New AM Students Website

The new website of the Agris Mundus Alumni and Students is now online, please check it on www.agrismundusalumni.org. This blog won't be updated anymore.
Thanks for visiting our blog, see you on the site!!!

Photography contest on climate change

The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) announces the Second International Photo Contest. The theme chosen is "Conserving land and water - securing our common future”. The deadline for submitting photos is June 17, 2009.

More info on: http://southasia.oneworld.net/event/photography-contest-on-climate-change

13th EMA newsletter

13TH EMA NEWSLETTER
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Dear EMA members,
Warm winds of spring are on the way, as well as the Third EMA General Assembly, which will take place in June in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius.
Below you will find information on a Call for Applications for the position of EMA Vice-President, details on attending the GA as an observer and other relevant and, we hope, interesting news.
The Erasmus Mundus Master Course in European Literary Cultures is featuring in the "One Issue - One Programme" section this time, for which we thank the students of CLE.
Enjoy reading!

EMACall for applications: EMA Vice-President
The call for expression of interest in the position of the Vice President of the EMA is now open.(http://community.em-a.eu/index.php?id=196&rid=f_6453&mid=255&aC=a2f36290&jumpurl=-1)

Field Reporter Initiative
The Internal Communication Team of EMA is proud to launch the FIELD REPORTING PROJECT. (http://community.em-a.eu/index.php?id=196&rid=f_6453&mid=255&aC=a2f36290&jumpurl=-2)

Third General Assembly
EMA will gather for its third General Assembly in Vilnius, Lithuania on June 5-6, 2009. (http://community.em-a.eu/index.php?id=196&rid=f_6453&mid=255&aC=a2f36290&jumpurl=-3)

Final Results of the EMMC Representatives Online Elections
More than half of the Erasmus Mundus Master Courses have selected their representatives during EMA online elections. (http://community.em-a.eu/index.php?id=196&rid=f_6453&mid=255&aC=a2f36290&jumpurl=-4)

Winner of the Emanate Photo Competition
Readers of Emanate magazine have chosen the winner of the Photo Competition. (http://community.em-a.eu/index.php?id=196&rid=f_6453&mid=255&aC=a2f36290&jumpurl=-5)

Erasmus Mundus: results and phase 2
400 participants from more than 60 countries contributed to the success of the Erasmus Mundus (2009-2013)Launch Conference. (http://community.em-a.eu/index.php?id=196&rid=f_6453&mid=255&aC=a2f36290&jumpurl=-6)

International Education Events: Europosgrados in Argentina
EXPO EuroPosgrados Argentina takes plance in Buenos Aires on 15 and 16 of May, 2009. (http://community.em-a.eu/index.php?id=196&rid=f_6453&mid=255&aC=a2f36290&jumpurl=-7)

Belgrade Summer School 2009
Belgrade Summer School is an event gathering students and young people from the whole world around a common goal –improvement of communication in one of 10 languages (English, Spanish,French, Italian, German, Greek, Russian, Arabic, Chinese and Serbian) while getting to know Belgrade and Serbia. (http://community.em-a.eu/index.php?id=196&rid=f_6453&mid=255&aC=a2f36290&jumpurl=-8)

The Ark of Europe Saint-Petersburg University, University of Bologna,University of Malta and University of George Mason (USA) organize alarge-scale Summer University in Malta. (http://community.em-a.eu/index.php?id=196&rid=f_6453&mid=255&aC=a2f36290&jumpurl=-9)

China-Europa Forum
Erasmus Mundus alumni are invited to take part in the China-Europa Forum. (http://community.em-a.eu/index.php?id=196&rid=f_6453&mid=255&aC=a2f36290&jumpurl=-10)

Conference on the European Labour Market for Academic Graduates
Call for participation in International Conference on the European Labour Market for Academic Graduates: "Will Higher Education be ready for the European Labour Market?" (http://community.em-a.eu/index.php?id=196&rid=f_6453&mid=255&aC=a2f36290&jumpurl=-11)

Survey on international student support services
European Universities' International Services in the Erasmus Mundus Framework (EMIS) asks for your collaboration. (http://community.em-a.eu/index.php?id=196&rid=f_6453&mid=255&aC=a2f36290&jumpurl=-12)

One Issue One Programme: CLE
We would like to get to know Erasmus Mundus Courses better - this time the students present their “Erasmus Mundus Master Course in European Literary Cultures". (http://community.em-a.eu/index.php?id=196&rid=f_6453&mid=255&aC=a2f36290&jumpurl=-13)

Lobbyist Sustainability Food Companies UK / France / Germany - Fairfood

Fairfood International is an international non-profit campaign and lobby organisation, which encourages the food and beverage industry to make its supply chains more sustainable. In this way Fairfood contributes to the fight against global hunger and poverty.

More info on: http://www.fairfood.org/over-ons/vacatures/project-leader-brand-owners/

From our Italian correspondent in Uganda

hi all,

welcome to the Pearl of Africa. where I'm right now, outside world is secured by the white shade of the mosquito net. nothing can pass through. nothing but music from the neighborhood. drums, chants. sunday here is an happy day. it's God's day.
since i've landed in Kampala -ten days ago- my life is spelled by warm and dusty days. everyone the same. slow. regular. here there's no winter, no spring. sun rises at six and at six regularly disappear down in a lake, or behind a mountain far away west.
with sunset comes the rain, held by the wind. the early gusts breaks sultriness, forecast a wet relief from the heat. wind blows and roads became empty, first drops comes. rain catches only the few that can't posticipate their duties. only who hasn't got enough time to stop under a shelter, and safely watch roads become streams and streams become rivers. it's a matter of minutes, sometimes hours. everyday, at sunset. they call it rainy season.

since two days I'm in Lira town, north part of the country. here I will stay for the next 4 months. somebody told me that being at home means being able to move around without a map. if so, well, I'm already home!
the town rises along the only main road of the region, and is the furthest point of it. beyond only paths and dirt roads. mango, banana and avocado trees. the highest place is the fourth floor of one of the rare cement buildings downtown, and the three-floors twin blocks of a well-known hotel really deserve their high-sounding name of 'towers'.
national currency is the shilling, and you need almost 2500 of them to buy a euro. with fourteenhundred shillings you can taste a 'chapati' -traditional flat bread- and a big glass of insipid mango juice. for two thousand you can extra-size it with a sausage.

everything flows according to precise and undefined rithms. like the african step. slow but steady. sure to get there but nobody knows exactly when. smiles and elegance are endemic here, just like malaria. nobody hassle you, neither wants something. but if you give nobody says no.
i hope this introduction has arouse some curiosity in you, or maybe nostalgia. and i hope you wouldn't mind to receive, now and then, the continuation of this story.

cheers filippo

Application for EMA President and Vice-President

Dear EMA members,

this is to inform you that all EMA members are encouraged to apply for positions of EMA President and Vice President.
Deadline for the President candidacy is April 26th, 2009; deadline for Vice-president nominations is May 3, 2009.

To find out more about the Call for applications for the position of EMA President, please click here: http://www.em-a.eu/home/news/article/ema-elections-of-president.html?tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=6&cHash=e4000a91d0
To get more details on the Call for applications for the position of EMA Vice-President, please follow this link: http://www.em-a.eu/home/news/article/call-for-applications-ema-vice-president.html?tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=6&cHash=34352f678b

We hope for your active participation.

Sincerely,EMA Steering Committee

News from Madrid

Hello dear fellows, I hope you are all doing great!

We have already finished our course work in Madrid and most of our international colleagues have already returned to their home countries. We were 23 students from 13 different countries in Madrid´s International Master Course in Rural Local Development (1 Argentinean, 2 Bolivians, 2 Brazilians, 2 Chileans, 1 Colombian, 2 Ecuadorians, 3 Spanish, 1 USA, 1 Honduran, 1 Mexican, 2 Nicaraguans, 4 Peruvians and 1 Puerto Rican). At the moment, only the Agris Mundus students and those who are working on their Doctorates have remained.

It has been a very intense experience in which we have learned and shared many things. We started the Master in September with very interesting and engaging discussions through an online platform. Afterwards, from October to February we attended classes in the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. During this period we had to prepare a final project that we all presented in the third and fourth week of March. The Agris Mundus students have the opportunity to improve their final project between April and June to then be presented in its final version at the end of June.

Congratulations to all those who have already obtained the Master in Rural Local Development!! And good luck to the rest of the Agris Mundus Students!!

Un abrazo a tod@s,

Borja

Agris Mundus students in a professional situation in Senegal !

From the 24th of March till the 3rd of April 2009, some of the Agris Mundus students following the option “Public policies, markets and institutions (EcoDev)” in Montpellier, France, have had the opportunity to apply their theoretical formation in “project evaluation” to a case study in Senegal. Berdi, Ineke, Juan Carlos, Jairo and me (Handuo and Kimlong couldn’t get the visa at time unfortunately!) joined 12 other students to a study trip of 10 days in Fatick, a city in one of the poorest regions of Senegal.

The Senegalese consultancy group “GERAD” (Groupe d’Etude et de Recherche et d’Aide à la Décision, http://www.geradsn.org/accueil2.php) has commissioned our school to conduct the evaluation of its project PDIF, which created a regional solidarity fund to allow micro credits to women. It was a really interesting and hard exercise to evaluate a project which started 5 years ago and to gather so many stakeholders around local development issues: women groups, women unions, mutual insurance companies, regional and local councils, state technical services, etc.
For me, the best souvenir is the exchange with the 2 Senegalese working in the project, Lamine, sociologist and Cheick, financial assistant of the project that accompanied us all along the trip, sharing their experience and being so helpful and kind with us. The other good souvenir is the really warm welcome of all the women that we interviewed.

This kind of study trip is really important for students to become aware of the practical use of the theory learned during the classes but also of the real issues of development in the field. One important thing to remember from this trip: even though NGOs prefer to rely on expatriates to manage their projects, local competences exist and are the most adapted to find solutions to development issues in their country, as showed by the quality of the projects realized by this Senegalese consultancy group GERAD.

Julie MAYANS, France

REPORT FROM PARTICIPATING IN THE ERASMUS MUNDUS CLIMATE CHANGE CONFERENCE 2009, BUDAPEST.

Justice TAMBO, Batch 3 student from Ghana in the agricultural development track, attended and presented a paper on the Erasmus Mundus conference on Climate Change in Budapest.

Below you can read about his experiences and find some pictures from his stay in Budapest.

REPORT FROM PARTICIPATING IN THE ERASMUS MUNDUS CLIMATE CHANGE CONFERENCE 2009, BUDAPEST.
The conference was organised by the Erasmus Mundus Students and Alumni Association (EMA), a network for students and alumni of all Erasmus Mundus Masters Course (EMMC). This first Erasmus Mundus conference on the theme “Higher Education and Climate Change” took place on 26th – 27th February 2009 at Central European University (CEU) in Budapest, Hungary.
The purpose of the conference was to bring together experts and Erasmus Mundus students and alumni from a wide spectrum of disciplines to exchange views and experiences on issues related to problems of climate change and also establish an Erasmus Mundus Forum on Climate Change-an informal communication to continue the dialogue among interested members of the EMA and its partners.

It started with a welcome session and plenary session delivered by selected keynote speakers who are distinguished professors from various EMMCs. Among the key note speakers were Dianna Urge-Vorsatz, a professor at CEU and Director of the Center for Climate Change and Sustainable Energy Policy (3CSEP) and a member of the IPCC; Alice Newton, a professor at the University of Algarve, Portugal and Paavo Pelkonen, a professor and vice dean of faculty of Forest Sciences, University of Joensuu, Finland. They presented on various issues linking the EM programmes, higher education and climate change.

Then the conference was divided into four breakout sessions, each focusing on 1) agricultural, ecology, forestry and climate change, 2) energy, technological progress and climate change, 3) public policy and legal response to climate change, and 4) socio-cultural and economic aspects of climate change. I joined the agricultural ecology, forestry and climate change session. There were five presentations in each session for the first day. There was debriefing from each section for all participants to know the presentations for the day.

A social event – dinner and a boat tour on the Danube River was organized on the evening of the first day. This was the best dinner I have ever had. Having a dinner in a boat which was moving across a river dividing Buda and Pest was superb. The dinner offered a great opportunity to interact with other participants and created a platform for networking.

The presentations by EMA members continued on the second day. I was unlucky to be the first presenter for my section after a night of dinner but it went very well. I presented on the topic: Addressing the climate change challenge; what can sustainable agriculture do? It focused on the impacts of climate change on agriculture (both positive and negative) and how sustainable agriculture can help to solve the negative aspect through mitigation and adaptation. There were five presentations in each session.
There were many interesting presentations delivered by the keynote speakers as well as the EMA members: from the far-reaching implications of the changing climate (its causes and impacts), to the available options that our world may have in order to respond to mitigating and adapting to a changing climate.

We had the debriefing and a take home message from each section. The main conclusions from the agricultural, ecology, forestry and climate change section include:
1. Both agriculture and forestry are vulnerable but can contribute to mitigation.
2. Mitigation and adaptation have to go hand in hand
3. Education is needed to change the mindset of people about climate change
4. Look for solutions from a local level to a global level
5. Re-visit biotechnology
6. Research into solutions
7. Seek multi-sectoral solutions

The conference ended with the establishment of the Erasmus Mundus Climate Change Forum – a communication and networking platform set up for interested EMA members to enhance their life-long networking and interpersonal connections that can lead to a positive collective response to the climate change issue from the EMA community. An Ad Hoc Task Force was set up to facilitate further development and progress of the forum.

The various presentations from EMA members from different disciplines proved that the wide spectrum of disciplines covered by the EM programme can offer a unique multidisciplinary approach to tackling complex issues of climate change. The conference also served as one of the best means to gather EMA members and strengthen the EMA network.

I was very glad for the opportunity to participate in the conference because it offered me the opportunity to make new friends, network and learn a lot. Most of the participants (about 99%) at the conference were alumni and alumnae of various EMMC`s hence I was very lucky to be part of the few students who had the opportunity to attend the conference. I realised from interaction with the participants that all Erasmus Mundus students have a great future after graduation as almost all of the alumni/alumnae are pursuing PhD or working in reputable organizations across the world. I also found that people are not aware of Agris Mundus programme hence there is a need for more promotion of Agris Mundus. I believe we are on course through the creation of the website and participating in various EMA activities.

I will like to urge you all to get involve in EMA. Just log on to http://www.em-a.eu/ register to be a member and also keep updating yourselves with EMA issues and together we can make EMA a better association. By the way please don´t forget to contribute your quota to the debate on climate change and always remember the Chinese proverb that states that ”the person who does not worry about the future will shortly have worries about the present”. I will inform you all if there is any new development on the Erasmus Mundus Climate Change Forum.

I would like to thank the Danish Development Research Network (DDRN) for the opportunity to participate in the first Erasmus Mundus Conference through the covering of my travel expenses.

By: Justice Akpene Tambo
Faculty of Life Sciences,
University of Copenhagen.
12th April, 2009.

New website under construction

As you might know, I am working on a 'real' Agris Mundus Students and Alumni website: www.agrismundusalumni.org
I now finished moving all the students profiles to this new website, please have a look at your profile and let me know if something needs to be changed. The rest of the site is still under construction, but I hope I can finish it soon!!

Scholarship awarded to AM student

Neda TRIFKOVIC from Serbia, who is currently working on her thesis research in Morocco, got awarded with The International Grant for Natural Resource Students from The Union of Natural Resource Students (FN). Neda is a student in the Food chains in development program (Cork/Copenhagen).

Congratulations!!!

More information: http://www.life.ku.dk/Maalgruppe/medarbejdere/life_internt/nyhedsbrev/nyt_navne/2009/474_grants_natural_resource.aspx

Call for papers - International NGO Journal

Dear Colleague,

Introducing ‘International NGO Journal (INGOJ)’
International NGO Journal (INGOJ) publishes high-quality solicited and unsolicited articles, in English, in all areas of Non Governmental Organization (NGO) activities.

INGOJ is founded to publish proposals, appraisals and reports of NGO projects. The aim is to have centralized information for NGO activities where stakeholders including beneficiaries of NGO services can find useful information about ongoing projects and where to obtain particular assistance. Also prospective donors will easily find information about different NGOs and decide which to fund on specific projects.

Our objective is to inform authors of the decision on their manuscript(s) within four weeks of submission. Following acceptance, a paper will normally be published in the next issue. Instruction for authors and other details are available on our website www.academicjournals.org/INGOJ.
Prospective authors should send their manuscript(s) to ngo@academicjournals.org

Open Access
One key request of researchers across the world is unrestricted access to research publications. INGOJ is fully committed Open Access Initiative by providing free access to all articles (both abstract and full PDF text) as soon as they are published. We ask you to support this initiative by publishing your papers in this journal.

Publication Alert
We will be glad to send you a publication alert showing the table of content with link to the various abstracts and full PDF text of articles published in each issue. Kindly send us an email if you will like to receive publication alert.

Best regards, Emeje Cynthia
Editorial AssistantInternational NGO Journal
E-mail: ngo@academicjournals.org http://www.academicjournals.org/INGOJ

EMA Newsletter

12TH EMA NEWSLETTER

Dear EMA members,
A lot of EMA events and activites took place in the last couple of months:the first EMA large-scale thematic conference "Erasmus Mundus Conference -Climate Change and Higher Education" in Budapest was a success; ErasmusMundus Programme Phase 2 was officially launched in Brussels, EMA LiaisonGroup meeting was held in Brussels.
The EMA Regional Chapters also organized social events. EMA develops further and the Call for Representatives of Erasmus Mundus Master Courses is now open. Please read the details under EMA sectionbelow. We thank Jantine Vos from Erasmus Mundus master in Law and Economics for writing about the course in the "One Issue - One Programme" section. Enjoy reading this newsletter issue and we hope that spring is on the way!

EMA

EMA Call for Representatives of Erasmus Mundus Master Courses
Call for expression of interest to apply for the position of “ErasmusMundus Course Representative” at EMA is now open.[more] (http://community.em-a.eu/index.php?id=163&rid=f_6453&mid=243&aC=a2f36290&jumpurl=-1)

EU-China Meeting on Graduate Education and Cooperation in Beijing
EMAmembers take part in EU-Asia Higher Education Platform dialogue in China (http://community.em-a.eu/index.php?id=163&rid=f_6453&mid=243&aC=a2f36290&jumpurl=-2)

EMA member takes part in the UN Climate Change Conference
The United Nations Climate Change Conference in Poznan, Poland was held in December 2008. The conference had over 11,600 participants, with a new climatechange deal underway, in the huge and impressive venue. EMA member Marianne de Nazareth reports about the event. (http://community.em-a.eu/index.php?id=163&rid=f_6453&mid=243&aC=a2f36290&jumpurl=-3)

Emanate and Photo Competition
The second issue of EMA magazine Emanate isout! Please log into the EMA Community to cast your vote in Emanate PhotoCompetition. (http://community.em-a.eu/index.php?id=163&rid=f_6453&mid=243&aC=a2f36290&jumpurl=-4)

Erasmus Mundus Programme Erasmus Mundus 2: Launch event
Representatives of the European Commission, Executive Agency and national structures, Erasmus Mundus course coordinators and EMA Steering Committee members, as well as other stakeholders gathered on 16-18 of February in Brussels to celebrate the sucess of Erasmus Mundus programme and launch of its new second phase". (http://community.em-a.eu/index.php?id=163&rid=f_6453&mid=243&aC=a2f36290&jumpurl=-5)

International Education Events ESN train
The Erasmus Student Network (ESN) is launching an amazing intercultural project ESN-TRAIN that will go through 40 cities inMarch-April 2009. (http://community.em-a.eu/index.php?id=163&rid=f_6453&mid=243&aC=a2f36290&jumpurl=-6)

Pan-European Youth Think Tank
European Students' Forum AEGEE is organising the First Pan-European Youth Think Tank on Mobility and Energy in Brussels from 19 to 21 of March 2009. (http://community.em-a.eu/index.php?id=163&rid=f_6453&mid=243&aC=a2f36290&jumpurl=-7)

More than words
University of Kent and Brussels School of International Studies open applications for the Student Conference "More than Words:Global Action in the 21st Century". (http://community.em-a.eu/index.php?id=163&rid=f_6453&mid=243&aC=a2f36290&jumpurl=-8)

Viadrina Summer University 2009
European Political Culture in Global Politics is the main topic of the Viadrina Summer University in Frankfurt (Oder). Call for applications is now open. (http://community.em-a.eu/index.php?id=163&rid=f_6453&mid=243&aC=a2f36290&jumpurl=-9)

Host families in the UK
HOST UK organizes visits of international studentsto host families in the UK. Students can spend weekends or holidays with aBritish host family. (http://community.em-a.eu/index.php?id=163&rid=f_6453&mid=243&aC=a2f36290&jumpurl=-10)

New Challenges in Food Preservation - Conference in Budapest
In November 2009 Budapest will be the place for leading experts in food industry and academia to meet for 2009 EFFoST Conference "New Challenges in FoodPreservation: Processing - Safety - Sustainability". (http://community.em-a.eu/index.php?id=163&rid=f_6453&mid=243&aC=a2f36290&jumpurl=-11)

One Issue One Programme
EMLE EMA members regularly tell us about their Master Courses - this time Jantine Vos shares her impressions of European Masters in Law in Economics. (http://community.em-a.eu/index.php?id=163&rid=f_6453&mid=243&aC=a2f36290&jumpurl=-12

Results of student selection 2009-2011

The results of the first selection of new students for the academic year 2009-2011 are available on the Agris Mundus website: http://www.agrismundus.eu/agris-mundus/news.php?act=detail&novinka_id=57

News from Montpellier

So it is time for some news from Montpellier! At the moment the sun is returning in the South of France, and people are spending more time outside their house again.At the moment we are quite busy here with the last courses and preparations for the thesis research. Most people found a country and organization now and are working on their proposals.

In November we could choose which specialization we wanted to do: ECODEV (public policies, institutions and markets) or agricultural production and development. About half of the group choose ECODEV and joined the French students which are in the second year of SAT (Systèmes Agraires Tropicaux).

Every specialization includes 3 collective internships in the field, ranging from 2 weeks to 3 days. The ECODEV people will finish the courses on the 3rd of april, after a collective internship of 10 days in Senegal (!) I am also studying in ECODEV, and I will write about our experiences in Senegal in april! Because our courses will finish that late, we can also do our thesis defense one month later, so in the end of October. The people in the agricultural production and development specialization will finish courses in a week time.
We often have some nice parties and common meals here, hereby some pictures.

Greetings from the sunny south!!!!

Berdi

Sluse field trip to Thailand and Cambodia

Here in Copenhagen, during the last weeks, we have been extremely busy preparing our field trips to Asia.

Some of us are going to Chiang Mai in Thailand and others to the Banteay Meanchey province in Cambodia. We are working in small groups of students from the University of Copenhagen, preparing our research questions, data collection methods and time schedule for when we are in the field. Once we arrive in Thailand or Cambodia, respectively, we are going to meet Thai and Cambodian students who are going to work together with us on the various research topics.

Rada, our Cambodian study mate here in Copenhagen, and me are with our group looking into the potential for intensification in rice production in a community in Banteay Meanchey. So the past days have been spent on designing interview guidelines and questionnaires that can yield the information we need once we get into contact with local farmers and representatives of various institutions. This is by no means a trivial task and we are racking our brains to find the best way to get complete and relevant information from our target informants.

But obviously the study trip will not only concern our research as such. It will as much be about learning to work in an intercultural environment and under previously unknown conditions; it will be about working together in teams and dealing with the problems this involves and with all the unexpected things that might occur on the way. And of course it will be a unique chance to get an insight into two exciting countries that are unknown to most of us, and to see how people live their everyday life in these places.

In a few days we are leaving for the field and I am personally tremendously excited about it! Naturally, I will update you on everything we experienced – regarding our field work, but obviously also all the gossip about Agris Mundus students that you are all waiting for! :)

Hilsen Maria

Note: more information about Sluse can be found on www.sluse.dk

Thesis projects 2009

Around this time the first AM students of batch 2 already started their thesis research or are in the middle of the preparations. To get an idea what people are doing, hereby a list of subjects, institutions and countries.
For batch 2 students: If you know your subject, organization and country, please mail it to me so that I can complete the list!

• AMBAVARAM Vidya Sagar: Early season rice cultivation: opportunities and constraints. NARC (Nepal Agricultural research Center), Nepal
• ASEBEY Vicente: Citizen Participation in Rural Development.
  Universidad Nacional Agraria, Nicaragua.
• BALASUBRAMANIYAM Urmila: Effect of Irrigation Groundwater Depletion on Livelihoods of Small and Marginal Farmer - A case study from Coimbatore district, Tamilnadu.
  Water Technology Center, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, India
• BEN ATTIA Sarra: The role of circadian clock genes in peripheral tissues of agricultural species.
  The University college of Dublin Agriculture and food science centre, Ireland
• CAI Handuo: Payments for environmental services.
  CIFOR IRD, Indonesia
  
• ISMAYILOVA Gunel: Quality of the pork and animal welfare.
  IRTA, Spain
• MACHINGAL Sameer: Effects of exclusion from community forestry on rural livelihood strategies in Nepal.
• TRIFKOVIC Neda: Impact of food standards on export competitiveness of Moroccan citrus value chain.
  Ecole Nationale d'Agriculture de Meknes, Morocco.

News from Catania

Hi everybody…

Catania seems to be the last to post something on the blog so apologies. We were so busy out here and life is so fantastic that it was difficult to try to write on our life here which I shall try now. After the orientation week, we followed a one month intensive course in Italian language which is very important over here as seldom do one find a Catanese who can speak a foreign language.

The city is beautiful lying between the deep blue Mediterranean sea and the volcano (ETNA) . It is a very old city with lots of interesting places worth visiting and things are relatively cheap compared to other places in Europe. Sicilian are very warm people and above all else Italian cuisine is definitely one of the best in the world…personally I’ve fallen in love with the cheeses here especially the ricotta.

We all live in the same house with other local students and often we have common dinner and parties.

At the beginning we had some difficulties especially due to language but then we had some tremendous support from all staffs here especially Alessandro, Luisa and Valentina (all staff of the University of Catania). They helped us settle with all the administrative formalities with the local authorities and were (are still) always full of concern and care towards us.
The master course per se is very enjoyable, delivered by very competent staff and as all courses are delivered in Italian we became very rapidly quite well versed with the language. In all courses we have other Italian students coming from various parts of Italy as Catania is reputed for its university (there are 80, 000 students in Catania) and we have had many activities such as technical visits to farms which were fun.

We have also had the opportunities to follow many interesting seminars and meet some foreign experts in fields of animal nutrition, meat quality, etc. These form an integral part of the master course as we earn credits for attending and participating in such activities. We are also involved in research works such as effects of feeding of tanning on meat quality and other activities such as deliver talks. Actually there is also a reputed scientist Dr. Amrish Tyage from the national Dairy Institute in India who is here with us and sharing his invaluable experience with us.

Hence, we are living a great experience here.

Noor-Ehsan Gobindram (Mauritius)

People based development course in Lucknow, India

From Aditi Vidyarthi, graduate of the AM program in "Food chains and development":

Course Announcement
PEOPLE BASED DEVELOPMENT
A two week programme for development workers at Manavodaya, Lucknow, India.
Dates : 23rd March to 4th April, 2009.


Description

Successful facilitation of people based development calls for a clear vision, strategy, skills as well as a suitable attitude among practitioners. This study programme based in a grassroots setting in India explains how.

The course is being organized by Manavodaya that is recognised as a pioneer of the self help movement in North India having trained thousands of workers and managers of development programmes from India and other parts of the world.

Participants will learn practical methods of social intervention among poor illiterate villagers leading to lasting change in their lives. The conceptual foundation of values, methods and skills shall be shared in classroom sessions while the practice can be observed at field level.

“..is a real and practical way out from poverty in different aspects i.e. empowerment, economic enhancement, social interaction, unity and strength.” Teamrat Belai, Ethiopia

“ The main thing I learned, and I think this program rightfully focuses on is : Action. How to make it happen ? How to change as a person for the better and how to make the social changes in society happen ?” Nina Mobaek, Norway


Cost

The total cost of the programme is USD 1200 per participant. This includes course fees, boarding & lodging costs and field excursion costs. For students the cost is USD 800 per person.

Boarding and lodging is arranged at the institute campus in Lucknow.


Contact
Varun Vidyarthi, Course Coordinator
E mail : manavodaya@eth.net ; varunvidyarthi@gmail.com
Phones : 0091 98393 10461, 0091 522 6568530

Selection of new AM students started this week in Montpellier

This week are all the coordinators of the different universities meeting in Montpellier to start the selection of the new students for Batch 4 (2009-2011).
The results will be published on the Agris Mundus website on March 9th.

News from Wageningen

Hello Agris Mundus Colleagues,

I guess it’s about time to here about the Wageningen people, isn’t?! Well, I will try to do my best updating you about my personal “master” experience in The Netherlands.
Back at the beginning of September, coming from Copenhagen, the Agris Mundus students were welcome by Eefje (from The Netherlands) with a nice tour in the city of Rotterdam, home of the third biggest harbor of the world. We had a great time with her family, we ate sandwiches made by her mother, and it was great to see how she introduced us (at that moment still some kind of strangers) to her intimate personal relatives - her family.

In those months, still trying to find our own way in Wageningen, I must say that we, as a group, did not spend so much time together beyond the classrooms. Classes were hard, time restrictive, and everything seemed new and strange. In addition, I recall that each of us, were pretty much with their own group from our country of origin, and so on.

As time passed, and period 1 was over. I happened to encounter Lihn (from Vietnam) in the “European Master welcome to The Netherlands”. For a day, we went to the southwest, Zeeland, with other master students to know about the historic struggle of the Dutch with water. As water managers’ students, we were both, interested to see, how this country has managed and transform nature to survive. Although it was a knowledgeable trip, we also had time for leisure and meet new people.

Time kept going, and autumn painted of colors the roads. As my first-ever autumn, I was very excited taking pictures of the trees to see how they changed as the days passed. Wageningen was just beautiful!
In this second period, we – the Agris Mundus students – happened to meet each other in most of the courses, and I think that it was in this period, that the sharing and bonding started. So, dinners started to happen more occasionally, and lunch was time for gathering and finding each other, to the point that, we kind of form this interesting intercultural group of MIL (master of International Land and Water Management) students.

So, what else can I say? Wageningen has resulted a very fulfilling place in all matters. As a University, it is exactly what I just expected and wanted it to be. Classes had been great, teachers are demanding and critical, and in some cases, they have turned upside down all my original ideas of how things should be done. The objective is to make you think and be critical, to stand up and to create, being aware that as future researchers and rural developers, we have much responsibility on our hands.
I never expected to meet in one little town, so much people with goals and dreams, who are driven, opinionated and care. I feel that many from our generation just lack care. There’s no passion.

So, Wageningen has turned out to be this special place that feels like home now. I have learned not only academics that changed the way I see and understand the world, but things about myself that have reinforced my confidence and own life. It took some time to find myself within it, but I think I have finally reached that point where I can wake up in the morning and not wish that I was somewhere else :).

So this is it Colleagues! Hope to see you soon, this year 2009! Unbelievable but true! I hope you enjoy your time left and take advantage of this great and unique opportunity we have now!

See you soon,
Linda.