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Friday, August 24, 2012

Officers of Americans for UNESCO



Americans for UNESCO has recently elected a new slate of officers. The full slate of AU officers consists of:


President                                            Mary Futrell
Senior Vice-President                   Ray Wanner
Vice-President                                 Susie Rauch
Vice-President                                 Emily Vargas-Baron
Vice President/Treasurer            Richard Nobbe
Secretary                                             Laura Engel



Thursday, August 23, 2012

New UNESCO-Pepsi Partnership


UNESCO recently announced their intention to sign an agreement with Pepsi that will create a partnership designed to promote vocational training for young people in Burma.
 
Our Ambassador to UNESCO David Killion released a statement praising this vitally important partnership between UNESCO and a major U.S. Corporation, which you can see here.
  

Fall 2012 Laura Bush Travelling Fellowship Deadline Approaching

Do you know any U.S. students who are planning to do a short-term research project overseas relating to education, natural science, social science, communications, or culture?

If so, please let them know about the Laura W. Bush Travelling Fellowship. This program named in honor of our former First Lady is designed to help young Americans conduct short term research projects abroad relating to the sectors of UNESCO's mandate.

The next application deadline is Monday 9/24/12. Find out more here.

Meeting of the National Commission scheduled.

2011 U.S. National Commission for UNESCO Annual Meeting
The 2012 U.S. National Commission for UNESCO Annual meeting has been tentatively set for Monday 11/26/12 in Washington, DC.

The Commission will again be accepting the hospitality of George Washington University, as it did last year.

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

A World of science Vol 10 n°3


If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so too is utility. As Iain Stewart from Plymouth University
(UK) observed last February at the 40th anniversary of the International Geoscience Programme
(IGCP) at UNESCO in Paris, show a piece of coal to an industrialist and they will see a source of
fuel; show it to an ecologist and they will see a source of carbon emissions; show it to a geologist
and they will see a climate which existed more than 300 million years ago (Ma).

Geoscientists help us to travel through time. The IGCP was founded in 1972 to confirm the
existence of Gondwana, one of two megacontinents with Laurasia which formed about 145 Ma,
by correlating the geology of modern continents. As time went by and supporting evidence for
Gondwana became overwhelming, IGCP research teams turned to questions of special societal
relevance. New disciplines emerged like archaeoseismology, which draws on both the geological
and archaeological record to identify past earthquakes. One IGCP project in 2000 was even at
the origin of a new field: medical geology, the science dealing with the impact of our natural
environment on human and animal health. Arsenic, for example, is a natural chemical which poisons
millions of people worldwide who absorb it unwittingly through groundwater.

Given the concern over climate change and the looming shortage of fossil fuels and uranium
which overshadows our industrial future, geoscientists are focusing more on renewable energy these
days. Kenyan geoscientists, for instance, are currently employed on a government project to develop
geothermal energy in the Great Rift Valley.


A Call to Action: Forest Whitaker encourages youth to speak out



http://www.planwithyouth.org

Forest Whitaker, UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Peace and Reconciliation and a co-founder of the International Institute for Peace, sends an inspirational message to youth everywhere, encouraging their participation in the online discussions for the upcoming Policy Forum on 'Engaging Youth in Planning Education for Social Transformation'. This virtual, pre-forum dialogue is important becauseit will shape the discussions at the event in Paris, ensuring that voices of youth are included in the Policy Forum's Agenda for Action.