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Individual Exchanges
This section highlights international exchange programs available for students and professionals in environmental and public policy fields. The following resources are provided:
Case Highlight
New Zealand Study of Smart Growth - Results from an Ian Axford Fellowship
The U.S. EPA defines "smart growth" as development that is good for the environment, community, and economy. It represents an approach to planning and development that: fosters efficient land use; encourages transportation and housing choice; and minimizes impairment of air and water quality. Internationally, many countries endeavor to achieve a sustainable urban form whether or not they subscribe completely to the "principles of smart growth." More important than the nomenclature is the sharing of transferable and thought-provoking ideas that have the potential to shape policies and practices in planning, design, and development.
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Through sustainable urban development and management, New Zealand cities are exploring new ways to improve the quality of their urban environments, while supporting economic growth and social well-being. |
Recently, the New Zealand Ministry for the Environment hosted a U.S. EPA employee for the Ian Axford (New Zealand) Fellowship in Public Policy. Fulbright New Zealand sponsored the exchange to support research focusing on New Zealand approaches to achieve smart growth objectives. The research enhanced EPA's understanding of how such approaches are interpreted and implemented abroad, as well as provided the opportunity to introduce propositions for the New Zealand Ministry for the Environment's budding urban design protocol. The final report from this exchange, " Smart Growth Down Under: Taking Steps Towards Sustainable Settlements in New Zealand "(PDF, 90 pp., 7.7 MB) 
, addresses questions confronting New Zealand about whether current development patterns, characterized by sprawl, are in the long-term interests of its cities, existing suburbs, small towns, rural communities, or wilderness areas.
For more on the fellowship, please see Ian Axford (New Zealand) Fellowship in Public Policy .
EXCHANGE OPPORTUNITIES
This section provides links to individual exchange programs and fellowships for students and professionals in the field of public policy and/ or environmental science. Lengths and locations of the programs are cited in the titles and may vary significantly. Some programs may require payment for participation while others provide grant opportunities or stipends.
Exchanges for Professionals
Alexander von Humboldt Summer Research Fellowships (9 months-3 years, Germany)
The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (AvH) offers young highly qualified U.S.-American scientists and scholars to carry out a research project of their own choice in Germany (age limit: 40 years). The fellowships enable young American Scientists and Scholars to conduct research for nine to eighteen months within a period of up to three years.
Atlantic Fellowship in Public Policy (6-10 months, United Kingdom)
The Atlantic Fellowships in Public Policy provide a unique opportunity for outstanding American mid-career professionals to study and gain practical experience in a wide variety of public policy areas in the United Kingdom, as well as a firsthand introduction to the European Union. During the six to ten months of their stay in the UK, Fellows are based at host institutions. They spend a substantial part of their time in contact with relevant external organizations to gain practical experience in their fields. Five years of experience is required.
Ecologic Transatlantic Fellowship (Germany or Belgium)
The Ecologic Transatlantic Fellowship Program is intended for professionals working with similar institutes, with foundations or in academia in the US or Canada who wish to spend a period of time at Ecologic, an environmental think tank with offices in Berlin and Brussels. In advance of the fellowship, Ecologic and the Fellow will tailor his or her work program jointly, taking into account both the Fellow's interests and Ecologic's current work agenda. There are no fixed starting or ending dates for Fellowships.
Fulbright Indo-American Environmental Leadership Program
The IAELP is designed for mid to senior level environmental professionals in the public, private or non-governmental sectors. The program combines 8-12 week practical fellowship in India with opportunities for networking with Indian counterpart organizations. Areas include environmental information management; policy, regulations and law; education; and sciences, test and toxicology.
Fulbright Senior Specialist Program (2-6 weeks, multi-country)
Fulbright Senior Specialist Program will provide U.S. faculty and professionals with short-term opportunities to collaborate with professional counterparts on curriculum and faculty development, institutional planning and a variety of other activities. This program is available to people in the fields of environmental science, political science and urban planning. Countries eligible to participate in the program include those where there is a U.S. embassy or a Fulbright Commission. A minimum of five years of professional experience in the field in which an applicant is applying is required.
German Chancellor Scholarships (1 year, Germany)
The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation awards 10 German Chancellor Scholarships annually to prospective leaders from the U.S.A. (under 35 years of age) in the academic, economic and political fields, enabling them to carry out research projects of their own choice in Germany. During one-year research stays, scholars are also given an opportunity to gain an insight into the social, cultural, economic and political situation in Germany. For example, one past exchange involved analysis of Germany's climate change efforts. Knowledge of the German language is not necessary.
Ian Axford Fellowships in Public Policy (6 months, New Zealand)
Ian Axford Fellowships in Public Policy give outstanding mid-career American professionals opportunities to study, travel, and gain practical experience in public policy in New Zealand. The goals of the Ian Axford (New Zealand) Fellowship are to: reinforce New Zealand/U.S. links by granting participants the opportunity to gain experience and build contacts in other countries; foster cross-fertilization of ideas and experience; and facilitate international policy exchange and collaboration beyond the fellowship experience. Two to three fellowships per year are awarded for six months of study in New Zealand. Applicants must be U.S. citizens with at least five years of experience in their professions.
The European Union Visitors Program (EUVP) invites young leaders from countries outside the European Union to visit Europe to gain a first-hand appreciation of the EU's goals, policies and peoples and to increase mutual understanding between professionals from non-EU countries and their EU counterparts. An EUVP visit consists of an individual five- to eight-day program of meetings with EU officials at the EU institutions in Brussels, Strasbourg and/or Luxembourg. Those eligible to participate are government officials (local, state and federal), journalists, trade unionists, educators, officials of non-profit, non-governmental organizations and other professionals in their mid-twenties to mid-forties with career-related interests in the European Union. Participants are required to have completed their university education or equivalent training and to have been employed for several years in their chosen career field.
John J. McCloy Fellowships (up to 4 weeks, Germany)
The John J. McCloy Fellowships are designed to enable Americans and Germans in the fields of art, journalism, or environmental affairs to conduct up to four weeks of on-site research and interviews abroad on a particular topic. McCloy Fellows in environmental affairs analyze various facets of environmental policy. Numerous projects have drawn comparisons between approaches to the environment in Germany and the United States, with an eye toward applying lessons learned across borders. American applicants need not be fluent in German, although some background in that language could be helpful.
Mansfield Fellowship Program (2 years, Japan)
The Mansfield Fellowship Program enables U.S. federal government employees to develop an in-depth understanding of Japan, learn how its government works, and establish relationships with their counterparts in the government of Japan as well as in the business, professional and academic communities. The Fellows spend a year working full-time in Japanese government offices, preceded by a year of full-time rigorous language and area studies training in the United States. The EPA currently has six fellows involved in this program.
Robert Bosch Fellowship Program (9 months, Germany)
The Robert Bosch Fellowship Program enables young American professionals from the fields of business administration, economics, journalism and mass communications, law, political science and public affairs/public policy to participate in an intensive work and study program in Germany. The program strives to provide young American professionals (23-34) with executive level internships in the federal government and private sectors in Germany. Seminars in Berlin, Frankfurt and Munich as well as visits to Poland, the Czech Republic, Belgium and France provide a meaningful understanding of issues facing the European Union and Germany today. Applicants must be fluent in German and have a graduate degree and at least two years of relevant work experience.
The Population-Environment Fellows Program
The Population-Environment Program was established in 1993 and has sent over 50 applicants on overseas assignments to the developing world. The Program aims to develop a cadre of future PE leaders, while at the same time supporting the field's pioneering organizations and methods. Qualified applicants are placed on two-year assignments with organizations working to link family planning and environmental programming in the developing world. The assignments are structured so that the fellow gains experience designing, implementing, and evaluating Population-Environment programs. Applicants must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents, be early-career professionals, hold a relevant graduate degree, and have experience in both family planning and environment.
Thomas O. Enders Fellowship (9 months, Canada)
This endowment is designed to encourage advanced scholarship on Canada-U.S. relations by funding fellowships for senior scholars (post-doctoral) that permit them to pursue their research in a Canadian university setting. Tom Enders' special interests included political and economic policy, trade, and energy - these are among the topics that the endowment supports as a means of contributing to improved mutual understanding between the United States and Canada. The $15,000 fund supports a fellow for a period of up to 9 months at a Canadian Institution (McGill University and the Université de Montréal in 2004-5).
Exchanges for Students
Alexander von Humboldt Post-Doctoral Fellowship (up to 2 years, Germany)
The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (AvH) enables young, highly qualified U.S.-American Scientists and Scholars holding a doctorate to carry out a research project of their own choice in Germany (age limit: 40 years). Applications may be submitted for long-term research stays up to 24 months.
Ecologic Transatlantic Internship Program (6-12 months, Germany)
Ecologic, an environmental think tank, provides US and Canadian students, either graduate students or students between undergraduate and graduate studies, with an opportunity to work with scientists in an interdisciplinary and international environment. Ecologic aims to integrate interns fully into institute work and office routines, and interns are expected to join several project teams during the course of an internship. Applicants should have at least a bachelor's degree. Starting and ending dates are flexible; as a rule, internships last for six to twelve months. At present, internships are available only in Ecologic's Berlin office. Basic German language skills are useful, but not essential.
The U.S. Student Program is designed to give recent B.S./B.A. graduates, master's and doctoral candidates, and developing professionals and artists opportunities for international experience, personal enrichment and an open exchange of ideas with citizens of other nations. Most grantees plan their own programs. Projects may include university coursework, independent library or field research, special projects in the social or life sciences, or a combination. One exchange, for example, focused on urban landscape and design in Japan.