Institute for Emerging Sustainability Leaders

Posted by on January 28, 2013

Institute for Emerging Sustainability Leaders
A Leadership Forum in Peru
June 30th – July 12th, 2013

The Amazon Center for Environmental Education and Research (ACEER) invites applications for its second annual 12-day Institute for Emerging Sustainability Leaders in Peru scheduled for June 30 – July 12, 2013. This year’s Institute is open to masters and doctoral level students, educators, scientists, business leaders, and professionals in the field of sustainability as well as individuals interested in developing a more planetary perspective on the role of women in sustainable development, rainforest conservation, climate change, education, and sustainable communities. You can find background information below.

Up to 20 North and South Americans will be selected as Sustainability Leaders and join an international faculty to explore urgent sustainability issues of global importance. Application letters should be submitted via e-mail by Friday, February 15th to Mary Ann Robinson, mrobinson@wcupa.edu. Your email should briefly:
– explain why you want to participate in this year’s Institute for Emerging Sustainability Leaders,
– list knowledge, skills (including Spanish language skills), work, and course experiences related to this year’s themes: women in sustainable development, education for sustainability, rainforest conservation, and climate change, and
– describe your degree of understanding and interest in sustainability and/or sustainable development.

Selected Sustainability Leaders will be notified by Friday, March 1st and will have until Friday, March 22nd to complete the registration form and submit a $500 deposit. The final balance will be due no later than April 24th, 2013. The cost of the Institute is $2,450 from Lima (double occupancy). A number of partial of scholarships may be available for applicants based on need.

Academic credit will be available through West Chester University of Pennsylvania. Contact Dr. Paul Morgan, pmorgan@wcupa.edu, for more information.

ACEER Foundation
Institute for Emerging Sustainability Leaders
Background Information

Challenge & Vision: There are increasingly urgent conservation crises – exploited natural resources, melting glaciers, and disappearing rainforests – that challenge all nations to pursue human development agendas that are socially just, economically viable, and genuinely sustainable. Despite growing interest in sustainability in North America, even the most successful efforts tend not to go much beyond “reducing unsustainability.” While green consumerism has hit its stride, the underlying conservation crises continue to worsen. One of the major obstacles is the bubble of affluence and media distraction, coupled with disconnection from the sources and consequences of a consumptive, resource intensive culture. What’s needed is a new breed of sustainability leaders who are grounded in the reality of life outside the bubble, who have a planetary perspective, and who have the global connections and cross-cultural skills to catalyze initiatives that aim for sustainability, not just less unsustainability.

Each year, our international delegation of Sustainability Leaders engages in an immersive experience in the Peruvian Andes and the rainforest of the Amazon basin. As an ACEER Sustainability Leader, you will be provided:
– an experiential learning opportunity designed to ground you in the reality outside the bubble of affluence and distraction,
– access to in-country leaders working at the grassroots and governmental levels,
– an opportunity to form personal and professional relationships with peers in North and South America,
– a context in which to form a genuinely planetary perspective on the most pressing conservation and sustainability challenges,
– opportunities to strengthen your passion for and interest in the natural world,
– support and encouragement to scale-up your own programs and initiatives, and
– follow-up connections and experiences to help you stay grounded, committed, and to . . . Bring the Amazon Home.

Our talented, international pool of Institute faculty, drawn from diverse sectors across the Americas, consist of leaders from government, business, science, education, health care and non-profits working in conservation and on human rights issues. As a Sustainability Leader, you will have an unparalleled opportunity for serious face to face conversations aimed at real world problem solving and service.

The ACEER Institute for Emerging Sustainability Leaders is funded in part by the National Geographic Society and is conducted in association with West Chester University of Pennsylvania.