The Bard Center for Environmental Policy and the Bard MBA in Sustainability are looking for motivated students who are ready to embark on an exciting educational journey. Our students come from a variety of academic disciplines, and they bring to Bard a passion about their future role as environmental and business leaders. Interdisciplinary course work, faculty-student mentorships, and professional hands-on experiences provide the platform students need to succeed academically and professionally. Both Bard CEP and Bard MBA offer competitive merit fellowships, project assistantships, and campus employment opportunities for qualified candidates.

The Bard MBA in Sustainability focuses on the business case for sustainability. We train students to see how firms can integrate economic, environmental, and social objectives, the triple bottom line, to create successful businesses that build a more sustainable world. Graduates of the Bard MBA Program will transform existing companies, start their own businesses, and pioneer new ways of operating that meet human needs, while protecting and restoring the earth’s natural systems. The Bard MBA is a low-residency program structured around “weekend intensives” with regular online instruction between these residencies. Five of these intensives are held each term: four in the heart of New York City and one in the Hudson Valley. Residencies take place over four days, beginning Friday morning, and ending Monday afternoon.

Website: http://www.bard.edu/mba
Contact: Katie Van Sant MS '07
E-mail: kvansant@bard.edu
Phone: 845-758-7388
Application Due Dates: Early: January 15, 2013; Regular: March 15, 2013; Final: May 15, 2013

The Bard Center for Environmental Policy believes that to solve environmental challenges and achieve sustainability in our institutions and in society, government and business policies must be grounded in the best available science. Bard CEP’s cohort-based program and intensive, campus-based, first-year curriculum require students to synthesize information from a range of disciplines and sources. The emphasis on science-based policy enables students to progress from knowledge of the issues to the formulation of feasible, effective policy responses. Distinctive program features include a modular approach to course work; close student-faculty interaction; professional internships; practical training in geographic information systems (GIS), statistics, leadership, and communication strategies; and research opportunities created to fit student interests.

Website: http://www.bard.edu/cep
Contact: Molly Williams MS '08
E-mail: mwilliam@bard.edu
Phone: 845-758-7071
Application Due Date: Early: January 15, 2013; Regular: March 15, 2013; Final: May 15, 2013

Oxfam Online Discussion: The Future of Agriculture

The Future of Agriculture: debate the experts

Join Oxfam’s global online policy discussion

December 10-21, 2012 at blogs.oxfam.org/future-of-agriculture

The second in Oxfam’s online discussion series will feature essays by leading thinkers from around the world. They will address four provocative questions:

·         What if farmer’s knowledge were the driver of innovations and investments?

·         What if women owned the land they till and the food they produce?

·         What if all food were produced without fossil fuels?

·         What if all farmers could rely on effective systems to manage risk?

New essays will be posted daily, and every day will feature YOU, responding to the experts’ ideas and sharing your own. The discussion will take place simultaneously in English, Spanish and French. All essays and comments will inform an Oxfam discussion paper to be published in 2013.

The Future of Agriculture: debate the experts

·         John Ambler: Vice President, Strategy of Oxfam America

·         Julio Berdegue: Principal Researcher, Latin American Center for Rural Development (RIMISP)

·         Prem Bindraban: Director of ISRIC (World Soil Information)

·         Sonali Bisht: Sustainable development consultant

·         Nicko Debenham: Director Development and Sustainability Armajaro Trading Limited

·         Shenggen Fan: Director General, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)

·         Susan Godwin, Nigerian farmer

·         José Graziano da Silva: Director-General, UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)

·         Rokeya Kabir: Founder, Bangladesh Nari Progati Sangha, a Bangladeshi women's organization

·         Anna Lappé: Founding principal, Small Planet Institute

·         Pat Mooney: Co-founder and executive director, ETC Group

·         Sophia Murphy: Senior Advisor, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy

·         Tarcila Rivera Zea, Executive Director of Chirapaq, Perú

·         Bill McKibben: Founder, 350.org

·         Madiodio Niasse: Secretariat Director, International Land Coalition (ILC)

·         Kanayo F. Nwanze: President, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)

·         Michael O'Gorman: Founder, Farmer-Veteran Coalition

·         Harold Poelma: Managing Director, Cargill Refined Oils Europe

·         Kavita Prakash-Mani: Head of Food Security Agenda, Syngenta International

·         Sarojeni Rengam: Executive Director, Pesticide Action Network Asia and the Pacific

·         Roger Thurow: Author of The Last Hunger Season and ENOUGH

·         Florence Wambugu: CEO and Founder, Africa Harvest Biotech Foundation International

·         Alexis Nicolás Ibáñez Blancas, Researcher, Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina, Perú

Please spread the word and join the discussion at

blogs.oxfam.org/future-of-agriculture!

For more information: gine.zwart@oxfamnovib.nl or jfrench@oxfamamerica.org