The Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung Regional Summer School 2019 for young changemakers

Application Deadline:June 8th 2019

The Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung organizes regional summer schools to empower young change-makers and to stir a debate on important current issues. The Summer School will provide participants with interesting insights and different viewpoints from the region and offer an excellent platform for exchanging ideas and sharing experiences. The program promotes networking among civil society actors, researchers, and activists in the region working in the fields of citizen participation and intervention in the urban space, local governance, sustainable development, gender and environment.

The topic of this year’s Regional Summer School will be “Our Cities Our Future: Civic Engagement in Urban Sustainable Development.” 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. In addition, we will have a closer look at community interventions in the urban space through art, architecture and urban agroecology. Lastly, initiatives targeting the protection of the environment and climate action will be part of the program. Thereby, we will build on different regional experiences to offer a comparative perspective.

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. In addition, we will have a closer look at community interventions in the urban space through art, architecture and urban agroecology. Lastly, initiatives targeting the protection of the environment and climate action will be part of the program. Thereby, we will build on different regional experiences to offer a comparative perspective.

Participants:

We encourage active change makers in civil society, who are engaged in grassroots initiatives related to sustainable urban development as well as researchers to apply for the Summer School. We support candidates with diverse backgrounds, including environmental studies, architecture and urban studies, the arts, social and political sciences and gender studies etc. 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.

Application Process:

In order to be considered for the Regional Summer School 2019, please submit the following documents:

1. A filled out application form;
2. An updated CV;
3. 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, e.g. by introducing an exemplary project, a current debate etc. This could be written in a form of an essay or a short academic paper;
4. 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 tell us 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. A 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.

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

Please submit your application documents via email.

Applicants from Palestine and Jordan are asked to submit their application documents in English to:

Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung Palestine & Jordan office in Ramallah,([email protected])

Applicants from Tunisia, Algeria, Libya and Egypt are asked to submit their application documents in English, Arabic, or French to:

Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung Tunis, Ms. Henriette Raddatz ([email protected])

Applicants from Lebanon, Iraq, and Syria are asked to submit their application documents in English, Arabic or French to:

Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung Beirut, Ms. Corinne Deek (c[email protected])

Applicants from Morocco are asked to submit their application documents in English, Arabic, or French to:

Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung Rabat, Ms. Fatima-Zohra Lamrani (f[email protected])

For More Information:

Visit the Official Webpage of the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung Regional Summer School 2019