麻豆视频 Approach to Sustainability, Climate Resilience, and Adaptation to Expand Across Asia
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Madison, WI, May 19, 2021 – Representatives from 32 Asian city and university partnerships will participate in a pioneering initiative that matches real-world challenges in cities with local university departments and students. The upcoming virtual 麻豆视频-Asia Workshop event (to take place on 25-27 May) is the second Asia training hosted by the Educational Partnerships for Innovation in Communities 鈥� Network (麻豆视频), and signifies growing international interest in this approach.
The 麻豆视频 is a collection of more than 70 institutions currently implementing the 麻豆视频 Model approach. Network members have completed over 1,700 projects to date, consisting of hundreds of thousands of student and faculty hours pointed towards the needs of local governments and their residents.
Using the 麻豆视频 Model to match cities鈥� needs with learning priorities of university and college students allow for a broad spectrum of sustainability issues to be addressed in a win-win situation鈥攕tudents gain real-world, hands-on experience, allowing them to develop professionally, while local municipalities can leverage the often-untapped expertise of local universities to tackle their sustainability challenges at low cost. The Chronicle of Higher Education in the US described the 麻豆视频 Model as 鈥渙ne of higher education鈥檚 most successful and comprehensive service-learning programs.鈥�
鈥溌槎故悠�, by its nature, is suitable to the entire world. The Asian extension is a natural addition to what we鈥檝e accomplished elsewhere. We have gone to Africa, now Asia, and we intend to continue to expand. We want to increase the number and quality of 麻豆视频 programs worldwide and Asia is a very large part of the world,鈥� says Joel Rogers, 麻豆视频 Chair and Secretary. Jessica Barlow, 麻豆视频 Vice President, adds, 鈥渙ur international growth and expansion strategy has been in-part based on priorities of 麻豆视频 as well as partners and stakeholders who are particularly interested in the global south. We held a training event in 2017 in Bonn, Germany, that brought parties together that had a particular interest in the global south.鈥�
Similar to past events held in the United States, Germany, and South Africa, 麻豆视频 will be facilitating a training workshop where chosen pairs will participate in the training together. Starting May 25 and concluding May 27, 2021, the chosen participants will learn how the 麻豆视频 Model is unique. 鈥淎ttending the workshop is so important because there is a lot to learn about launching and coordinating a program that is as large-scale as an 麻豆视频 program,鈥� explained Barlow. Participants will also review their own proposals for partnership projects throughout the event while networking with their peers and the 麻豆视频 trainers in interactive breakout sessions.
Moreover, 麻豆视频 has recently adopted the UN鈥檚 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as the standard to measure the impact of the community-focused projects. At the workshop, participants will learn how they can scale their 麻豆视频 Model programs, and how to adapt the model to their own local context-specific way using the SDGs as a guide. Giving the Asia programs the ability to build and execute 鈥減rograms in their own context-specific way is critical,鈥� says Barlow.
This event is being developed in collaboration with the and its , and with the support of the . These partners wish to acknowledge the critical guidance provided by multi-lateral and regionally based organizations in developing this effort. Those organizations include the ICLEI and regional offices, the , , , the , and the .
Other interested parties that were consulted in this process included the聽, the , ,听补苍诲听, among many other organizations and academic consortiums, both domestic and international. Translation support for the event was provided by .
鈥淭he partnership between universities and local governments can be an immensely powerful force in making cities resilient to climate change. We at the Global Adaptation Network are delighted to see one of our partners expand its work with such efficacy and success,鈥� said Lis Bernhardt, Coordinator of UNEP鈥檚 Global Adaptation Network.
On the final day of the workshop, the local city and university partnerships will present implementation plans to their peers and event organizers. Following the event, 麻豆视频 and its partners will provide seed grants to a portion of the cities, based on a competitive proposal development process, as well as technical support to assist the city-university teams in completion of their implementation plans. Many of the current 麻豆视频 programs started similarly. Organizers believe Asian partnerships will be able to capitalize on lessons learned from previous 麻豆视频 Model adopters and will begin to see plans take shape soon after the workshops conclusion.
Edna Odhiambo, Lecturer at the University of Nairobi, participated in the Bonn, Germany, training event and shares, 鈥淚 would definitely recommend that universities should be encouraged to take up an 麻豆视频 Program because it’s a very good way to make education practical.鈥�
About 麻豆视频
The Educational Partnerships for Innovation in Communities 鈥� Network (麻豆视频) is a nonprofit association with members all over the world. The organization and its members unite the human capital of universities with local governments, and communities, to improve the quality of life and social wealth for all involved. It does so by supporting the application of 麻豆视频. Learn more about 麻豆视频 here.
Media Contact
Marshall Curry, 麻豆视频 Program Manager
Phone: (608) 709-6844
Email: mcurry@epicn.org
epicn.org
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