School of Public Policy Hosts Winter UN Sustainability Course

The School of Public Policy is co-organizing the United Nations Global Sustainable Solutions Winter School 2022, a free workshop open to all UMass Amherst graduate students.

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The course, which will run from Jan. 6 to 20, offers students an opportunity to learn from and network with practitioners and scholars in the international sustainability field, with a particular focus on water security and ecosystem-based disaster risk reduction and climate adaptation.

“This year, once more, our program will include leading experts from all over the world,” said Professor Marta Vicarelli of the School of Public Policy and the department of economics, who organized the course with Professor Nidhi Nagabhatla of the United Nations University and McMaster.

“One of the best parts of the Winter School is that it may act as a catalyst for the professional development of its participants,” Vicarelli continued. “Last year many of our students developed professional collaborations with the speakers and with students from other universities, including consultancies, presentations at conferences and even the development of peer-reviewed academic papers.”

This is the second year of the UN Winter School, which is sponsored by the School of Public Policy, the United Nations University and McMaster University, along with the Partnership for Environment and Disaster Risk Reduction (PEDRR), a global alliance of UN agencies, NGOs and institutes. This year the Winter School is also supported by the United Nations University Climate Resilience Initiative, focused on proactively addressing the rise of extreme flooding in Europe.

Graduate students from the three universities are invited to apply to the program, which is free of charge and will be capped at 25 students. The deadline to apply is Dec. 24.

Students will attend seminars every Tuesday and Thursday, where they will hear from speakers from the UN and PEDRR. The course will also include class discussions and weekly assignments.

In September, Vicarelli and Nagabhatla delivered a keynote address about the UN Winter School at a virtual global symposium organized by PEDRR, which is interested in reproducing the model in other countries.

Interested students should apply online by midnight on Dec. 24. Email Vicarelli with any questions.