance’ to initiate collaborations
and overlaps with your international friends!
3
UPDATES
_______________________________________
from TOKYO
sus+
(AGS University of Tokyo Student Community)
One of the biggest highlights during this
period of time is that we decided the nickname
of our student community as “sus+ (sus plus)”.
There are several intentions of this name, first,
“sus+ (sus plus)” = Sustainability Plus which
means that we have positive power that brings
something more, better and greater to global
sustainability. Second, “sus+” = sustainability
planet, that we hope to live in. Third, “sus+” =
sustainability platform, that we are aiming to
form to achieve those goals.
Please call us “sus+” !!
(AGS University of Tokyo Student Community
remains as our official name.)
(Ayumi Arakawa)
Student Summit for Sustainability 2009
Orientation and 2008 Debriefing Session
To share what we learned, felt and thought in
Student Summit for Sustainability 2008 in
Regina, we held debriefing session on June 20th.
We also had orientation for next summit in
Switzerland.
More than 20 students include many
international students participated the session.
After the session, we had UT version of “Zero
Waste Party” learned from MIT. It was not as
perfectly zero waste as the one in MIT, but it
was a great opportunity for us to try! Thanks to
MIT!
We will open call for participants from our
community to SSS2009 in September.
(Ayumi Arakawa)
Exchange Session with “Tama-eco”, a student
group in Hosei University, Tokyo
On July 27th, we invited members from
“Tama-eco”, a student group active in Hosei
University to exchange ideas about each other’s
activities toward sustainability. “Tama-eco” has
been working on many activities, introducing
recycling system of oil used in school cafeteria
(recycled as bio-diesel), holding “Eco-Summit”
inviting many stakeholders in and out of
university, making the mini-farm close to the
campus and so on.
(Ayumi Arakawa)
Study Session with International Students has
launched!
To exchange the fruitful knowledge and
strengthen the relationship between
international and Japanese students, we began
to do study session in English.
In the session, both international and Japanese
students present their research (of course,
including the basic information of the
background of the research) and then, discuss it
frankly.
In the first Study Session (2008/07/25), Tuhin,
one of the delegates of AGS Annual Meeting
2008, present "Study on the fisheries biology of
mud crab (Scylla spp.) in Pak Phanang mangrove
swamps, Thailand, with emphasis on age
estimation". He is Ph.D. Student in the
laboratory of Global Fisheries Sciences,
Department of Global Agricultural Sciences.
Further reports are uploaded on our weblog!
Please take a look!
http://agsutsc.blog21.fc2.com/blog-category-7.
html .
(Takanori Tomozawa)
Presentation at May Festival By Climate
Change Working Group
For the traditional May Festival of the University
of Tokyo, the Climate Change Working Group
(CCWG) introduced topics discussed and
activities held by the organization to the curious
visitors. For this year the group made a
timeline, which listed major events along with
the scientific discoveries and international
approach taken regarding the climate change,
helping them to view how this phenomenon fits
in the history. In addition to the timeline, a
poster session and mind mapping was held.
The posters presented how CCWG members
4
view climate change from their expertise, and
the mind mapping provided opportunities for
visitors to connect their interests to climate
change.
(Yu Nagai)
_______________________________________
from NAIROBI
SFGS –UoN
STUDENTS FOR GLOBAL SUSTAINABILITY
UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI, KENYA.
SFGS-UON is an action oriented student group
developed to network with local and
international community of young activists to
initiate positive change at all levels. The
Mission of SFGS-UoN is to share in aims of the
WSCSD in seeking to actively promote the
incorporation of Sustainability and sustainable
development at every stage of education,
research, business and public policy bearing in
mind the desire to achieve.
SFGS-UoN’s activities comprise the following:
discursive forums for members, Public forums,
Research, MDG oriented programs and
Publications and Newsletters/Magazines.
SFGS-UON’S MAY-JULY 2008 ACTIVITIES:
During this period, we had just settled down to
run our activities after the interferences of
campus programs due to the effects of post
election violence.
Conference participations:
This month marked the climax of SfGS-Uon’s
preparations to participate in the WSC-SD
organized Students Summit on Sustainability
hosted in University of Regina Canada. Though
six of our invited members couldn’t participate
due to visa denials, we were honored to be
represented by the founding coordinator, Mr.
Willis Alala who was elected to serve in the
WSC-SD’s executive board as the Regional
director for Africa.
During the same month, our members
participated in the 18th annual Eastern Africa
Environmental Network Conference held at the
AMREF headquarters in Nairobi. The theme of
the conference was ‘ENVIROMENTAL CORCERNS
OF CLIMATE CHANGE WITH RESPECT TO
SUSTAINABLE LIVELIHOODS IN EASTERN
AFRICA’. Our president, Otieno Nickson,
presented a paper entitled: ‘RE-ORIENTING
EDUCATION FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
IN EASTERN AFRICA.’.
We were also honored to have our
president, Mr. Nickson Otieno seleted to be part
of the Organising committee of the WSC-SD’s
participation at the Imaginearth Collection that
was scheduled to hold in Japan in September,
2008. We share our disappointment in its
cancellation.
Images of our members taking part in the
conference:
5
Projects:
1. TREE PLANTING:
To mark the World Environment Day, our
members participated in a tree planting activity
held at the YMCA Nairobi South branch. The
event was graced by …MR. MBAYA-A FORMER
NAIROBI PROVINCIAL FORESTRY OFFICER AND
AN ENVIRONMENTAL CONSULTANT. This event
saw the formation of ‘The Green Earth Club’.
6
2. CAMPUS ENERGY AND RESOURCE AUDIT
As Campus students and members of SfGS –
UoN, we are obligated to playing a major role in
developing a sustainable campus life and
consequently, contributing to a larger
“environmental footprint”. Our broad objective
(a restatement of 2008 Office target) was to
measure and assess the current conditions and
consumption patterns at the University of
Nairobi and introduce specific
recommendations that will lead to the
development of a sustainable Campus
environment.
May 2008: Members finalized the discussion
on Literature review and discussed the
methodology of the study, the sample and the
data required. Members were allocated roles to
perform during the data collection stage under
the main three areas of study (water, electricity
and waste).
June 2008: Due to logistic complications, we
had to limit the study to waste management for
the beginning. Various members of the group
undertook data collection and processing.
July 2008: This month marked the
preparations and the actual end of semester
exams. Consequently, presentations and
discussions on the results obtained and
preparation of the draft report could not be
undertaken as planned before.
Unrealized activities/project proposals:
As a group, we planned various activities
that were intended to be realized within the
academic year that ended on 25/07/2008.
However, due to the recurrent limitation of
finance, we could not be able to meet all our
targets within the scheduled period.
We hope to realize these projects when we
resume campus from long vacation ending in
October. In the meantime, members of the
executive committee who are on-campus for
this period will undertake the group’s
administrative tasks.
Our appeal:
As we do our best within the prevalent limits,
we welcome partnerships and any kind of
support from individuals and organizations both
locally and internationally for the realization of
our agenda: sustainable leadership and action
for positive change.
The unfulfilled activities include:
1. TREE PLANTING AT THE UNIVERSITY OF
NAIROBI GROUNDS
With the help of the Kenya Forests Department,
through the Green Earth Club, SfGS-UoN
obtained 1000 seedlings to be planted at the
university grounds with the active participation
of our members. However, we still face the
daunting challenge of raising petty cash for
working out the logistics of such activities, e.g.
transportation, refreshments, and subsequent
maintenance. Our request for assistance from
the university has delayed the implementation
of this exercise.
Goals of the event:
7
• To create awareness to members and non
members on the importance of environmental
conservation and the effects of global warming
and climate change.
• Re-greening the University of Nairobi grounds
as part of fulfilling the greater objective of
re-greening the city in the sun (Nairobi).
2. TALK BY MR. GEORGE MALAKWEEN AND
MOVIE AT THE UNIVERSITY
We planned to host GEORGE MALAKWEEN from
the Eastern Africa Environmental Network
secretariat to make a presentation during a
forum that was to be attended by SfSG-UoN
members and other interested
students/organizations at the university
premises. The climax of the event would be a
movie, ‘The Inconvenient Truth’ by Al Gore.
Goals of the event:
Create awareness on the impact of global
warming and climate change on the earth.
3. RECRUITMENT DRIVE:
Since the majority of our current membership is
composed of senior undergraduate students,
we planned to hold a major recruitment drive
for 2008 to increase our membership base and
enlighten the students (members and non
members) on issues of global warming, climate
change and environmental sustainability and
bring their attention to practical action.
Because of financial limitations, we strategized
to utilize the tree planting exercise, movie show
and presentations of the environment audit
report as a platform for recruitment. Since these
projects weren’t realized we are compelled to
postpone the exercise.
……THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR SUPPORT………
_______________________________________
from SCOTLAND
University of St Andrews Sustainable
Development Society (SDsoc), Scotland, UK
Dear WSC-SD,
I’m very happy to be writing for the first
time on behalf of the University of St Andrews
Sustainable Development Society, introducing
the first British member of WSC-SD. It is fitting
that we should be the first Brits to join, as St
Andrews is the first University in the UK to offer
Bachelors’ Degrees in Sustainable Development
and is currently underway in developing
Masters and PhD level counterparts. We are a
fledgling society with only two years on our
neck, a mere blip in the University’s 600 year
history. Nevertheless, we have ambitious plans,
and the climate in Scotland and the rest of the
UK is very conducive to expanding the horizons
of sustainability, and pushing the frontiers of
innovation in the field. The vocabulary of
Sustainable Development is already easily
accessible by all here, and we hope to add fuel
to the debate which will bring about the
paradigm shift necessary for a sustainable
future.
Practically speaking, we are currently
planning events and projects ahead of the
autumn term which commences 22 September.
We are arranging an introductory social event
for “Freshers’ Fair”. Also, we have a number of
smaller events lined up, including documentary
film screenings and hosting guest speakers. We
hope to attract high profile guest speakers
further on in the academic year. Furthermore,
we are involved in a project with the local Fife
council in making St Andrews a plastic-bag free
zone, and have met with great enthusiasm from
the local community. We have already produced
and sold sturdy biodegradable grocery bags on
our own, and are now helping Fife council
develop similar cotton ones.
http://www.plasticbagfreestandrews.com. And
indeed, most importantly, we are very excited
8
to get involved with WSC-SD, and aim to send
delegates to the May conference.
Hoping to initiate an inter-university dialogue,
Warm regards from a sweltering Cairo,
Amanda Gudmundsson
Vice President, University of St Andrews
Sustainable Development Society
_______________________________________
from MEXICO
Jimena Ortega, Individual Member
I work as junior research coordinator on
environmental policy at the National Institute of
Ecology (INE) in Mexico. INE belongs to the
Secretariat of Environment and is a research
agency that develops and coordinates research
projects and policies as solutions to the
environmental problems and the conservation/
restoration of the environment in Mexico.
At INE I developed a Geographical Information
Systems (GIS) on ecotourism tour operators in
Mexico. With this I am developing an
accessibility analysis to prove that a short
distance between a nature based tourism
market from a big city (where most tourism
takes place) is very important, given that mass
tourism is the rule and that most of the tourists
have no information about the existence of
sustainable markets close to them. In parallel, i
am writing a paper on environmental impact
assessment for tourism in Mexico, given that
tourism is a high environmental impact activity
and that is the second most important industry
in my country.
Also, I am developing an advertising project
based on postcards that give information about
INE´s work.
Receive warm greetings from Mexico!!
Jimena Ortega
_______________________________________
from CAIRO
Quark Society
The American University of Cairo
This summer we are just preparing for our
events for the next semester starting on 7th of
September, all what we are doing preparing the
training contents for the semester, contacting
sponsors, preparing the new members welcome
party on 29th of August on which we are going
to present everything about WSC-SD, Quark
Society Achievements and recognizing the old
members and professors.
1( Research Assisting Programs:
AUC students work as research
assistants for the faculty for 5 hours
a week to enhance their scientific
knowledge and their research skills
2( Thesis / Graduating Seniors
Program: It is a program especially
designed for the graduating seniors
(Those who are working for their
graduating projects). Quark Society
present international/national
company problems, so that
graduates work on a research to
solve this program to get their
award.
3( Conference Program: It is a
program for all the national
universities where every
undergraduate student could
participate, take the training and
work on his/her own research
paper to on different scientific
topics and present it in Quark’s
Annual Conference.
9
_______________________________________
from BOSTON
Sustainability@MIT
(formerly Students for Global Sustainability)
This summer, Students for Global Sustainability
has joined forces with Share A Vital Earth, the
MIT Generator, S*, and the
Sustainability@Sloan Speaker Series to form
Sustainability@MIT, a larger group dedicated to
environmental sustainability. We can now boast
620 members!!
With more students involved and stronger
connections to faculty and administration,
Sustainability@MIT will more efficiently
promote green practices and policies on campus
and beyond.
In the upcoming school year,
Sustainability@MIT will continue to organize
FreeMeets, EcoExpo, and other events SfGS has
held in the past, in addition to speaker series,
campus greening projects, community activism,
curriculum developments, and more. First
events include a “zero-waste”
clinging-to-the-end-of-summer kick off to rally
all students new and old who are interested in
sustainability issues and inform them about our
new group, and the first “Generator” of the year
where students pitch sustainability ideas and
form groups for actual realization of the
successful ideas. For more about the MIT
Generator see:
http://sustainability.mit.edu/Generator
_______________________________________
from GÖTEBORG
Chalmers Students for Sustainability (CSS),
Sweden
Much has happened since the last newsletter:
• CSS Food Seminar – “You are What you Eat”
On the 6th of May CSS held a discussion seminar
for sustainable food habits named “You are
what you Eat” on Chalmers campus. The topics
were
- The meat industry’s effect on the climate
- Sustainable fuels – from wheat to ethanol
- Biodynamic farming
The seminar turned out to be a real success.
Interesting speakers and almost every seat in
the audience occupied. It started off with very
interesting presentations; the CEO of
Lantmännen Agro Ethanol who presented
techniques for converting wheat to ethanol, the
CEO of Ekolådan Biodynamic Production, and
more. The seminar ended with a very inspiring
and enthusiastic debate which was so successful
that we overshot our time schedule with almost
an hour. We in CSS really liked this event and
will therefore plan another seminar in the near
future.
• Engineers Without Borders
CSS has initiated cooperation with Engineers
without Borders, which is an international
network for engineering “missionary” projects.
This will in the future give members the
possibility to participate in international
projects from Sweden and also abroad. We in
CSS are very positive to this collaboration and
are looking forward to see what this can bring to
our organisation.
• Student Summit for Sustainability - Regina,
Saskatchewan, Canada
6 students represented CSS at the Student
Summit for Sustainability in Regina. Everyone
came back with a very big smile on their faces
and they felt that it had been a really amazing
experience. CSS presented their local projects
that they had performed during the year, made
lots of new friends and really enjoyed
themselves in the remarkable nature of
Saskatchewan. An experience for a life time. We
are therefore in eager expectation for the Zurich
meeting in January next year.
10
• UPC International Seminar on Sustainable
Technology Development – Barcelona, Spain
Two of our members attended the UPC
International Seminar on Sustainable
Technology Development. Marcus Högberg was
one of two. Here is his story:
-The first day started with a lecture about
back casting by Professor John Holmberg,
Chalmers. Back casting is an interesting method
for evaluation of future sustainable technologies
and an excellent base for decision making. In the
afternoon there was a poster session with the
representatives posters. Next day started off
with project work. The aim with the project work
was to find a sustainable solution for the people
living in the ghetto Morovia in Medelin,
Coloumbia. The third day addressed the
question how the use of bio fuels influence or
can influence the use of water and the water
supply. The presentation was held by Michael
Narodoslawsky from TU Graz. The fourth
morning started with a presentation about
Chalmers Students for Sustainability (CSS) and
World Student Community for Sustainable
Development (WSC-SD). Many students were
interested in joining WSC-SD and were very
impressed of the work made by CSS. After CSS
presentation, Karel Mulder and Leo Jansen from
TU Delft held a presentation about sustainable
technology development. CSS presented two
posters and Marcus Högberg’s poster won the
best poster award.
We in CSS like to send you our best wishes and
hope to see some of you in Zurich next year.
Martin Persson, Chair CSS
_______________________________________
from NEPAL
Tulsi Giri, Individual Member
Youth Participation in Social Development
Work Camp, Rivan, Kaski, Nepal
August 1-5, 2008
USSHA Foundation
‘Work Camp for Youth Participation in Social
Development’ project had two phases of
implementation. The first phase was conduction
of work camp. The work camp was conducted in
the ‘Community Building’ of Janajagriti Youth
Club (Public Awareness Youth Club) in ward
number 6 of Rivan VDC from August 1-5, 2008.
The second phase of the work camp is
implementation and follow-up of the
Aggregated Youth Club Action Plan (AYCAP)
developed at the end of the work camp.
During the work camp the participants were
kept in home stay with different families of the
ward number 6. There were altogether 13
homestay families (6 brahmin families, 3 giri
families and 4 magar families). Each family got
one or two participants as their own family
members for the 6 nights. One family, nearby
the community building, was the center point
which was responsible for preparing tea and
snacks for the work camp participants according
to the schedule. All the home stay families got
some financial support from the project for
hosting the participants.
Outcomes
1. 25 participants from the rural and urban
communities participated in the work
camp and learned about the sustainable
social development.
2. The participants learned the knowledge
and skills to identify and prioritize the
problems, issues and needs of the
communities, and resource
identification and mobilization for the
social development.
11
3. The participants identified the basic
need of the community and youth, and
prepared the action plan i.e.
establishment of the ‘Community
Resource Center’ for addressing the
prioritized needs.
4. The work camp has initiated an
environment for the community youth
to participate in the social development
in organized way where at the same
time it has established a network
between the inside and outside youth
for two-way assistance for the social
development of the rural communities.
Participants interacting with the Secretary of the
Village Development Committee office
Teamwork to cross the river.
The work camp which was focused to generate
youth resource for the social development was
completed successfully with very positive
response from the community, local youth clubs
and participants. USSHA Foundation is hence
motivated to follow-up and to implement the
action plan very successfully for the social
development of Rivan VDC. And also, is looking
ahead to establish and widen up the scope of
this work camp model in other rural
communities to encourage and support youth of
that community to involve in social
development.
Participants during the practical session;
planting the tea
Participants in the typical setting having tiffin;
boiled maize and tea.
12
OPPORTUNITIES
_____________________________________
Consilience: The Journal of Sustainable
Development
The Editorial Board of Consilience: The Journal
of Sustainable Development invites both
undergraduate and graduate students to
contribute to the journal. The first issue of
Consilience was published online in February
2008, and we are pleased to announce that the
next issue is due to be published November
2008. We accept submissions in English only,
but offer help to those for whom English is not
their first language.
Consilience: The Journal of Sustainable
Development is the first student-founded
academic journal of sustainable development
and is based at Columbia University in the City
of New York. The aim of Consilience is to
juxtapose different disciplinary approaches of
students worldwide to confront the challenges
of sustainable development.
Thank you for your consideration and I welcome
you to visit www.consiliencejournal.org to view
our first issue. Please do not hesitate to
contact me at [email protected] or
another member of the editorial board at
[email protected] with questions
regarding the submission process and
Consilience.
With regards,
Hannah Lee
Editor-In-Chief
Consilience: The Journal of Sustainable
Development
con·sil·i·ence (noun): The joining together of
knowledge and information across disciplines to
create a unified framework of understanding.
_____________________________________
oikos International
Do you make a difference?
Apply for the oikos Student Award!
This year, oikos rewards outstanding projects
for 'Curricula Change' and 'Sustainable Campus'.
Apply until 30 September and win 500€ and a
free participation for the oikos Winter School.
http://www.oikos-international.org/projects/aw
ard.html
Participate in the oikos Winter School 2008!
The oikos Winter School empowers 20 to 30
motivated students from all over the world to
realise their projects related to sustainability at
their universities. Hand in your application until
15 September.
http://www.oikos-international.org/projects/ws
/ws2008.html
Become an oikos PhD Fellow
oikos is now inviting applications from qualified
candidates for an oikos PhD Fellowship, starting
in February 2009. oikos PhD Fellows receive a 3
years grant to conduct their research in the field
of Sustainability Management and Economics at
the University of St. Gallen, a leading European
management school. Apply until 1st September.
http://www.oikos-international.org/projects/fel
lowship/become-a-fellow/application-schedule.
html
Discuss Curricula Change at the oikos
Conference
oikos St.Gallen invites you to approach the topic
of sustainability integration into university
curricula on 23-24 October at the University of
St.Gallen. Register now!
http://conference.oikos-international.org/
_______________________________________
World Happiness | Call for Photos!
Sanae Ohshiro, one of our active members from
Tokyo, will be presenting at an upcoming event
13
in Japan this August on the topic of "World
Happiness". Takahashi and Shindou, two top
leaders are always constantly innovative ideas in
Music and Design, are now announcing the
"New Space for Music" event. Music transcends
generations, and so do images which can
motivate and inspire us.
Sanae has requested assistance from our
WSC-SD community to please send her
photographs which showcase the theme of
'world happiness'. Please send your images
directly to Sanae ([email protected])
and these photos will be shown with full credit
to you in her presentations. Please include your
name, nationality, a short description of where
the photo was taken and why you think it
symbolises the theme of 'world happiness'.
After the event, the photos will go online on the
website as part of our Gallery which will be
launched shortly.
Let us assist Sanae and support her in this
worthwhile project!
_______________________________________
UNESCO/Keizo Obuchi Fellowships for young
researchers
UNESCO is inviting young researchers in
developing countries to apply for grants through
the UNESCO/Keizo Obuchi Research Fellowship
Programme, financed for the ninth time by
Japan through funds-in-trust dedicated to the
development of human resources.
The programme – named after the late
Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi who was
known for his commitment to development
issues – offers a total of 20 fellowships worth
US$6,000 to $10,000 each. They target
post-graduate university researchers with a
Masters Degree, or equivalent, in one of four
fields: the environment, inter-cultural dialogue,
information and communication technology,
and peaceful conflict resolution.
In a series of letters, Director-General Koïchiro
Matsuura has called on all of UNESCO's National
Commissions, Permanent Delegations to
UNESCO, and the Organization's field offices, to
invite potential candidates from 156 countries
to apply for the fellowships, through their
National Commission. Applications must reach
UNESCO Headquarters in Paris before 9 January
2009.
Researchers under 40 years of age must submit
their applications to their country's National
Commission for UNESCO, which will select a
maximum of two candidates. A special selection
committee of experts in the four research fields
concerned will review the applications and
propose a pre-selection to the Director-General
of the Organization.
http://portal.unesco.org/unesco
_______________________________________
YOUTH ENCOUNTER ON SUSTAINABILITY (YES)
AUSTRALIA 2009
Applications Now Open!
Deadline: 14th September 2008
Dear Colleagues and Friends,
ETHsustainability, the Center for Sustainability
at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology
(ETH) Zurich and the International WaterCenter
in Australia are pleased to announce the
opening of the applications for the 2009 Youth
Encounter on Sustainability (YES) in Australia.
The two week course aims to sensitize
participants to the complex issues of sustainable
development in a global context, while
exploring issues pertinent to Australia and the
greater Asia-Pacific region, though course work,
field trips, workshops, group work, discussions
and practical learning experiences, combined
with social and cultural activities. The unique
14
program builds on 9 years of experience
successfully running the Youth Encounter on
Sustainability YES program in Switzerland, Latin
America, Japan and Central and Eastern Europe
and Africa.
Dates: January 30th – February 16th, 2009
Course Location: Noosa North Shore Retreat,
Noosa, Queensland, Australia
(http://www.noosanorthshore.com.au/)
More information on the course is available in
the brochure and inlay attached.
The online applications are now open at:
http://www.sustainability.ethz.ch/en/activities/
YES_Australia.cfm
_______________________________________
VII Latin American Encounter of Youth for
Environment and Sustainability
Date: 16 - 19 October 2008
Place: Bogotá – Colombia
Brief: The regional director for Latin America of
the WSC-SD, Adriana Valenzuela, is organizing in
Bogotá, Colombia the VII Latin-American
Encounter of Youth for Environment and
Sustainability, with the principal topic “Youth,
Climate Change and action for the future”. In
this Encounter will participate leaders,
governments, NGO, and international agencies.
It will consist of conferences, workshops, stand,
poster, cultural activities and visits to different
institutions. On Friday 17 there will be a
presentation on the WSC-SD and the
participation of the sustainability student.
More information: www.grupotayrona.info
Email: [email protected]
_______________________________________
2009 UNESCO World Conference on Education
for Sustainable Development-Moving into the
Second Half of the UN Decade
The United Nations Decade of Education for
Sustainable Development (DESD, 2005-2014) is
a worldwide endeavour that seeks to integrate
the principles, values and practices of
sustainable development into all aspects of
education and learning. The Decade was
adopted by the United Nations General
Assembly in Resolution 57/254 in December
2002.
As the DESD approaches its mid-point, the
“World Conference on Education for Sustainable
Development – Moving into the Second Half of
the UN Decade” will be held in Bonn, Germany,
from 31 March to 2 April 2009. Organizers of
the conference are UNESCO and the German
Federal Ministry of Education and Research, in
cooperation with the German Commission for
UNESCO.
The conference will provide a platform for
dialogue and advocacy on Education for
Sustainable Development at the global level,
involving some 700 participants from all regions
representing UNESCO Member States, UN
agencies, civil society organizations, youth and
the private sector.
Information pdf:
http://www.bne-portal.de/coremedia/generato
r/unesco/de/Downloads/Hintergrundmaterial__
international/Weltkonferenz_20Ziele.pdf