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Thirty-one students from seven-member universities of the Southeast Asian University Consortium for Graduate Education in Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC) converged at Kasetsart University (KU) on 17 – 18 August 2017 for the 3rd UC Graduate Forum with the theme, "Combatting Food and Energy Insecurity and Climate Change through Sustainable and Inclusive Agricultural Technologies and Innovations." The Forum was opened by Dr. Chongrak Wachrinrat, KU President, after a message given by Dr. Gil C. Saguiguit, Jr., SEARCA Director. Dr. Chantavit Sujatanond, Director of SEAMEO Regional Center for Higher Education and Development (RIHED), delivered the keynote speech, while Dr. Buncha Chinnasri, Assistant to the KU President, served as host to the whole event.
In his message, Dr. Saguiguit credited the UC for the expansion of SEARCA's scholarship programs to cover joint or dual degree scholarships, as well as, for the sandwich or exchange programs. He also noted that the Graduate Forum serves to strengthen institutional ties among the UC members. Meanwhile, the RIHED Director also commended the UC for conducting such a forum for graduate students in agriculture. She elaborated that while many young people want to go into fields of study related to information technology, she said that these fields cannot feed us. She encouraged the UC to expand the consortium and include universities from other countries in Southeast Asia.
In the afternoon of August 17, the students took turns in presenting their research results in three parallel sessions under the following subthemes: Agriculture and Life Sciences; Agro-Industry; and Agribusiness and Agricultural Extension. The following day, the participants visited three research centers in KU's Kamphaeng Saen Campus and were delighted to see KU's state-of-the-art facilities and research programs, and get a taste of the famous KU Beef.
The Graduate Forum is an annual activity of the UC, hosted by member universities on rotational basis. This 3rd Graduate Forum saw paper presentations from seven students of Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), six from the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB), six from Institut Pertanian Bogor (IPB), five from Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), three from KU, three from Universitas Brawijaya (UB), and one from Tokyo University of Agriculture (Tokyo NODAI). The students left KU with a better understanding of the UC, with a network of friends from other universities, and a glimpse of the researches being undertaken by students in other major fields.
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- Category: 2017
The first two weeks of the Sustainability Transitions Summer School 2017 have come to a successful completion as 20 students graduated from the program at Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), Yogyakarta, Indonesia.
The Summer School provided a fun learning experience for the students through the series of interactive lectures, discussions, group work, and field visits centering on transitions of Agro-Forestry Farming Systems.
A conference was held on 21 July as a culminating activity to showcase the results of the students' field study in the villages of Penanggunan and Laksana in Banjarnegara District, Central Java Province, Indonesia. The students compared the farming systems of the two villages and assessed if these were sustainable in terms of ecological, economic, and social points of view. More so, they assessed if the villages were in transition, that is, if there were any structural changes in the food system processes that give rise to new and more socially and environmentally-sustainable production and consumption modes.
Coming from different academic backgrounds, the students were divided into groups that would study the ecological, economic, and social aspects of the village's agroforestry system. The experience did not only increase their knowledge, but also strengthened the bond among and between the students and lecturers.
This year's Summer School is a joint activity of the ERASMUS+ -funded Master of Science in Food Security and Climate Change (MS FSCC) and the Southeast Asian University Consortium for Graduate Education in Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC). Co-organizing the Summer School are UGM of Indonesia and the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU), Austria. A total of 37 students from Europe and Southeast Asia participated in the Summer School, where 17 students are under the MS FSCC program, and six students were supported by SEARCA under the Institutional Development Assistance program.
On its third week, the MS FSCC students were oriented on the mobility program and further learn about climate change – its causes, adverse effects, as well as the mitigation and adaptation mechanisms. They also visited the Merapi volcano area to learn about the community's disaster-based management activities.
After the Summer School, the MSFSCC students are expected to take their courses for the first semester at their home universities and begin their mobilities in their respective host universities in January 2018. The student mobilities are co-funded by the ERASMUS+ under the Master of Science in Food Security and Climate Change (MS FSCC) and the Southeast Asian University Consortium for Graduate Education in Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC).
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YOGYAKARTA, INDONESIA- A few days after the commencement of the Sustainability Transitions Summer School 2017, the participants coming from different countries in Asia and Europe have already created a good bond while learning.
Through the series of interactive lectures, discussions and group works centering on transitions of Agro-Forestry Farming systems, the students gained a better understanding of the links between the different components in the ecosystem and how each component may affect food security in the advent of changing climate.
The students also visited a demonstration of integrated dairy goat and cacao processing at Pusat Pembibitan Kakao where the government supports smallholder farmers association to use the available resources, specifically cacao leaves to feed their goats and at the same time produce cacao fruit. These cacao fruits are then processed into different products at UGM's agrotechnology hub called the Taman Teknologi Pertanian.
More so, the students visited the Wanagama Educational & Experimental Forest managed by UGM's Faculty of Forestry. The forest was rehabilitated from a degraded land when it was donated to UGM in 1964. The tour allowed the students to understand the various components in the forest ecosystem, and how it has adapted to the changing climate over the years.
The students are expected to conduct their week-long immersion in a local community beginning on 14 July, and come up with their case study presentations on 21 July 2017.
This year's Summer School is a joint activity of the ERASMUS+ funded Master of Science in Food Security and Climate Change (MS FSCC) and the Southeast Asian University Consortium for Graduate Education in Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC). Co-organizing the Summer School are Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) of Indonesia, and the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) of Vienna, Austria.
The Summer School has been a regular activity of the UC, as hosted by its members on a rotating basis. The UC also conducts an annual graduate forum, collaborates on research projects, and provides grants to student and faculty of UC member institutions. The UC members are Institut Pertanian Bogor (IPB) and UGM in Indonesia, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) in Malaysia, the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) in the Philippines, and Kasetsart University (KU) in Thailand. Tokyo University of Agriculture (NODAI) is an Associate Member, while SEARCA is the Consortium Secretariat. This year, Universitas Brawijaya (UB) of Indonesia is a new affiliate member.
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PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia – Humayra Secelia Muswar, an MS Rural Sociology student from Bogor Agricultural University (IPB) was awarded with a travel grant by the University Consortium (UC) to present her paper at the Human Ecology International Conference held in Putrajaya, Malaysia on 18-20 April 2017.
The conference—attended by more than 200 scholars from countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Nigeria, United Kingdom, and the Philippines—was organized by the University Putra Malaysia (UPM) Malaysia, a member of the UC.
Ms. Muswar represented her team to present two case studies, namely: Political Ecology Analysis on Marine Ornamental Fish Eco-Labelling Case Study: Les Village, Bali, Indonesia; and Coastal Agrarian Dilemma: Case Study of Coastal Communities Dusun Ujung Genteng and Sukabumi, West Java, Indonesia. Her presentations were well-received by the audience. Likewise, the conference served as a good venue for her to interact with students and experts from a similar field. Through her experience, she learned to, "be brave on your research, because every single research is worth to be delivered, worth to be presented."
The UC continues to support graduate students and faculty in the advancement of their studies and support research milestones. It offers a range of grants, namely, the Faculty and Student Travel Grants for Research and Conference/Seminars, Visiting Professor Program for Teaching Purposes, Student Travel Grant for Credit, Student Thesis Grant, and Tokyo NODAI-UC Scholarships for Dissertation Doctorate Program.
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The annual University Consortium Summer School is now accepting applications from enthusiastic individuals who want to make a change through integrated agroforestry systems.
The Summer School will be held in Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), Yogyakarta, Indonesia on 10-22 July 2017. The event is spearheaded by UGM and Austria's University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU).
This year's Summer School is titled Sustainability Transitions and is focused on Integrated Forestry Farming System: A Transition to Food Security in a Changing Climate. The two-week program involves lectures and field visits to villages in Java. It will also be a good opportunity to work with interdisciplinary teams of European and Asian students and experts.
The third week of the Summer School (23-28 July 2017) is exclusive for new students of the Master of Science in Food Security and Climate Change.
Applications will be received until 1 June 2017. Visit https://stsummerschool.wordpress.com for more details.
