CALIFORNIA CLIMATE CHAMPIONS: CLIMATE CAMP UNDERWAY IN SAN DIEGO
The 2009 California Climate Champions have gathered at University of California San Diego to participate in a nearly week-long “climate camp” to learn more about communicating on environmental issues and to plan their individual projects for the next year. The ten students were chosen by the British Council and partner California Air Resources Board based on demonstrated commitment to the environment and leadership among their peers in reversing climate change. They are part of the British Council’s International Climate Champions program, which engages teenagers from 29 countries.
Joining them at “climate camp” are British Council staff and California Air Resources Board staff as well as International Climate Champions from Canada and Brazil.
Follow climate camp as the participants blog daily at http://climatechamps.org.
WALES AT SMITHSONIAN FOLKLIFE FESTIVAL
Don’t miss this year’s Smithsonian Folklife Festival 2009 on the National Mall! Wales is one of the Festival’s three featured cultures at this year’s festival, with Welsh food, games, storytelling and music.
Learn more about the Wales Smithsonian program of events, including a zero-carbon conference exploring the Welsh national commitment to environmental sustainability and a comprehensive array of arts events including excellence in contemporary film and music.
As part of the festival’s ancillary program, the British Council collaborated with Wales Arts International and Visiting Arts UK on the Wales Arts Critics’ Exchange Programme, a workshop for Welsh and American arts critics. Three participants each from Wales and the United States spent one week in Wales in May, followed by one week in Washington in June. In each location, participants worked with local mentors and reviewed local arts presentations, as well as engaged in discussions on the role of the arts critic.
ANDREW KNEALE ADDRESSES TWITTER'S 140 CONFERENCE
On the morning of Wednesday July 17th, it was revealed that the US State Department had asked the social media company Twitter to delay a much needed technical update, in favour of continuing to allow Iranian protesters to communicate and organize using the Twitter platform.
That afternoon, Transatlantic Project Coordinator Andrew Kneale sat on a panel about “Digital Diplomacy and Cultural Collaboration” at the 140 Conference – billed as “the Davos of Twitter” and organized by the grandfather of VoIP, Jeff Pulver. Alongside co-panellists from the State Department and the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs, Andrew introduced the audience of prolific and influential Twitter users to the British Council, and the importance of cultural relations in international affairs.
View the full video of the panel here; and connect with Andrew on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/andrewkneale.
BRITISH COUNCIL TEAMS UP WITH UNIGO.COM
Last Wednesday, British Council USA became the official sponsor of Unigo.com’s Study Abroad page.
Unigo.com is an online resource for college students to share reviews, videos, photos and more with students on their campus and across the country. The site is one of the fastest-growing sites on the web, with more than 2 million users registered since its unveiling in September 2008.
TN2020 MEMBER ELECTED TO EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
TN2020 member Marietje Schaake of the Netherlands, elected June 4 to the European Parliament, will represent the D-66 Party social-liberals and will take office on July 14.
Together with the Council of the European Union, the European Parliament forms the bicameral legislative branch of the Union’s institutions. Members of the European Parliament are directly elected every five years, and meet in Strasbourg, France and Brussels, Belgium.
You can learn more about Marietje at her website, www.marietjeschaake.com.
British Council's Transatlantic Network 2020 (TN2020) program seeks to create sustainable, multilateral networks that span the Atlantic by engaging future leaders from North America, the UK, and the rest of Europe to collaboratively address global issues.
FIFTH CURATOR COMPETITION
The British Council is launching an international competition for a curator to select its final exhibition at the Whitechapel Gallery in London. Following on the heels of Michael Craig-Martin, Jeremy Deller, Nicholas Penny and Paula Rego, a fifth curator is to be selected through a competition for curators worldwide.
The Fifth Curator competition is a unique new opportunity for an aspiring curator to select an exhibition of works from the British Council Collection. We are looking for someone who is based permanently outside the UK, who believes they have the passion and knowledge to be a leading curator. The winning curator will be given unlimited access to the Collection, which includes over 8,500 key works of British art assembled since 1934. The resulting exhibition will be shown at Whitechapel Gallery in London in April 2010.
The Fifth Curator exhibition will be the fifth and final exhibition in a series of exhibitions showcasing the British Council Collection in the Whitechapel Gallery as part of our 75th anniversary activities.
BRITISH COUNCIL'S WORK IN SRI LANKA: HELPING THE MILITARY LEARN TAMIL
Most of our offices overseas have English language schools, but in Sri Lanka, British Council teaching methodology is being used by the Sri Lankan military to support their learning of Tamil.
Emerging from 26 years of civil war, communicating effectively with the 200,000 displaced Tamil civilians now living in camps is a vital part of the Sinhalese majority military's job. The Sinhalese are the majority ethnic group in Sri Lanka.
The British Council has offices in 109 countries. Learn more about our locations and work around the world.
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