Joint Master's Program in Environmental Management and Sustainability

The Faculty of Science and Research Center for Environment and Development-Bau Bekaa  has received, on October 24th, 2019 the approval of the “Base-Building Projects for Training in the South” of the Institute of Research for Development (IRD), France to co-fund the project “International Post Graduate Studies in Environmental Management and Sustainability for Mediterranean Countries” (ENVIPRO-Med). This project is designed to develop a Joint Postgraduate Master's program between the Faculty of Science, Department of Biological Sciences at BAU and the Master “Ingénierie en Écologie et Gestion de la Biodiversité” (IEGB) of Montpellier University, France with partnership of the Environmental Observatory O-Life, Ministry of Environment of Lebanon  and ECO-MED, France. It aims at improving environmental education and capacities of Lebanon and the region to address the severity and complexity of current environmental challenges. It focuses on overarching issues such as environmental sustainability, interdisciplinary aspects of ecosystem services and risk/benefit assessment with the integration of experiential learning opportunities. The project highly emphasizes cooperation with industry and employers, local authorities and both governmental and non-governmental institutions and organizations to enhance innovation potential and employability of graduates. It also addresses issues of transboundary concern in the Mediterranean Basin and build regional cooperation between Lebanon and France. The intended postgraduate program will be majorly new while benefiting of some existing graduate courses offered by MSc program in Environmental Science of the Faculty of Science and other courses of different departments at BAU. It will be composed of 3 phases: I) Knowledge sharing between partners and exchange of teaching and research practises and institutionalization strategies at the IEGB of Montpellier University and Faculty of Science of BAU; II) Curriculum development and capacity building of Lebanese team involved delivering the intended program through a systematic multi-disciplinary approach; III) Launching of the program at BAU after finalizing all needed administrative and institutional approvals.