Fourteen seniors from the US-based Elon University will host a national conference in Sri Lanka next month to facilitate communication between scholars, globally recognized leaders, and invited guests on issues of environmental education and stewardship, focusing specifically on how these issues affect and impact the regions and peoples of Sri Lanka.
Elon’s Periclean Scholars in the Class of 2011 have worked for three years to raise awareness of environmental issues in the island nation, and the group will host the ‘Leaders in Environmental Advocacy Forum (LEAF) with support from a $5,000 grant awarded this fall by the U.S. Embassy, the organisers said.
The event will be held on January 22-23, 2011 at the Faculty of Science, University of Colombo, in collaboration with the University of Colombo.
The summit will address a variety of topics crucial to environmental stewardship in Sri Lanka and South Asia, including sustainable development, rainforest and wildlife preservation, water security, and renewable energy, the statement from the organisers noted.
It will be overseen under the guidance of Associate Professor Crista Arangala, mentor of the Periclean Scholars Class of 2011, and Professor Tom Arcaro, director of Project Pericles at Elon University. Some 250 conference attendees are expected to attend.
The Periclean Scholars program at Elon is the centerpiece of Project Pericles, which is committed to raising the level of civic engagement and social responsibility of the entire university community. Students who become part of the Periclean Scholars program take a series of courses culminating in a class project of global social change. The project is designed and carried out by the cohort of students from each year's class.
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