Virginia Tech's Center for Leadership in Global Sustainability's (CLiGS) global programs focus on advancing strategies for sustainable management of socio-ecological systems in some of the world's most rapidly developing regions. There are projects associated with each global program open to graduate students and professionals interested in gaining international sustainability experience and contributing to the work of CLiGS.
CLiGS Global Projects:
- Provide graduate students and professionals with the opportunity to contribute to CLiGS research, travel, and gain international experience
- Provide applied research services to partner organizations and communities working towards sustainable development
- Expand our collective understanding and capacity to construct a more sustainable future.
Projects are professionally-oriented, partner-driven, short-term projects that contribute to CLiGS global programs. Project teams are interdisciplinary and comprised of graduate students and professionals from a range of backgrounds. The projects are offered as part of CLiGS graduate programs or for professional development (CEU units). The projects include 8 weeks of online work and 10-days of international fieldwork.
CLiGS Global Projects
CLiGS Brazilian Amazon Project | Winter 2015
The CLiGS Brazilian Amazon Program is focused on exploring the complexities of sustainable development challenges and strategies when a booming economy rests on natural resource use and extraction. The 2013 GSI Brazilian Amazon Project explored public-private partnerships and strategies being developed in the Northern Amazon Basin to expand commodity production, namely soy, while simultaneously reducing illegal deforestation in the Amazon Rainforest. The team worked for several days in the Amazon Basin and concluded their work in Rio de Janeiro. The next GSI Brazil Project is scheduled for January 2015 -- stay tuned for details.
CLiGS Russia Green Cities Project | June - August 2013
The CLiGS Russia Green Cities Program focuses on exploring the implications of urbanization and resource wealth for the megacity of Moscow in the face of national-scale population declines, particularly as it relates to urban planning and quality of life. The next project is scheduled for Summer 2013 and will examine the opportunities and constraints for promoting environmental sustainability in Moscow and St. Petersburg, focusing on land use, alternative transportation, waste and water management, and environmental amenities. The deadline to apply is May 8th.
CLiGS India 2014 Urban Ecosystems Project | Dec 2013 - Feb 2014
The CLiGS India Urban Ecosystems Program explores the challenges of building and managing complex socio-ecological systems in the rapidly developing area surrounding Mumbai. The next CLiGS India Urban Ecosystems Project is scheduled for January 2014 and will focus primarily on Sanjay Gandhi National Park in Mumbai and the areas surrounding it, examining the challenges of managing for ecosystem services (including the conflicts surrounding them) in the context of rapid population growth, urban development, and encroachment. The project is being offered as part of VT's Fall 2013 semester and the deadline to apply is October 25, 2013.
CLiGS China Waters Project | Coming Soon
The CLiGS China Waters Program explores the implications of economic development strategies for the sustainability of ecological infrastructure systems in various types of communities and landscapes, and works with partners to develop strategies for managing these challenges. CLiGS China's Waters Program focuses on three river basins - the Upper Mekong Basin in southwest China, the Yangtze Basin across central China (including the Shanghai urban cluster), and the Lijiang River Basin in southeast China. Details on the next CLiGS China Waters Project coming soon.
CLiGS South Africa Ecological Infrastructure Project | Spring 2014
CLiGS South Africa's Ecological Infrastructure Program is focused on regional planning and development strategies that emphasize and enhance green and ecological infrastructure systems in the urbanizing regions of Johannesburg and Durban to meet South African development goals. The next CLiGS South Africa Ecological Infrastructure Project is scheduled for spring/ summer of 2014 (VT Spring 2014 semester). Deadline to apply is March 21, 2014.
US Chesapeake Bay Watershed Cross Sector Partnerships | Summer 2013
CLiGS Chesapeake Watershed Program is focused on innovative cross-sector partnerships that have been brokered to advance green infrastructure solutions (in its broadest sense) in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, particularly within the Potomac sub-watershed. The 2013 projects associated with this program are currently restricted to XMNR students.
Apply & Learn More
E-mail: cligs@vt.edu
Phone: (571) 858-3338
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