[Global] Fellowships for Conservation and Sustainability Research

Deadline: November 18, 2005

IUCN JOINS ALCOA FOUNDATION IN LAUNCHING FELLOWSHIP PROGRAMME

20 fellowships offered for conservation and sustainability research

Gland, Switzerland, 11 October 2005 (IUCN) – The World Conservation Union (IUCN) has been chosen as one of three leading Sustainability Institutes for the newly launched Alcoa Foundation's Conservation and Sustainability Fellowship Programme. The Fellowship Programme is designed to provide a non-degree opportunity for qualified mid-career sustainable development practitioners from NGOs to conduct intensive applied research in the field of conservation and sustainability.

In cooperation with the International Institute for Education (IIE), IUCN will assist in reviewing and selecting three to five practitioner fellows per year, for the five years of the program, to conduct research in the following areas:

1. The linkages of the cultural and spiritual values of indigenous peoples and protected area objectives;
2. Biodiversity conservation or sustainable use of biological resources;
3. The implications for conservation of major demographic trends, including ageing, urbanization and population movements;
4. The implications for biodiversity of alternative new forms of energy;
5. Corporate biodiversity management and reporting systems (including indicators) and the potential for synergy between corporate social responsibility (CSR) investment in social development and conservation outcomes.

Experts from the IUCN will be assigned as mentors for the fellows working on these research projects and will also participate in various worldwide networking events. Academic partners such as the London School of Economics or the University of São Paolo will host the fellows.

"The Alcoa Foundation's Conservation and Sustainability Fellowship Program offers a great opportunity for people with good ideas to take some time to think through their ideas, nurture them to a stage where they can be implemented , and then put them into practice. IUCN is looking forward to support the fellows in their work and hopes that they will be able to bring new knowledge into the conservation field and stimulate others to conserve," said Jeffrey A. McNeely, IUCN Chief Scientist at the launch of the fellowship programme.

The Alcoa Foundation will support each fellow with a substantial annual stipend plus funding for a yearly meeting of the fellows.

Alcoa is the world's leading producer of primary aluminium, fabricated alumina. Alcoa Foundation actively invests in sources of positive community change as well as supporting national and international organizations to promote Areas of Excellence. By bringing together academic, NGO and business communities, the Fellowship Program will be a "new model of effective private philanthropic action to address urgent problems of global concern".

Individuals interested in further information about the fellowship programme are asked to contact:
Institute of International Education
1400 K Street, NW, Suite 650
Washington, D.C. 20005
affellows@iie.org,
Fax: +202-326-7642
Website: http://www.iie.org/programs/practitionerfellows

For more information contact:

Carolin Wahnbaeck, Media Relations Officer, Tel. +41 22 999 0127; Fax: +41 22 999 0020; carolin.wahnbaeck@iucn.org; Web: http://iucn.org

Jeffrey A. McNeely, IUCN Chief Scientist, Tel. +41 22 999 0284; Fax: +41 22 999 0020; jam@iucn.org; Web: http://iucn.org