Sanford School of Public Policy
Duke University
Environment and Sustainable Development Course
This course explores the range of issues, actors and institutions in the
field of environment and sustainable development. How can we curb climate change? What is required to confront biodiversity loss? What institutions do
we need to balance conservation with efforts to address poverty and promote
economic development? The course examines a range of contemporary
challenges facing human societies when managing their relationships with
each other and with nature. It builds on Geneva's role as host to major
multilateral environmental agreements, the UN Environment Programme's
Regional Office for Europe, as well as a range of nongovernmental
organizations focusing on environment and sustainable development. It
encourages participants to think about the kind of future they want, and the
role of governance in getting there.
The course will run from June 29-July 3, 2009 (Course dates for 2010 are yet to be determined)
Course-Only Option
For summer 2009, the program will offer students the option of directly enrolling in one or more of the intensive weeklong courses for academic credit (without the internship component of the program). For additional information, please click here.
Course Director Information
Oli Brown is a Geneva-based researcher and program manager at the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD). IISD is an independent, not-for-profit environment and development research institute based in Canada with offices in Ottawa, Winnipeg, New York and Geneva. Oli manages IISD’s Environment and Security program and also co-ordinates the Trade Knowledge Network - a network of developing country research organizations working on the ways in which trade and investment policies can enable sustainable development.
With a first degree in Social Anthropology from the University of Glasgow and a Masters in International Relations from the University of Otago, Oli spent two years in Nepal managing education and conservation projects and a year and a half as a trade policy researcher for Oxfam GB. He has completed consultancies for the UNDP, the International Organization for Migration and International Alert and has written on a wide range of trade, environment and sustainable development issues.
Paige McClanahan is the editor of Bridges Weekly Trade News Digest, a trade newsletter published by the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development. She previously worked in Washington, DC at the Pinchot Institute for Conservation, a forest policy think tank, and at the League of Conservation Voters, an environmental campaigns group. She holds Master’s degrees in public policy and environmental management from Duke University and received a Bachelor’s degree with honors from Williams College. Paige was a participant in the Duke Program on Global Policy and Governance program during the summer of 2007.
Sanford Building