On February 12, 2019, EMSE Professors Jonathan Deason and Joe Cascio conducted a symposium on Environmental Decision Making in Room 2000 of the Science and Engineering Hall as part of the two-week 2019 Winter Leadership Training Camp sponsored by the International Fund for China’s Environment.
The symposium covered an overview of decision aiding tools commonly used in the environmental arena such as quantitative risk assessment and Monte Carlo simulation. Attending the session were students from top Chinese universities including Tsinghua University, Renmin University, Beijing University and the Beijing University of Technology.
The International Fund for China’s Environment (IFCE) is an international environmental organization based in Washington DC, with branch offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Tianjin and Wuhan. Founded in 1996 by a group of scientists and professionals concerned with China’s environmental problems, IFCE aims to ensure a healthy global environment and continued economic development by helping China solve its environmental problems.
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| Professors Cascio and Deason with some of the Chinese seminar participants |
Since its founding, the IFCE has developed a range of influential programs facilitating partnerships and building capacity in China’s environmental movement including work with NGOs to improve their capacity. The IFCE also works with companies to enhance China’s access to green technology, with policy makers to influence China’s environmental policy, and with environmental education programs to improve Chinese peoples’ agency in the environmental movement.
The IFCE has been able to play a significant role in protecting the environment because of its numerous experts in the natural and social sciences. IFCE staff not only have a profound understanding of Chinese culture, they also have many professional connections within China. Over the past five years of the EEMI’s existence, the IFCE has hired several EEM graduates upon graduation and as interns prior to graduation.