Summer School in Jordan About Urban Sustainable Development

The Heinrich-Böll Foundation, represented through its offices in Palestine, Lebanon, Tunisia, and Morocco, welcomes applicants from Arab countries in the Middle East and North Africa to apply for the 7th Regional Summer School, that will take place between July 29 – August 4, 2019, in Amman, Jordan.

About the summer school

The topic of this year’s Regional Summer School will be “Our Cities Our Future: Civic Engagement in Urban Sustainable Development.” The Objectives of this year´s  Regional Summer School are:

•  The sessions of the summer school will provide participants with skills and theoretical knowledge to further their engagement within civil society and local community efforts towards sustainable development and recuperation of urban space in the MENA region.
• The Summer School will focus on new approaches to sustainable urban development and citizen participation and will critically assess current urbanization and gentrification trends as well as discuss housing rights, safe public transport and the creation of green and accessible public spaces in the region’s cities.
• An opportunity to have a closer look at community interventions in the urban space through art, architecture and urban agroecology.
• Initiatives targeting the protection of the environment and climate action will be part of the program. Thereby, organizers will build on different regional experiences to offer a comparative perspective.
• The Summer School 2019 will include lectures, focus groups, round table discussions, workshops, an excursion in the city of Amman and plenty of open space to debate with the other participants.

Funding

Travel and accommodation costs of the participants will be covered by the respective Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung office.

Eligibility

1. Active change makers in civil society, who are engaged in grassroots initiatives related to sustainable urban development as well as researchers are encouraged to apply.
2. Candidates with diverse backgrounds, including environmental studies, architecture and urban studies, the arts, social and political sciences, and gender studies.
3. Candidates must be between the ages of 23 and 35 who reside in and/or hold the nationality of one of the following countries: Jordan, Palestine, Lebanon, Tunisia, Morocco, Libya, Egypt, Iraq or Syria.

Required documents

• Candidates must fill out the application form
• CV
• A short paper (2 pages maximum) focusing on the topic of the Summer School and showing the applicant’s knowledge as well as their ability to work independently and creatively. To this end, the applicant should choose a topic from within the subject area and point out its relevance to their local or national context. This could be written in the form of an essay or a short academic paper
• A letter of motivation with a description of your experience and knowledge related to sustainable urban development and civic engagement. Please do not forget to mention your interest and motivation in attending the summer school and think about how the summer school could benefit you and how you could contribute to the program
• The Summer School will be conducted in Arabic and English. Good command of English will be beneficial. Preparation material in English will be circulated before the Summer School. Therefore, please indicate your command of English in the motivation letter
• Selected participants may be asked to prepare a short presentation on issues in urban development and challenges in their country or city and on how their projects react to these issues and challenges

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