MSc in Environmental Governance at UNU-IAS

The United Nations University Institute of Advanced Studies (UNU-IAS) is now accepting online applications to its Master of Science in Environmental Governance with Specialization in Biodiversity programme for the 2012 academic year.

The programme draws on UNU-IAS's long-standing reputation for excellence in policy-oriented research for sustainable development. UNU-IAS provides students with the intellectual foundation and practical field experience necessary for understanding environmental governance regimes. Graduates of the programme will receive a Master of Science degree from the United Nations University and the skills necessary to forge new frontiers as researchers and practitioners with an interdisciplinary and systemic understanding of biodiversity, ecosystems and sustainable development.

For more information on course offerings, fees, duration and application procedure, please visit www.ias.unu.edu/masters. Deadline for applicants seeking financial support is 28 February 2012. General deadline for all applications is 30 May 2012. Classes are scheduled to commence in September 2012.

Best regards,

Makiko Arima

Jobs Available at ITIF

The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) is looking to hire two positions for its *Clean Energy Innovation Policy* platform: a full-time *Clean Energy Policy Analyst* and a 1-year contracted *Clean Energy Research Assistant*.  Both position descriptions can be found here.

As many of you know, ITIF is a non-profit, non-partisan policy think tank in Washington, D.C. committed to advancing a pro-innovation agenda as we believe innovation is central to boosting productivity, spurring economic growth, and addressing key societal challenges. Our Clean Energy Policy program is no different as it aims to make innovation central to climate and energy policymaking in order to address global energy issues and anthropogenic climate change. ITIF’s work ranges widely and includes convening high-level stakeholder meetings, producing high-impact policy reports and recommendations, holding public events like the annual Energy Innovation Conference series, curating public energy innovation data and analysis through the Energy Innovation Tracker project, and advising decision makers on implementing innovation-oriented policies.

The 1-year *Research Assistant *position would be perfect for new college graduates looking to get their foot in the door to D.C. policymaking.  Not only will this position directly support clean energy policy research and reports, it will staff the further development of the Energy Innovation Tracker project. 

The *Policy Analyst* position best fits folks with more experience (BA/BS + Experience or MA/MS) and a deeper knowledge of energy and climate policy. In particular, this position will directly support key report projects and stakeholder meetings planned for 2012.

ITIF is looking to fill both positions by the beginning of 2012. Please pass this information along to anyone that may be interested and also contact me with any questions regarding the job openings.

Matthew Stepp

Clean Energy Policy Analyst

Information Technology and Innovation Foundation

1101 K Street, NW Suite 610

Washington, DC 20005

AU’s Center for Environmental Filmmaking on the Chesapeake Bay!

AU’s Center for Environmental Filmmaking is excited to offer a one-week program on the Chesapeake Bay March 11-17.

Registration is beginning now and is open to AU students as well as the public. The course is limited to 12 people.

This week-long, non-credit class is for both first-time and experienced filmmakers and photographers who have an interest in the environment, natural history, and the outdoors. 

Led by award-winning filmmaker and AU MFA alum Danny Ledonne, students learn how to prepare for and organize a shoot, how to shoot the footage necessary to tell a compelling story, how to edit a polished project, and how to use tapeless HD cameras and supporting sound gear.

The program serves as an enjoyable educational experience for aspiring filmmakers, photographers, and anyone interested in communicating environmental issues through media.

For more information and for a copy of the syllabus, please write to Professor Chris Palmer at palmer@american.edu.

Rotary International and UNESCO-IHE team up to offer Masters scholarships

The global humanitarian organization Rotary and the UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education are teaming up to tackle the world's water and sanitation crisis by increasing the ranks of trained professionals critically needed to devise, plan, and implement solutions in developing countries that bear the brunt of the problem.

Through this new strategic partnership, The Rotary Foundation will provide grants to Rotary clubs and districts to select and sponsor eight students each year for scholarships to any of three Master of Science degree programs at UNESCO-IHE, a United Nations institute in Delft, The Netherlands, that is the world's largest postgraduate water education facility. The school's scholarship-eligible programs are Municipal Water and Infrastructure; Water Management; and Water Science and Engineering.

The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International, under its new Future Vision plan, seeks to forge strategic partnerships with established organizations with expertise in Rotary's six areas of focus, one of which is water and sanitation. The other focus areas are peace and conflict prevention/resolution; disease prevention and treatment; maternal and child health; basic education and literacy; and economic and community development. UNESCO-IHE scholarship grants are available only to clubs in the 100 Rotary districts piloting Future Vision until the plan is fully implemented July 1, 2013.

UNESCO-IHE is owned by the member states of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. Its mandate is to help meet the water-related capacity-building needs of developing countries and countries in transition.

Go to the website for more information: www.rotary.org or www.unesco-ihe.org.

RFF Event - Dec 7: Greenhouse Gas Regulation for Power Plants under the Clean Air Act

Greenhouse Gas Regulation for Power Plants under the Clean Air ActAn RFF First Wednesday Seminar
December 7, 2011
12:45 - 2:00 p.m.A light lunch will be available at 12:30 p.m.
Resources for the Future
First Floor Conference Center
1616 P Street NW
Washington, D.C.

This seminar will also be webcast live beginning at 12:45 p.m.
Have a question for the panel while watching the live webcast? Simply tweet your question of fewer than 140 characters and include the hashtag #AskRFF. Watch the Q&A at the end of the event to see if it is selected.

Registration is required. To RSVP for this event, please visit RFF's event registration page.

PLEASE NOTE: Registration is intended for guests attending this event in person. If you plan to watch the webcast of this event, there is no need to register.
About the Event
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) may soon propose Clean Air Act rules regulating the largest class of greenhouse gas emitters: coal-fired power plants. With climate policy off the congressional agenda, these and other rules under the act have taken center stage in the formulation of U.S. policy for limiting carbon emissions. But what will the rules for coal plants look like? Will they include market-based mechanisms? How expensive will they be, and on whom will those costs fall most heavily? How will they work with existing state-level programs like those in California and the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic? These questions have been the focus of research at RFF and elsewhere over the past year that has aimed to both understand what EPA may do and provide input into the agency’s decisionmaking process.
This RFF First Wednesday seminar will present some of the results of this research, along with a broader discussion of the Clean Air Act as a pathway for climate policy.

moderator:
Nathan Richardson, Resident Scholar, Resources for the Future

Panelists:

Joshua Linn, Fellow, Resources for the Future
Art Fraas, Visiting Scholar, Resources for the Future
Dallas Burtraw, Darius Gaskins Senior Fellow, Resources for the Future
Discussants:
William L. Wehrum, Partner, Hunton and Williams, LLP

Brian McLean, former Director, EPA Office of Atmospheric Programs

Wilson Center Event - Dec. 14

Government Leadership in Sustainability

December 14, 2011 // 3:00pm — 5:00pm

As the Administrator of the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), Martha Johnson is responsible for annual government purchases of over $65 billion and more than 360 million square feet of federal real estate. She will discuss GSA’s initiative to aggressively pursue a zero environmental footprint (ZEF) that will reduce waste, support innovation, and boost efficiency across federal buildings, operations, and acquisition.
Administrator Johnson will explore the opportunities for partnership among government, business, and academia to support sustainable design and efficiencies with the goal of supporting a clean, green 21st Century American economy.
Please RSVP with your name and affiliation to ecsp@wilsoncenter.org.

 

Location: 6th Floor, Woodrow Wilson Center

FAO Report: State of the World's Land and Water Resources for Food and Agriculture

The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation recently published its first State of the World's Land and Water Resources for Food and Agriculture report, which can be found here.

Managing systems at risk 

By 2050, food production is projected to increase by about 70 percent globally and nearly 100 percent in developing countries. This incremental demand for food, together with demand from other competing uses, will place unprecedented pressure on many agricultural production systems across the world. These 'systems at risk' are facing growing competition for land and water resources and they are often constrained by unsustainable agricultural practices. They therefore require particular attention and specific remedial action. 

 

The State of the World's Land and Water Resources for Food and Agriculture (SOLAW) analyses a variety of options for overcoming constraints and improving resource management in these areas of heightened risk. In each location, a mix of changes in institutional and policy measures will have to be combined with greater access to technologies for better management of land and water resources. Increased investments; access to novel financing mechanisms; and international cooperation and development assistance will also help overcome these constraints.

 

This first issue of SOLAW, which complements other "State of the world" reports published regularly by FAO, is intended to inform public debate and policy-making at national and international levels.

Environmental Writing Competition!

The recently formed Web of Life Foundation – WOLFoundation - runs an annual competition looking for the best non-technical, English language writing on any subject related to environmental issues.  Deadline 15 Dec 2011.

See: http://www.wolfoundation.org/home/Competition.html

The winning entry will receive a cash prize of $1,500. A further $500 will be awarded to the second placed entry.

The top 20 entries will be published as a book of collected essays.

To enter visit our Guidelines page.

The competition is open to all and the judges are looking for ‘fresh ideas, freshly presented’ on any topic relating to environmental or conservation issues. Manuscripts must be written in English, double spaced, no longer than 3,000 words and contain no abstract, list of references or footnotes. Images are allowed as part of the manuscript. Manuscripts may have been published previously or submitted for publication.

Entries will be judged by the members of our Advisory Board.

MTR Event: Tomorrow, Tuesday Nov. 29, 8pm

ramps at au

Nov. 29: Showing of "Hawks in the City" & "Entangled"

Colliding Civilizations—Humans vs. Wildlife:

Presented by Maggie Stogner, Aditi Desai, and Kai Fang

On Tuesday, November 29 at 7 pm in the Wechsler Theater

How do our ever-increasing urbanization, population growth, and cultural traditions impact the wildlife community around us? Join us in viewing two documentaries that explore this question. Hawks in the City, presented by Executive Producer Maggie Burnette Stogner, follows the exploits of two red-tailed hawks struggling to raise a family in the concrete environs of Philadelphia. Entangled, a documentary work-in-progress by MFA candidates Aditi Desai and Kai Fang, takes a look at different perspectives on an age old annual kite flying festival in India involving joy, suffering, and death. The producers will introduce the films and answer questions.

Wechsler Theater, 3^rd Floor, Mary Graydon Center

American University

4400 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20016-8017

Directions: http://www.american.edu/maps/

Metro: Tenleytown/AU, shuttle bus service to AU

RFF: Managing the Risks of Shale Gas - Nov. 14

Managing the Risks of Shale Gas:
Identifying a Pathway toward
Responsible Development

Hosted by Resources for the Future (RFF)
November 14, 2011

For decades, natural gas has played an important role in electricity generation, industrial uses, and heating in the United States—and with recent improvements in horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") of shale formations, drillers can now access a vastly greater amount of gas at lower cost than in the past.
The rapid growth in drilling and extraction, however, has resulted in tensions—from the community level to the federal policy level. Questions about the risks and safety of shale gas development continue, even as industry has improved disclosure, shared best practices, and assured the public that hydraulic fracturing techniques are safe.
Given these challenges, this year RFF's Center for Energy Economics and Policy (CEEP) launched an initiative to identify the priority risks associated with shale gas development and recommend strategies for responsible development. The CEEP research team will survey expert opinion and public perceptions to deter­mine the most significant risks and the behaviors of industry and regulators that influence those risks. Pairing these findings with analysis of existing state and federal policies and voluntary industry actions will lead to recommendations for how to improve the management of shale gas development.
Please join us on Nov. 14th for the public launch of this project, featuring members of the CEEP team and our expert advisors who specialize in petroleum engineering, geochemistry, and hydrology. The group will provide a context for the interest in shale gas, an overview of the shale gas development process, a drill-down on several potential risks, and a presentation of the initial stages of our work.
RFF is grateful to the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation for their generous support of this initiative and event.

A full agenda is available here.

To RSVP for this event, please visit RFF's event registration page.

This seminar will also be webcast live beginning at 9:00 a.m.

Climate Change, Water, and Conflict in the Niger River Basin - Nov. 17 at the Wilson Center

Please join the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Africa Program and Environmental Change and Security Program for a report launch on

Climate Change, Water, and Conflict in the Niger River Basin

featuring

Lulsegged Abebe, West Africa Programme Manager, International Alert

Roger Few, Senior Research Fellow, School of International Development, University of East Anglia and Member of the Tyndell Centre for Climate Change Research

Marisa Goulden, Lecturer in Climate Change, Tyndell Centre for Climate Change Research and the School of International Development, University of East Anglia

Phil Vernon, Director of Programmes, Africa and Peacebuilding Issues, International Alert

 

Thursday, November 17, 2011

9:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.

5th Floor Conference Room

Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20004 USA

Webcast live at www.wilsoncenter.org

 Please RSVP to ecsp@wilsoncenter.org with your name and affiliation.

International Alert, the London-based conflict resolution NGO, has partnered with researchers at the University of East Anglia to examine links between environmental stress, climate change, human (in)security, conflict, and adaptation  along the Niger River. Please join us for a discussion of how the consequences of climate change and climate variability are interacting with societal, economic, political, and other contextual factors to increase human insecurity and the risk of conflict, and identify ways in which adaptation can reduce this risk.  This report launch is part of the Wilson Center’s Resources for Peace Project, a collaboration between the Environmental Change and Security Program and USAID’s Office of Conflict Management and Mitigation.

Location: Woodrow Wilson Center at the Ronald Reagan Building, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave., NW ("Federal Triangle" stop on Blue/Orange Line), 5th Floor Conference Room. A map to the Center is available at www.wilsoncenter.org/directions. Note: picture ID is required to pass through security.

Rethinking pesticide-drenched, manicured lawns: TOMORROW at 7 pm in Wechsler

Walking the Talk:

Environmental Filmmaker Takes her Subject Seriously

On  Tuesday, November 8 at 7 pm in the Wechsler Theater

Catherine Zimmerman is a filmmaker and sustainable landscape designer based in the Washington, DC area. She has recently authored Urban & Suburban Meadows: Bringing Meadowscaping to Big and Small Spaces and is putting the finishing touches on a companion video. The book, video, and Catherine’s Meadow Project are her efforts to help people rethink their pesticide-ridden, manicured, monoculture lawns and return their land to beautiful, natural habitats for native plants and wildlife.

Wechsler Theater, 3^rd Floor, Mary Graydon Center

American University

4400 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20016-8017

Topics for Second Essay

Papers Due November 21

Choose among the following topics:

1. Why is there still chronic hunger in an age of food abundance? What needs to be done so that every person can enjoy sufficient quantities of safe, sustainably produced food?

2. When people are asked to name something that might be done to tackle environmental challenges, the answer is often “education.” What does that answer even mean? What kinds of environmental education matter or are important, given the severity of the environmental situation?

3. Some commentators suggest that environmental NGOs should focus increasingly on human development and human rights concerns. Other commentators have suggested that environmental NGOs are better off focusing strictly on environmental issues. Who is right? Does it make sense politically or strategically to separate environmental and human development challenges?

4. Intergovernmental talks are scheduled in Durban, South Africa, for November-December 2011, to consider a post-Kyoto climate change agreement. Your task is to prepare a briefing paper for the US negotiating team. Consider, what is the scientific and political background to the Durban talks? What is at stake? What should the US position be on the key issues likely to emerge at the Durban negotiations?

See your syllabus for further essay guidelines. Remember, your essay should make a strong ARGUMENT; it should be carefully and completely REFERENCED; and it should show lots of evidence of deep, sustained ENGAGEMENT with the texts we’ve been using in class, and with authoritative supplementary outside sources.

Spring 2012 Class with Professor Wapner

SPRING COURSE 2012

SIS-315.001
CONTEMPLATION AND POLITICAL CHANGE
(Tuesdays 11:45-2:25)

Professor Paul Wapner

(an advanced undergraduate course for students committed to environmental protection;
Prerequisite: SIS-388, “International Environmental Politics” or permission of the professor)

How do we best address environmental issues?  What types of activism are most effective at shifting structures of power?  How can we, as unique individuals, find our deepest engagement with environmental change?

This course explores the dynamics of environmental activism.  Students will undertake projects aimed at addressing climate change, loss of biological diversity, fresh water scarcity, or pollution.  In doing so, they will work to alter widespread practices at the university and beyond, and explore their own understandings of political engagement and internal growth. 

For centuries, thinkers and activists have wrestled with the question of political change.  Is genuine change a matter of altering structures of power, or adopting a different internal attitude to the world?  This course places studentsat the center of such questioning by investigating the interface between political engagement and self-understanding.  The course utilizes contemplative practices such as meditation, yoga, journaling and so forth as well as traditional methodologies to explore the relationship between external and internal environmental change.