4 Ps for Quality

MESPOM volunteed for the Quality Assurance exercise by the European Commission and has been selected as one of six Erasmus Mundus courses (out of about 100 existing). The purpose of the exercise is to examine how the joint character of Erasmus Mundus courses contributes to their high quality. Here are some thoughts which I prepared for the first visit of the EC QA team to Lund.

4 Ps for Quality

Purpose, people, pattern and profession – these are the aspects of MESPOM’s quality which are due to its ‘jointness’, the fact that is run by four universities together.

MESPOM graduate awarded Development Cooperation Prize for her thesis

Tahia Devisscher, a MESPOM graduate of 2007 has been awarded a Development Cooperation Prize from Belgian Development Cooperation for her MESPOM thesis on the impact of biofuel production in Malaysia.

The Class

Europe has been a time for many personal landmarks - cooking meat or flying minus airport counters, for instance. Another recent first, but by far more important was an officially assigned class. In the past, it has been I who offered lectures to an audience that was captive to various degrees. Last year's class on Policy Memos was an official affair, but still entirely my idea and counts less as it was to my peers, each of whom could teach me a lot back. No, the classes I gave that week meant more.

MESPOM student receives Pan-African Prize for Entrepreneurial Teachers

Leonard Akwany, a MESPOM student (06-08), has won the 1st Pan-African Prize for Entrepreneurial Teachers. Leonard, a leader of Eco-finders Youth Movement in Kenya, has been working to promote environmental entrepreneurship in the poorest region of the country since 1995. Through cost sharing and improvisation Eco-finders has been able to use its limited resources to reach out to over 100 schools and hundreds of community groups, to establish ‘Environmental Enterprises’.

MESPOM students win Lund Green Prix

The Lund Green Prix is the final event in the ISS (Industrial Sustasinability Strategies) course. Students design a "car" constructed from simple materials such as card-board, wood sticks and plastic straws.

The students compete in groups in five categories with their "cars".

- Greatest marketing potential, where staff and students vote on their favorite

- Performance, where the "cars" travel down a slope created by the tables in the Aula

- Disassembly, where the students are to scrap the "cars" under time pressure

From Lebanon to MESPOM

My name is Diane Matar and I am from Lebanon. I studied Environmental Health Sciences at the American University of Beirut and worked in the pharmaceutical industry, eco-tourism, and in an environmental NGO in Lebanon before joining MESPOM. For me MESPOM is not just a Masters programme, it is a journey into knowledge and culture where everyday is a discovery and a learning experience.

Bienvenue à Bruxelles

Naturally, I was happy to be in my first francophone country - able to read signs and ask directions in French. It is a city of sharp contrasts - the metro stations and glass highrises for one. There was little time for any deeper impressions than that. The arrival flight was late and I got late for the departure flight. Boarding the train to leave the airport, three of us realized we had flown together from Copenhagen for the same event.

 We arrived at the hotel just in time to leave for the venue. That was good in a way; the hotel declined to check any of us in.

Lydia Press (UK), Cohort III (2007-2009)

Lydia Press tragically died in a climbing accident during holidays in French Alps on May 2nd, 2008. The MESPOM community is in deep sorrow because of this terrible loss. Here is the Daily Mail article about Lydia and what has happened (see also The Sun).

Environmental Consultancy after MESPOM

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I studied landscape planning and worked in nature conservation before joining the first batch of mespom. I choose this programme because I wanted to gain more knowledge on and insight to the strategic and policy levels within the field of environment. Mespom not only met my expectations but went far beyond it! Besides giving me a sound understanding of the million sides to the environment, it provided opportunities for unforgettable knowledge exchange and deep friendships.

Job with Holcim after MESPOM

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I am sure by now you must be wondering where I landed after this exciting voyage of MESPOM. Take a deep breath, here it goes... I was picked up by the Holcim Group (the 2 nd largest manufacturer of cement in the World) as a Corporate Assistant Manager-Environment. I actually felt the benefit of the MESPOM course during my interview, when I was selected from the group, which included people with almost double the work experience I had.

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