In a recent report from UN-Habitat, the organization announced that it is expanding its ties with the academic world in the area of urban risk reduction and rehabilitation so that a new generation of graduates undertaking field work in disaster zones around the world are better groomed in integrated urban crisis-based practice.
“We are now building on past initiatives linking UN-Habitat policy and practice to academia. The outputs are noticeable.” said Mr. Dan Lewis, Chief of Urban Risk Reduction at the agency who led the workshop on Disaster Management at our course this year.
The article mentions partnerships with several universities and academic programs, including our masters course:
“In Europe, UN-Habitat delivered its annual week-long seminar in the Masters of International Cooperation and Emergency Architecture. This graduate course funded by the European Commission’s Erasmus Mundus programme aims to enhance the quality of higher education and promote dialogue and understanding between people and cultures through mobility and academic cooperation.
Mr. Lewis cited noticeable results with students from these universities now undertaking UN-Habitat internships in Mongolia (3); Nairobi (1); and with the Cities Alliance in Sao Paulo, Brazil (4). Added to that is a second UN-Habitat initiative focusing on urban regeneration, also being added to the academic syllabus.”
The students Mr. Lewis refers to above are the students we currently have on the field completing their internships in these locations: Gunther Stoll, Andrew Benham, and Sonam Lama in Mongolia, Elaine Morales in Nairobi and Aude Choppinet, Alice Liburdi, Katerina Myrizaki and Michela Guglielmi in Brazil. Make sure to follow their experiences on the internships section of the student blog for updates on their progress!
That’s great news. Will this agreement help former student to get an internship or fellowship at UN-Habitat? or will it work only for current students?
Thank you and congrats!