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Organised by: UCD Volunteers Overseas and the Dublin Sustainable Development Solutions Lab

Description: An informal discussion forum for UCD students, staff and visitors interested in international development. This will operate through interactive, roundtable workshops one evening per month in UCD’s Global Lounge. The monthly roundtables chaired by UCD SPIRe’s Prof. Patrick Paul Walsh.

The first series of roundtable workshops will bring together those who are participating in the free online course “The Age of Sustainable Development” delivered by Jeffrey Sachs (UN Advisor on MDGs) through the Coursera site. Participants must be registered for this online course in order to fully engage in the roundtable workshops. Go to https://www.coursera.org/course/susdev to sign up. The course commences on the 21st January 2014; it is free and open to anyone interested in this topic, so make sure to sign up ASAP.

The online course provides an introduction to the most challenging question facing our generation: how the world economy can evolve in ways that are socially inclusive and environmentally sustainable. The course discusses the complex interplay between the economy and our planet’s physical environment, as well as the consequences of human activities on the planet’s environment. It discusses the history of economic development; patterns of growth; poverty in its different forms; basic elements of human development including health and education; and the links with food systems, climate change, and managing our ecosystems.

Roundtable workshops: Participants will be invited to monthly roundtable discussions to further explore the topics addressed in the online course. Through these discussions, participants will gain a deeper understanding of what will follow the Millennium Development Goals and will have the opportunity to engage with students, academics and development workers interested in these issues. Jeffrey Sachs will be invited to come online for a discussion with the group at the end of the course.

The first roundtable will take place on Thursday 6th February at 6.30pm in the UCD Global Lounge. Please join this event and register your details here: http://bit.ly/1eQmKKo if you’d like to participate.

This event is free and open to anyone to join.