| JOHANNESBURG--Dean
Sutphin, Associate Dean and Director of Academic
Programs at Cornell University, had only an acorn
of an idea seven years ago. But an acorn can
become a mighty oak tree. "I had no funding and no
partners, only this vision of a new approach towards
science and education for the building up of a
network of universities, where students could get
involved in problem-solving across national borders," he
told The Earth Times at the World Summit on Sustainable
Development (WSSD). "I decided to call my
vision 'Global Seminar.'" Sutphin envisaged
connecting students and faculties from all over
the world--developing and developed--through video-conferencing
and the use of information technology, to tackle
critical issues concerning the environment and
sustainable development. "Food, health,
nutrition, global warming, biodiversity--these
were some of
the issues I felt needed to be addressed, but
in a research-based manner." After
the germination of the idea, his next step was to
get hold of core partners. "I approached various
university leaders and faculties and found them surprisingly
responsive."
Step two was to get some funding. The
US Department of Agriculture stepped
in with a grant of $80,000. Theodore
Kheel, a leading labor negotiations lawyer
and a fellow Cornell alumnus, along with
Jon Roth, a prominent businessman, also
gave support and funds, after which additional
money came from the Atlantic Philanthropic
Society (APS) and from the American Distance
Educational Consortium (ADEC).
Starting
with seven core members (now called
partners), Sutphin tested his
model for four years. Satisfied he was
on the right track, and with additional
funding forthcoming, he expanded his
idea. "We now cover 20 countries,
from the North and the South, with over
2,000 students participating," he
says with a justifiable touch of pride. "Our
clients are undergraduate students primarily
in colleges of agriculture and life sciences
from universities on every continent.
Some of the central themes that we covered
last year were, food security, water
and population."
He
adds that the average class is deliberately
kept small--less than 30 students--so
that the experience is more intense and
the annual meetings of faculties are
held at localities where case studies
can be examined at first hand. "Hence,
we have met at Uppsala in Sweden but
also at Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic."
The
main purpose of Global Seminar, elaborates
Sutphin, is to increase the
global awareness of students and to get
them to develop an understanding of the
economic, social, political, cultural
and environmental dimensions of sustainable
food systems. "We can learn from
each other's experiences, see different
perspectives of the North and the South."
His
most recent expansion of Global Seminar
is the setting up of a training
institute. "This is mainly for faculties,
administrators and technicians, to prepare
them to work in a global, scientific
and learning environment." The seven
initial partners have grown to 40, with
another 100 pushing at the gate asking
for entry, adds Sutphin with a smile.
The acorn has, indeed, become a mighty
oak.
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