GEG Project

Request for Proposals for GEG Project Website Redesign

shawna.cuan — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:28:42 +0000

In order to continue disseminating quality information on global environmental governance issues, the GEG Project has decided to redesign its current website and is calling for proposals from website designers. View the attached PDF for the job description and position requirements. Please keep in consideration the deadline for proposals, March 16th. Click here for the PDF.

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GEG Project Director Discusses Global Environmental Governance Reforms with IPS

shawna.cuan — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 16:02:02 +0000

Reporting from the 11th Special Session of the UNEP Governing Council/Global Ministerial Environmental Forum in Bali, Indonesia, Argentinian environmental journalist Marcela Valente discussed the majority sentiment of the conference’s attendees. “We need strong environmental governance, with more power and a bigger budget,” states Alida Spadafora, director of the Panamanian National Association for the Conservation of Nature, succinctly describing the conference’s concluding opinion, that the current international environmental governance system must undergo reform. Reform options, however, cannot come from governments alone. The most vibrant thinking and ideas about these issues usually come from civil society, according to GEG Project Director, Maria Ivanova, who attended the conference as one of two elected North American Civil Society Representatives. Read the Inter Press Service article here.

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Children & Youth Address 11th Special Session of the UNEP Governing Council/Global Ministerial Environment Forum

shawna.cuan — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 12:55:24 +0000

“Climate change is the greatest threat to the survival of humankind in our modern history. It is both the clearest example of where younger and unborn generations’ needs are compromised by the lifestyles of older and current generations’.” YouthClimate.org, an international youth climate movement established during the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, is working towards a global young persons’ network of climate change activists. Presently, they have commanded the attention of the 11th Special Session of the UNEP Governing Council/Global Ministerial Forum in Bali through a series of key statements on international environmental governance and sustainable development, green economy, biodiversity and ecosystems, and chemical conventions. Among the rising leaders on climate change activism, Sara Svensson, Co-organizer of the Climate Justice Fast, organized a fast during the COP15 debates, drinking only water until the world’s nations could decide a global climate treaty. Read the Key Messages from the Children & Youth delivered by Sara Svensson at the UNEP Governing Council session here. To learn more about the COP15 fast, visit Climate Justice Fast.

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GEG Project Director Analyzes UNEP in Global Environmental Politics Journal

shawna.cuan — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 08:42:23 +0000

Global Environmental Politics, the pioneering journal on the relationship between global political forces and environmental change, published Global Environmental Governance Project Director, Maria Ivanova, in its February 2010 issue. The article analyzes the United Nations Environment Programme’s performance and the key factors which have determined its track record. According to Dr. Ivanova, the “organization’s mixed performance over the years can be explained by the combined effects of three factors: institutional design, executive leadership and geographical location.” In order to revitalize UNEP in the coming years, any future reform must consider management, work culture, and organizational vision, concludes Dr. Ivanova. Read the article here.

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GEG Project Newsletters Now Online!

shawna.cuan — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 19:19:49 +0000

Please visit our updated Publications Page to view all GEG Project Newsletters. As an avenue for current events and announcements concerning the GEG Project Team and Network, the newsletters also provide discussions of the latest developments in the political debates on global environmental governance.

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GEG Project Director Receives Mary Lyon Award

shawna.cuan — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 01:40:38 +0000

Global Environmental Governance Project Director, Maria Ivanova, received the prestigious Mary Lyon Award from Mount Holyoke College. The award is given to a young alumna who has been out of College fifteen years or less for promised or sustained achievement in her life, profession, and community, consistent with the humane values exemplified by Mary Lyon, the College’s founder. Dr. Maria Ivanova received a Bachelor of Arts in European Studies from Mount Holyoke College in 1996, graduating summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa.

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GEG Project Director, Dr. Maria Ivanova, Discusses Global Environmental Governance with the Academic Council on the United Nations System

shawna.cuan — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 04:01:41 +0000

In a podcast interview with the Academic Council on the United Nations System (ACUNS), a professional association that actively studies multilateral relations, global governance, and international cooperation, Global Environmental Governance Project Director, Dr. Maria Ivanova, examines the international environmental system, highlighting six necessary functions for good environmental policy making. To effectively enact environmental policy, Dr. Ivanova argues that global institutions must serve as a: (1) coherent information clearinghouse, (2) developer of policies and norms, (3) catalyst, (4) coordinator between its currently fragmented multiple entities, with (5) the capacity to attain results, and (6) the authority to enforce environmental policies to provide accountability. In her concluding remarks on the system’s past achievements and current limitations, Dr. Ivanova refers to the words of Dean Emeritus of Yale’s Environment School, Gus Speth, who noted that “we have won many battles but we are still losing the planet.” Listen to the podcast here.

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University of South Florida, School of Global Sustainability Search for Founding Director

shawna.cuan — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 22:02:31 +0000

The University of South Florida invites nominations or applications for the position of founding Director of the USF School of Global Sustainability. This is a full-time, 12-month tenured Full Professor position with benefits. USF’s newly established School of Global Sustainability was created in response to overwhelming student and faculty interest, and is central to the University’s Strategic Plan. Candidates should have an outstanding international reputation and recognition for interdisciplinary research and scholarly activities in sustainability. The Director position description can be found below in addition to executive summaries on the School of Global Sustainability and the Master of Arts. The application deadline is February 3rd, 2010 though applications will continue to be accepted until the position is filled.

USF School of Global Sustainability_Director Description

School of Global Sustainability_Executive Summary

Master of Arts in Global Sustainability_Executive Summary

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GEG Project Director Discusses Global Environmental Governance with Alternatives Economiques

shawna.cuan — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 14:27:57 +0000

The preeminent French economic journal, Alternatives Economiques, interviewed Global Environmental Governance Project Director Dr. Maria Ivanova on the present condition of the global environmental governance system. The current system, argues Dr. Ivanova, must be reformed. “The effectiveness of the governance system is reduced because numerous institutions establish their own norms and follow their own policies without cooperation or coordination.” Instead, a proactive institutional mechanism with the means to inform, set standards, mobilize different stakeholders and hold actors accountable should be established. The most important precondition for the creation of an effective, legitimate and equitable system for global environmental governance, Dr. Ivanova says, is a “rethinking of our moral and ethical values and the development of a new ethic of global citizenship.” Read the interview transcript in French and in English.

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Dean Emeritus of the Yale Environment School, Gus Speth, Delivers Annual John H. Chafee Lecture

shawna.cuan — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 13:22:02 +0000

At the 10th National Conference on Science, Policy, and the Environment: The New Green Economy, Dean Emeritus of the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and GEG Forum Participant, Gus Speth delivered the Senator John H. Chafee Memorial Lecture. Titled, “A New American Environmentalism and the New Economy,” Speth remarked on the parallels between the environmental crises of the 1970s and today, which now demand similar political, economic, and social intervention, “It’s time for something different – a new environmentalism. We must build a new environmentalism in America. And here is the core of the new environmentalism: it seeks a new economy. And to deliver on the promise of the new economy, we must build a new politics.” According to Speth, the unquestioning commitment to unlimited growth has undermined the planet’s ability to sustain life. Read the transcribed speech, here or visit our GEG Bookshelf for the lecture and other global environmental governance publications.

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