"Fixing the Climate" of Prof. Charles Sabel and David Victor is an important view on strategies to adopt trying to solve one of the most important problems of nowadays. If you would like to get some information directly form the author the appointment is on the 26th of October at Roma Tre University, School of Law, Room 3 (9-11 am). Brochure is attached...

We are happy to announce that the Selection Committee of MESCI master has chosen the four scholarship winners. It was a hard decision because all candidates were prepared and motivated. Our congratulation to the winners! Good luck for the start of our fantastic academic year!

Here is the official report of the Selection Committee meeting.

The pandemic has revealed the global fragility of the current model of production and consumption.

Despite this, the sectors of the bioeconomy have proven to be more resilient and therefore represent a consolidated and robust asset to accelerate the restart in our contry, Italy.

Our MESCI DIrector, Prof.Becchetti and lectures gathered together on 11 October 2022 at UnitelmaSapienza University to better reflect on these topics and on the necessary lines of action. MESCI students and researchers intervened actively during discussions proposing possible strategies. 

A great reunion of MESCI students from both 2022/2023 accademic year and previous edition for the World Food Forum Learning event organised from the important Rome-based agencies like IFAD, FAO, WFP during the week of 17-21 October 2022.

The WWF Annual meeting is the culmination of all activities for 2022, including policy and scientific discussions, innovation awards, capacity development, workshops, exhibitions, side events and education/cultural activities.

Under the 2022 theme, "Healthy Diets- Healthy Planet" young people around the globe with different backgrounds were brought together in a safe and inclusive space to discuss, advocate and co-identify priorities and innovative solutions on the way forward to catalyze the transformation of agrifood systems for a better food future !

Participation, sharing, creativity will be the fundamental engines of economic development in the coming years. Our MESCI Programme Director Prof. Becchetti was one of the guest speakers to discuss on the main topics of this festival of Civil Economy. MESCI team together with tutors provided an important contribution on the organization of this 3 day event that took place from 16-18 September 2022, at Palazzo Vecchio in Firence, Italy. The Civil Economy is the vision of an economy that focuses on the company and on the person, a person capable of cooperating, of imagining new solutions and of creating positive and generative relationships. In the Civil Economy, WORK is a value which must be protectedand included, not only because produces inclusion and dignity but also because contributes to enriching life with meaning.For a fair and sustainable wellness we need live experiences, tested models, truly generated jobs, spaces for young and dynamic  companies. It is on these issues that the Civil Economyis trying to be distinguished and to bring her authenticity.

Such a nice day, discussing gendered and labour market impact of Covid-19 with Dr.Philips FAO Deputy Director of the Inclusive Rural Transformation & Gender equality, FAO Staff and Prof.Mazza (John Hopkins University , SAIS & MESCI Students. 

Great moments from MESCI-SAIS Europe Joint seminar on "COVID-19 and the future of work in Developing Countries with guest speaker Prof.Jacqueline Mazza (John Hopkins University SAIS Europe), Prof.Carmine Soprano and Prof.Leonardo Becchetti from Master MESCI of Tor Vergata University. The full agenda is available at this link.

We felt compassion last summer and sympathized this photo of a little girl who had the opportunity to hope for a better future (unfortunately leaving her country)...

We don't forget the tragedies and conflicts of the past and this year we offered two scholarship for MESCI Master to Afghan students who fled the country...

A choice that enriches the meaning of our work and makes more beautiful our class of 2022/2023...

There are students looking for a deeper meaning of their work who wish that all what they will do throughout their lives can have a positive social, environmental and economic impact on the lives of others...

They are young people who have in common smiles and dreams and who have understood that the fullfillment and satisfaction of their life needs to pass through this effort.

We have accompanied since 20 years up today more than 500 of them from 95 different countries whith the year of the masters which was their springboard for success in their careers. Here you will find their stories and that what our Master does.

For all the students who find themselves in this page we are there and we are ready for the next edition https://economia.uniroma2.it/master/mesci/how-to-apply/

A small support for Ukraine from our side...

Three free places based on merit and income criteria for ukaininian students in the MESCI master which has prepared in 20 editions more than 500 young people from more than 95 countries to work in international cooperation and for sustainability around the world...

Thanks goes to our Olga Raduchych, Ukrainian, form student and today coordinator of the organization of the course ...)

Save the date 20th of May 2022 and come and join us in the Seminar organized in collaboration with IFAD and MESCI on "IFAD Activity and Impact Evaluation for Agricultural and Sustainable Development". Honoured to have as guest speakers: Prof. Becchetti and IFAD Representatives Prof.Savastano and Mr.Aslan who wil share with all the partecipants their precious experience from International Fund for Agricultural and Development.

The event will be opened for all students of 2-year degrees and in connection to students from other Universities in Rome.

Join us at the Virtual OPEN DAY to find out more about our MESCI Programme! If you have any quieries don't hesitate to get in touch with us at cooperazione@ceis.uniroma2.it

On line: 23rd of May 2022

Time :5:00p.m (CEST)

Where: Live on Microsoft Teams

Programme Director Prof.Leonardo Becchetti and staff will give a presentation to all interested students on: The program in brief, Courses 2022/2023, The admission procedure, scholarships oppurtunities, placement of master graduates.

In addition some MESCI Students will share their experiences in the professional career and provide some tips for the new candidates. A Q&A session will be held following the presentation. Full agenda is here

MESCI 2021/2022 students have sucesfully completed the workshop in Barcelona (7-10 February 2022). Students, divided in work groups made a research by selecting case studies that responded as closely as possible to the disaster type and/or geographic locations assigned. Each group presented their disaster research, case study analysis and critique in a digital presentation. You can find here a short video with some beautiful moments from the workshop.

After almost whole academic year in on-line modality, we are thrilled to announce that next Monday the 24^th of May we invite our students at Tor Vergata University on the seminar in person.

We are looking forward to meet all of them who will be able to come but still leave the possibility for others to join the seminar in streaming. This is the first strong signal that the pandemic situation is improving in Italy. This event makes us look with hope towards the upcoming academic year so we decided also to give our future students the possibility to stay with us during this special day. The agenda of the day is here

Maya Terro is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of FoodBlessed, a hunger-relief and food rescue organization.

For Maya Terro, the work of her organization Foodblessed is entirely community-based and volunteer-driven; the very essence of the initiative is to rekindle the lost bond between the people of Lebanon. She believes that volunteering has tremendously shaped her, personally and professionally, and that by consistently trying to make this world a better place for her community and herself, she became a better person in the process.

More information here

2021 MUNDUS URBANO WORKSHOP 

The workshop is addressed to post-graduate university students enrolled in the Master in International Cooperation and Urban Development, and will include sessions presented by university professors, international experts and government officials. The event represents as an opportunity to explore current urbanisation trends and analyse implications for the future of food systems, food security and nutrition.[read more]

Take Five: A decade of making public spaces safe for women and girls

Lizzette Soria works as policy specialist for UN Women’s flagship initiative Safe Cities and Safe Public Spaces. The initiative was launched in 2010 with local and national governments, grassroots women and girls, women’s rights organizations and other civil society groups, UN agencies, and other partners in five cities: Quito (Ecuador), Port Moresby (Papua New Guinea), Kigali (Rwanda), Cairo (Egypt), and Delhi (India). The initiative aims to develop and implement evidence-based and comprehensive approaches to prevent and respond to sexual harassment against women and girls in public spaces.Today, nearly 50 cities, including cities in the Global South and North, are part of the initiative. [read more]

Convergence : Five Critical Steps toward Integrating Lagging and Leading Areas in the Middle East and North Africa

Policymakers across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) have long tried to integrate their people spatially and economically. Wishing to bring communities together and narrow economic gaps, governments have made large capital investments in transport corridors and "new cities." Hoping to provide jobs in places with little economic activity, governments have designated new industrial zones supported by spatially targeted business incentives. Yet the results of these place-based initiatives in MENA are limited. [read more]
 

FAO Director-General urges “robust” outcome from Convention on Biological Diversity negotiations.

24 February 2020, Rome - Everything we eat is produced in ways that imply some transformation of the environment, which means we must have careful discussions of the type and scale of transformations we are prepared to accept, FAO Director-General QU Dongyu said today in opening remarks to negotiators at a high-level meeting on biodiversity.

Agriculture and food systems are "at the heart of the concept of sustainable development" and are central to deliberations regarding the Post-2020 Biodiversity Framework, he said.

The Director-General spoke at the beginning of the second meeting of the Open-ended Working Group established by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), which FAO is hosting.

"I know that the world is eagerly waiting out there for demonstrable progress towards a clear, actionable and transformative global framework on biodiversity," said Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, the Acting Executive Secretary of the CBD.

Qu signaled his hope that participants would lead to a "robust" outcome to be agreed at the UN Biodiversity Conference in Kunming, China, in October 2020. The framework decided there will set the course for the next 10 years and beyond.

"Biodiversity is fundamental for ecosystems, for human beings, and is the basis of food diversity," Qu said, noting the enormous challenge awaiting of feeding more than 9 billion people in 2050 in ways that assure healthy diets and avoid overexploitation of natural resources. [read more]

As part of its efforts to eliminate forced labour in Peru’s Amazon region, the International Labour Organization is working in collaboration with the most affected communities.

UCAYALI, Peru (ILO News) – A network of Justices of the Peace have joined the International Labour Organization’s efforts to eradicate forced labour in Peru’s Amazon region.

Illegal logging has affected the region for decades. This activity has not only had a devastating impact on the landscape and environment, but has also blighted the lives of whole generations of mainly indigenous communities who have found themselves trapped in forced labour.

Many of these loggers are recruited by labour intermediaries who trick them into debt bondage by offering wage advances, food and timber exchanges. Before long, the workers become ensnared in a cycle of debt and servitude that is passed on from one generation to the next. [read more]

Small family farms make up 85 per cent of all farms worldwide, and smallholder farmers make up the majority of the world’s rural poor. To mitigate the challenges that come with working in isolation − and to increase profitability and productivity − these smallholders often form organizations.

Working together makes it easier for small-scale farmers to access raw materials such as seeds, water and fertilizer and to aggregate their yields, enabling them to reach larger markets. This in turn allows them reduce costs and improve their bargaining power, better positioning them to improve their food security and move out of poverty. And when farmers thrive, other players in the food system benefit, too.

But to fulfil this role, these organizations often need tailored attention and support. IFAD recognises the central role of farmers’ organizations in smallholder development and is committed to supporting them in building their capacity and strengthening their ability to perform.

In 2005, IFAD established the Farmers’ Forum, a framework for the partnership between IFAD and organizations of smallholder farmers. [more]

Christmas holidays are getting closer and the end of the first semester is about to end. Good luck to all Mesci students for this first goal!

Mesci Tutors 2019/2020

Dear MESCI family,

It is with deep sorrow and profound sadness that we announce the passing away of our friend and colleague Carmen.

She worked tirelessly and never lost her drive and commitment to her work and to all of us, in spite of her very difficult battle with cancer. Carmen always had a smile, an energy and a presence. She filled a room with sunshine.

Working with her has been a privilege and now our hearts are broken for the loss of this incredible woman who has been the pillar and the hearth of our programme.

She will be deeply missed.

Our thoughts go to her sisters and to her daughters.

MESCI Staff

Leave your memory for Carmen

The economists Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer are the winners of the Nobel Prize in Economics. Their work adopts an experimental approach in studying global poverty, which will dominate the scenario of Development Economics in the next future. World Bank's most recent data display that more than 700 million people live in extreme poverty and their research will considerably improve our ability to fight global poverty. Their first findings date back to mid 1990's with surprising results. Since then, over 5 million Indian children have benefited from effective poverty-reduction policies, like tutoring programs in schools. Another example is represented by the subsidies for preventive health care that have been introduced in many countries. The winning of this year Nobel Prize, thus, is only the conclusion of a long-standing path, which helped to undertake and achieve strong improvements in developing countries' welfare.
Finally, another little but relevant good news is that Esther Duflo is the second woman in history receiving the Nobel, 10 years after the first winner. Having obtained the renowned prize at 46 years old, she also classifies as the youngest winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics, evidencing all the value of their work.

Mesci Tutors 2019/2020

The Italian Center for International Development (ICID) of CEIS (Center for Economic and International Studies) of the University of Rome "Tor Vergata", organizes a Workshop on International Development.

The report analyzed the challenges that low and middle income countries face in dealing with large flows of refugees and migrants and especially on the interventions that can support their efforts in providing refugees with access to social protection.

 Mesci Students 2019/2020
Roma, October 22nd 2019

On 25th of June Villa Mondragone hosted the annual Tor Vergata's Economics seminar. Lectures and discussions among academics, young economists and international hosts on sustainable development and the future of globalization took place here. MESCIs students enjoyed the conference and the view of beautiful roman lanscape from the Villa.

MESCI's students in front of Villa Mondragone.

The las week of lessons spent with Dominick Salvatore (professor with honors, director of Fordham University Phd program) closed this MESCI's academic year 2018/19.

The class of this year was one of the best the programme has ever had. We wish to all of them the achievement of their goals in meaningful careers for building a more inclusive and sustainable society.

We are looking forward to meet the incoming students who will start the program in September!

MESCI students 2018/19 with professor Dominick Salvatore

Sustainable development, environment and climate change is the last course before Easter's Break. Professor Alessio  D'amato involved us in a climate change simulation game, during which we figured as nations in charge to reach a climate agreement. As good international cooperation's students we are, we came to the final agreement to not exceed the 2.2 °C increasing in temperature by 2030. Maybe homo economicus is going toward the extinction, giving the way to the cooperative man?

Mesci students with professor Alessio D'Amato.

From 18 until 21 of February 2019 MESCI students attended the joint workshop “Temporary reception facilities in Barcelona: searching for urban refugee integration”. As a result of a one-week interdisciplinary teamwork with other students from the universities Grenoble-Alpes, UIC Barcelona and TU-Darmstadt a variety of promising ideas and policy recommendations were generated on the subject of refugee integration.

Presentations on the final day of the joint workshop at UIC Barcelona

From 15 until 19th October 2018 MESCI students participated in the 45th session of The Committee on World Food Security (CFS) in FAO, Rome. CFS is the foremost inclusive international and intergovernmental platform for meaningful dialogue and interaction for all stakeholders working together to ensure food security and nutrition for all.

The students of 2018-2019 MESCI academic year in front of FAO headquarters in Rome