Summer School on Global Sustainability-Projects & Working Groups

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Active, assertive participation by students is an intrinsic part of this event. At the beginning of the program participants will be divided into approximately six groups, each group designed to be as topically and geographically diverse as possible. Chairperson and rapporteur roles may rotate within each group.

Group Tasks

Groups have several tasks. One function is to discuss each day’s lectures among themselves and to be prepared to actively participate in the group discussion sessions each day. In addition, each group will be tasked with write a summary of the main points of the talks by two lecturers, one from the first week and one from the second week. Responsibilities may be divided, that is, each of the six students might be responsible for producing a lecture transcription, editing duties could be divided, etc. The lecture summaries should include comments by the group on the broader implications of the lectures, and resonance to other presentations. Each speaker will be available to meet with the respective group covering his/her lectures.

Additionally, each group will be asked to produce a research agenda as a product of the school. This would not be limited to the lectures each group covered, but rather focus on the entire two-week agenda and identify synergies, areas of disagreement, and gaps in our knowledge that can be resolved by future research. The final day of the school will include a plenary session during which each group’s rapporteur presents the research agenda. This material may be edited and produced in book form. Finally we will produce an open letter to President Obama or Science Advisor John Holdren with a summary of these research agendas.