EARTH and AUB announce a CGI Commitment to Action to create a Global Master’s program in Health and Sustainable Development
Feasibility study made possible thanks to a partnership with The MasterCard Foundation
On September 25, 2013 during the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Annual Meeting, EARTH University president José Zaglul will announce the design of a progressive, multi-university Master’s program with a global vision that will integrate health and sustainable development in response to global gaps and needs. The feasibility study and planning of the program, which is being led by EARTH University in Costa Rica and the Faculty of Health Sciences at the American University of Beirut (AUB) in Lebanon, is being supported by The MasterCard Foundation.
“The concept was born out of a mutual recognition by EARTH and AUB that human health and wellbeing are intrinsically linked to the health and wellbeing of the planet, as well as to social justice and human rights. What makes this program different is not just that it intertwines the fields of global health and sustainable development, but it incorporates social entrepreneurship and transformative learning,” explained Dr. Zaglul, who will be participating in a session on Environmental and Sustainability Education on September 25 at the CGI Annual Meeting.
The feasibility and planning is expected to be completed by early 2015, and will be EARTH’s first foray into postgraduate studies and AUB’s first transdisciplinary collaborative Master’s degree program with another academic institution.
Iman Nuwayhid, dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences at AUB explains that the proposed program of study will tackle the multiple layers of well-being and sustainable development, while addressing the root causes of inequities and war globally.
“Our proposed program will holistically combine health and well-being with sustainable development. It is one-of-a-kind both in terms of its academic premise as well as its proposed execution, which will give students interactions with real global issues as they relate to the health of populations and ecosystems in multiple regions,” explains Dr. Nuwayhid.
With the objective of creating transformative learning experiences, the program will cross geographic boundaries to provide students with lived experiences and embodied perspectives from various regions of the world, thus creating a space for global discourse amongst a diverse student and faculty body to create synergies, enhance critical understanding, and promote action for change.
For more information about the program visit: www.earth.ac.cr/masters
Go EARTh….a healthy global we desire