Market access for sustainable development

Towards pro-poor & smallholder inclusive market development

04 – 22 November 2013, Wageningen, The Netherlands

-      NFP Fellowships available – apply before 07 May 2013   -

Dear Sir/Madam,

Please find below more information on the International course on: Market access for sustainable development. Please feel free to circulate this email in your network. We request you to inform us of any links to a related websites on which we could also post this announcement.

Introduction

Today, markets are increasingly seen as a good instrument for poverty reduction and sustainable development. However, market failures and shortcomings often diminish the desired impact on poverty. This international course shows participants how to use markets as a tool to alleviate poverty. Read more

Application

Interested candidates can apply at the website of Centre for Development Innovation, Wageningen UR for admission to the training. Click here to apply.

NFP Fellowships

A limited number of fellowships is available from Nuffic - the Netherlands Fellowship Programme (NFP) for nationals of certain countries. In order to apply for such a NFP fellowship, you have to register through theNuffic Scholarship Online (SOL) system.. Applications for NFP fellowships should be submitted before 07 May 2013. SOL opens on March 01. You will be informed by Nuffic whether your application has been accepted. More information on the NFP fellowships.

Important

Please note that for a valid NPF fellowship application you need to register directly at CDI as well as at Nuffic (SOL). Your fellowship application will not be taken into account if you register with only one of these two institutions.

Course coordinator: Jan Helder

Centre for Development Innovation (CDI)
Wageningen UR
P.O. Box 88, 6700 AB Wageningen, The Netherlands
E-mail: jan.helder@wur.nl  

Please like us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/CDIwageningenUR

Website: www.wageningenur.nl/cdi

Twitter: www.twitter.com/CDIwageningenUR

http://www.wageningenur.nl/en/Disclaimer.htm

Lets Talk About Soil

Soils are fundamental pillars of sustainable development. They are essential for food security, support human well-being, and provide further ecosystem services, such as carbon storage.

They are not only essential but also severely threatened, suffering a continuous decline in quality and being taken over by urban sprawl.

Even though soils are managed and owned locally, their degradation is a key global issue, as their functions transcend national boundaries.

Therefore, we urgently need to upscale actions towards sustainable soil management.

The First Global Soil Week will provide a platform to initiate follow-up actions on land and soil-related decisions made at the Rio+20 Sustainable Development Conference and will take place within the framework of the FAO’s Global Soil Partnership.

The First Global Soil Week offers a forum of interactive exchange and dialogue.

Stakeholders from science, government, business and civil society will come together to share their land and soil-related experience and expertise, and to develop future plans of action for sustainable land/soil management and governance.

The animated film LET’S TALK ABOUT SOIL emphasizes human dependence on soils and describes how sustainable development is threatened by certain soil use trends; the film offers options to make the way we manage our soils more sustainable.

LET’S TALK ABOUT SOIL was produced by designer and animator Uli Henrik Streckenbach for the Global Soil Week and the Global Soil Partnership with the support of the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) – Global Soil Forum, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the Deutsche Welle.

Re-blogged from Functional Ecosystems.

The Story of Soil

Soil is an amazing substance. It is a complex mix of ingredients: minerals, air, water, and organic matter—the countless micro-organisms and the decaying remains of once living things. Soil is made of life and soil makes life.

To the farmer, soil is where crops grow.

To the engineer, soil is a foundation to build.

To the ecologist, soil supports and connects ecosystems.

To the archaeologist, soil holds clues to past cultures.

To craftspeople, like potters, soil provides clay to make things.

To the soil scientist, soil is all of these things. 

Water

Food, feed and fodder quality

Human and livestock health

Soil has been called "the skin of the earth" because it is the thin outermost layer of the Earth's crust.

Like our own skin, we can't live without soil. It's easy to take soil for granted, yet it's one of the most important resources we have. That's why we want to spread the word about The Story of Soil - and you can help! 

Courtesy of Soil Science Society of America in their 75th Anniversary